NICK MULVEY Returns With New Single ‘Star Nation’
In these times of death and rebirth we live, heal and serve” is one of multiple totemic lines from Mercury Prize nominated Nick Mulvey’s new single ‘Star Nation’, an invitation to cultivate radical joy in times of ‘great turning’. The song is a microscope into the musical exploration Nick has gone on over the four years since his critically acclaimed second record Wake Up Now. ‘Star Nation’ is both a tender and stark beginning, which speaks about finding answers in times of deep crisis through courage, rituals and playfulness, with a video directed by Kate Bellm forming a stunning accompaniment. The song sets the scene for Mulvey’s third album, “New Mythology”, announced today and set to be released on 10 June 2022 on Fiction Records. New Mythology is an album that centers on “interbeing”, the interconnectedness we share with all life, a collection of songs that meets this moment in time head-on and shows Mulvey’s exceptional talent for putting complex, philosophical ideas into three-minute songs. Playing songs from the album for the first time live, Mulvey will perform at Lafayette on 22 March for an intimate show. Tickets are on sale this Friday, 25th February at 9am GMT.
To arrive at this album, the acclaimed artist and songwriter has come a long way – both experientially, musically and philosophically. Musician, composer and producer, Nick’s work pushes boundaries in songwriting and sound, music both traditional and experimental, acoustic and electronic. A founding member of the award-winning British collective Portico Quartet, he left in 2011 to concentrate on his own material. Once solo, he released the Mercury Prize nominated debut album First Mind in 2014, and 2017’s celebrated Wake Up Now, along with a number of EPs. On New Mythology, our shared humanity becomes common sense and this humanity and the natural world are enmeshed. The possibility of flourishing futures becomes real. The album explores the vulnerability of the everyday human experience; becoming a father, sickness and death, navigating the pandemic, but also Nick’s journey to compute the scope and scale of his feelings: an attempt to embody the personal all the way to the planetary – and grasp their true inseparability. ‘Star Nation’, and ‘Begin Again’ - released during the pandemic - both sow the seeds of this interconnected space.
New Mythology was recorded during the pandemic in Paris with renowned producer Renaud Letang [Manu Chao, Feist, Connan Mockasin] at Studio Ferber – which miraculously remained open whilst the city was in lockdown. Nick also credits his friends and family, teachers past and present who’ve helped him arrive at this point – from mentors like the Polynesian ambassador and elder Aunty Ivy, the life’s work of Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Berry’s collection of essays evening thoughts and Mac Macartney’s book The Children’s Fire. Further inspiration Nick credits to his beloved homeland of Britain, his ever deepening kinship to the land, ancestors and the living world . Now, Mulvey finds himself at the precipice of change and is ready to share his raw musings with the world.
