All Melody – Nils Frahm (2xLP)

During the last two years Nils Frahm was busy building a brand new studio in Berlin to record his seventh studio album "All Melody" which will be released on Erased Tapes. He will then embark on his first world tour since 2015

Ever since Nils first experienced the impressive recording studio of a family friend, it was his greatest wish to create such a place one day. A leap into the present and Nils is now the proud host of the hall in the historic Berlin Funkhaus from the fifties. He has spent a large part of the last years here, directly on the banks of the Spree, dismantling and rebuilding the entire room: all cables, wires, wiring first, followed by the finer fixtures - including an organ and a complete mixing console, both of which he constructed himself with the help of friends. Thus a place was created where music can grow, where ideas can be cultivated - where they simply have room. And where he can present his music in a way that comes as close as possible to his own ideas.

His previous albums often had a story to tell: "Felt" (2011), for example, was titled after the felt pads he used to put on the hammer heads of his piano so as not to bother the neighbours during nightly recording sessions in his old home studio. In the successor "Screws" (2012) it was the injury on his thumb that forced him to play with only nine fingers. His upcoming album, on the other hand, arose out of the immense free spaces and possibilities that the new creative realm on the Spree offered him, which is why Nils now had no restrictions whatsoever: so everything here revolves around the melodies themselves - "All Melody"

Although the majestic walls of the Funkhaus had concrete outlines, and the album was created deep in the reverberation chambers as well as in a dry old well on Mallorca, "All Melody" is ultimately proof that music knows no boundaries. That it is timeless. And that Nils has come a very long way - from the mere dream of a boy to the point where he can completely control the parameters of the music in his own studio

In Nils' own words, October 2017

"In the process of finishing each album probably not only brings to light what it is, but perhaps more importantly: what it has not become. In my imagination, 'All Melody' was so much over time, and it was actually a lot - but never exactly what I had originally planned. For example, I wanted to hear beautiful drums: Drums as I have never seen or heard them before, accompanied by human voices, the singing of girls and boys. They should sing a song that clearly comes from this world, but still sounds as if he comes from a completely different sphere. I heard a synthesizer that sounded like a harmonium with the 'All Melody' played on it - which would merge with a harmonium melody that sounded like a synthesizer. My organ would turn into a drum machine, while my drum machine would sound like an orchestra of flute sounds. I wanted to transform my piano into my own voice, and every voice into vibrating strings. The music I hear inside me will probably never end up on an album - because I can only play it for myself. This album brings together the recordings that I think stand out and describes my recent musical discoveries in the best way I can think of

The cover of "All Melody" was shot by photographer Lia Darjes in Nils' new studio, whereupon Torsten Posselt von Feld contributed the design. A whole series of such studio photos can be seen in the booklet of the physical recording medium

Reviews

"The great strength of this LP, apart from its beguiling melody, is the logical merging of opposites." [stereoplay, february 2018]

"The songs pluck along in a contemporary, decelerated manner: New Age for the year 2018" (Jazzthing, February / March 2018)

"The title says it all - it's all melody here. And acoustics. And electronics. And space. And atmosphere." (Audio, March 2018)

"Mature compositions and perfect arrangements on one of the already best electronic music albums of the year." (LP, issue 3 / 2018)