Wake Up Now Nick Mulvey

• 1Unconditional03:45
• 2Transform Your Game (We Remain)06:17
• 3Imogen04:15
• 4Myela05:36
• 5We Are Never Apart04:34
• 6Remembering04:17
• 7Mountain To Move03:56
• 8When The Body Is Gone06:11
• 9Lullaby01:16
• 10In Your Hands07:10
• 11Infinite Trees04:03
• Total Runtime51:20

Info for Wake Up Now

At a time of great uncertainty, it helps to surround yourself with those things you trust, and so marks the timely return of the reliably brilliant Nick Mulvey. His standout debut album, First Mind, in 2015 was the introduction of an artist who shirked the conventional and side-stepped the expected. It was a record of opposing shades, all leftfield rhythms, and harnessing an exquisitely natural guitarist doing extraordinary things, painting unique colours across a very moreish collection of songs. It was quite peerless, and translated to the stage alongside a fine collection of talented players that formed his band.

Nick’s return with the first fruits of his new album sessions has brought with it his own outlook on a world that can’t decide which direction it’s going, or quite what to do with itself. We’re all hastily trying to find our spot within these times, and Nick is no exception, but if clarity is part-resolved by a call to arms, perhaps it’s time to make that call. Unconditional, the first new music from Mulvey in over two years, is a multi-layered, groove-based tune that doesn’t stray too far from First Mind, but far enough to sound fresh, unique and exciting.

Unconditional is one of a number of standout songs from the sprawling Wake Up Now, an album rooted in the conscience and all that it stands for. It’s also a record that harbours great community, welcoming a host of new and multi-talented musicians with a flourishing skillset. That sense of community was drilled home by Brian Eno in a few pre-recording meet-ups between the two, who implored Nick to open himself up more and consider sharing the weight-load. The idea of opening himself up more has filtered into Nick’s lyrics too, once swathed in metaphor upon metaphor, they’re now at the heart of this record’s identity. Clarity. Humanity.

Production duties here are handed to Ethan Johns at Real World Studios who recorded Nick and his band live and at their most raw to reinforce that key community spirit, and whose eventual finished tapes Nick then took up to London and presented to First Mind producer Dan Carey who meticulously sewed in the electronic elements. Standout tracks are almost as crucial as the sum of Wake Up Now’s parts, and the seismic Mountain To Move (with the album title at the heart of the song’s refrain) and We Are Never Apart implore repeat plays.

it’s a much more relaxed Nick Mulvey that delivers Wake Up Now. Comfortable within his own skin, for want of a less travelled term. The community he’s built around himself all sit on the same page together, letting the music and conversation at the heart of this record flow naturally and at ease with the world around them.

It’s the work of a special British talent ready for the next phase, whatever that phase will be.

Nick Mulvey, vocals, guitar

Nick Mulvey
is an English musician, singer and songwriter who studied music in Havana, Cuba. He played the Hang as a founder member of 2008 Mercury Prize nominated band Portico Quartet, until 2011 when he left to pursue his career as a singer-songwriter. As a solo artist, Mulvey released his first EP The Trellis in November 2012, and his second Fever to the Form in July 2013. He has toured with Laura Marling, Laura Mvula, and Lianne La Havas and cites, among others, Nick Drake as a key musical influence.

As a founding member of sprawling, Mercury Prize nominated jazz collective, Portico Quartet, Nick played an otherworldly new instrument called The Hang, and their music still resonates today in broader circles outside of any insular jazz clique (Alt-J quoted one of Nick's Portico lyrics on their debut album). Nick though wanted a change, and one where the creative process was perhaps a more singular vision, albeit no less liberal-minded.

Putting himself through a guitar school in Cuba, the only Brit in the room, his technique is exquisite, a blur of picked notes and offbeat, irregular timings. Nick is one of life\'s great thinkers, and coupling his beautifully delivered verse with the intricacies of his playing, you have something wildly at odds with his peers.

Three single releases into this solo career and Nick's music is making impressive, encouraging footprints across the globe. Concluding 2013 on the BBC Sound of 2014 shortlist, those introductory singles, Fever to The Form, Nitrous, and the irresistible Cucurucu are picking up fans in all the right places. Playlisted at Radio 1, Radio 2, 6Music, Absolute Radio, and XFM, and armed with a slew of impressive press quotes, its crucially not just the airwaves and printed press that are taking to Nick but their listeners and readers alike.

The confines of the studio, where an artist can pour over every dropped note or wayward vocal, are rarely the litmus test for a musician's true worth, so it's equally as encouraging that the past twelve months have taken Nick across the UK and Europe and back again, performing to bigger crowds and selling out venues well in advance. Laura Marling invited him out on a full UK tour last Autumn, Ben Howard has become a big vocal supporter following a support slot in Ireland, and Nick's upcoming UK and European tour already includes sold-out shows in cities far beyond his London home. Last Summer he was a regular on the festival stages to busy crowds, and this year already looks likely to repeat and surpass that feat. He dips speculative toes in America this March with his first performances out at SXSW in Texas.

This album contains no booklet.