Nový Den is a three track EP from Wellington multi-instrumentalist Jamie Scott Palmer, wearing his solo artist hat as The Emptys Response.
Released in early January
of 2021, Nový Den loosely translates (from Czech) to mean “a new day”, which
seems quite apt for a new year release, but I also suspect the title may be of greater
personal significance for Palmer; as someone I’ve followed closely on social media
for a few years he strikes me as a guy who is constantly looking to move
forward, to challenge himself, and to challenge wider society’s accepted norms.
Someone who craves answers to many of life’s more difficult questions. I’ve met
Palmer out and about very briefly a few times in Wellington, usually at the
tail end of gigs, which isn’t always the best environment to discuss such
matters, or to get a full grasp of what makes an artist tick, so all of the
above is merely an impression I’ve formed and not necessarily the gospel
according to those who actually know him well.
And the Buffalo
Bunny stuff - collaborating with performance artist Victoria Singh - of
2019/2020 was almost more David Lynch than Lynch himself. The duo’s early 2020
Covid-themed track ‘2 Meters’ (clip here) was easily the best musical realisation
of the dystopian or pre-apocalyptic collective angst created by the first
global lockdown I heard during that period. The nonchalant or subtle mimicry of
that whole “be kind to one another, follow the leader, and don’t ask questions”
theme within ‘2 Meters’ was subliminally brilliant, mischievously subversive,
and for many, right on the money. There were other great Buffalo Bunny moments
too, and it is of some regret that I caught only the tail end of one of their
rare live sets (at Wellington’s Pyramid Club) during their all too short-lived
existence.
Which brings us to
The Emptys Response and Palmer in his solo guise (phew, we got there
eventually), by some distance his most prolific platform when it comes to work released online. Across many years. Including the Nový Den EP, which
amounts to three relatively lengthy atmospheric instrumental tracks which blend
together or cross-pollinate a number of different genres, from ambient to electronica
to dark post-punk to a mild form of spacey psychedelia.
There was a
certain irony for me that I was stuck in motorway traffic gridlock when first
absorbing the scene-setting opener ‘The Drive Home’ which is effectively a probing
low key synthetic pulse that threatens to explode at any moment without ever quite
managing it across its near eight-minute duration. It is dark and quite tense without
ever becoming too overwhelming. More of a mood or vibe than anything else, and
I’m still trying to decide whether the drums are program generated or the result
of a more human or live organic approach, on a loop. There’s a lot to be said
for a live drum sound, and if this isn’t that, then Palmer’s done a pretty good
job replicating it.
The second track, ‘Terraforma’,
feels more substantial and is perhaps the most accessible of the three on offer.
A dense, repetitive, almost bleak slice of semi-industrial grinding electronica
which builds in tension to become quite riveting, it’s probably my pick of the
bunch. See clip below.
The final track ‘11:11’
- which not coincidentally is its length - is an exercise in spaced out ambience
and it’s another which slowly builds in intensity as we journey through its
various subtle mood changing soundscapes. Ethereal and entirely beatless until
just before the seven-minute mark, it may upon first listen feel a little
directionless, or prone to drift for too long, but subsequent listens will reveal
that there’s a lot more going on than might initially be obvious.
You can check out Palmer’s extensive collection of solo work on his website here.
