04 December 2020 - 0 Comments

Wrangling magic with musicians from behind the studio desk is Nic Manders’ daily bread – you’ll find crumbs of evidence peppered throughout the liner notes of projects by Brooke Fraser, Katchafire, Stan Walker, Lydia Cole and many other national treasures.

But the collaborations ground to a halt in the first half of 2020; months marked by imposed isolation and quietude. The veteran producer found himself suddenly unbusied by the projects of others. In a newly silent city, he walked the empty streets at dawn, checked on neighbours across the fence, and tinkered on the piano in his front lounge, making jokes about “that long awaited solo album.”

“All this time we’re gifted / To make it what we will”

He revisited a thousand old voice memos, scratches of melody and chord; debris from years of stolen moments and flashes of inspiration. Over weeks, he turned them into songs, playing one-man band in his makeshift home studio. The ticking of an old grandfather clock became his metronome as he revisited old memories, reflecting on the passing of time as the country outside stood still.

“If I could walk these steps again / I’d try and tell myself / to be at peace with all that falls at my feet.”

This Time is not a lockdown album. Nor is it a stolid slice of mid-life melancholy. It’s an artist taking advantage of a change in the wind, shifting tack and taking stock. It’s the nostalgia and dusted-over memories that come flooding back in a quiet moment.

“As a mist, we’re here just a moment / But we bear the bones of our fathers with us”

Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again. Not like it was, anyway. Your childhood, your country, your old ways – they look different the second time around. You visit them from a distance, a nostalgic commuter. You flip through old photo albums, while time hums in the background, barely distinct from the neighbour’s mower.

This Time is the work of a seasoned songwriter with the inventive flourishes of a man adept at manipulating a studio soundscape. For the producer, it’s a step from out behind the desk and into an artistry of his own.

This Time is out now.

Link to the This Time album:

https://smarturl.it/nmanderstt

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