29.01.2025
Music
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NICOLE MIGLIS - Re: Communicating

NICOLE MIGLIS - Re: Communicating

Hundred Water vocalist Nicole Miglis serves up a stunning piano version of her band's last album, Communicating.

Re: Communicating is a gorgeous reinterpretation from the classically trained pianist 7th March 2025 American multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and vocalist Nicole Miglis is best known as the lead singer and creative force behind Hundred Waters. The band has released three critically acclaimed albums on Skrillex’s OWSLA label with 2017's Communicating the most recent. Miglis has also toured the world as lead singer for GRAMMY-nominated electronic musician Bonobo, released instrumental ambient as Batry Powr and dropped her debut solo album Myopia in February 2024, all of which explore experimental production, pop melodies and classical forms in innovative ways.

Miglis has always wanted to write a piano album, and the genesis of Re: Communicating came ahead of the original album launch party at a Masonic Lodge in a Hollywood cemetery. The plan was to have a self-playing piano relaying MIDI versions of the tracks as people arrived at the gig. Although the musician transcribed much of the record, the idea never came to fruition and was shelved until the self-described "nomad" rediscovered them in 2024.

The original album wasn't designed with piano playing in mind so presented a fair test for Miglis despite her formal classical background. "It was really challenging to do it myself, to get the music under my fingers and learn my own limitations, but it was also lovely to get back in touch with an instrument that I grew up playing.“

Miglis set herself a two-week time limit while in a hired studio on a visit to her sister's in Washington DC. The process was intuitive and started on a keyboard with Miglis going where the music took her while also remaining sympathetic to the originals. It was finished with her playing two or three live takes of each track on a Steinway then selecting the best versions for the final album. Each interpretation finds Miglis expanding the source material and pushing herself to find fresh harmonies and different voicings.

Re: Communicating was written without the use of a metronome, so the tracks are led more by feeling than timing. "I like the idea of it being something that you put on to soundtrack the room or something that you're doing. I wanted it to be a peaceful record.“

And it is. The 12 tracks layer up mellifluous keys and gentle chords into lush layers of evocative neo-classical sound. There is a tenderness to the playing that conveys plenty of emotions, from the subtle optimism of '(better)' to the more rousing joy of '(firelight)' and dancing staccatos of '(wave to anchor). ' Elsewhere, closer 'communicating' comes in two parts - the first with rich cascading keys and the second with looping progressions, and both are effortlessly hypnotic.

Nicole Miglis's Re: Communicating LP comes via 7K! on 7th March 2025.

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