"Nowfeel is the artistic alias of Ben Rissin, a Canadian producer and songwriter whose watermark is a distinctly fluid brand of electronic music. Fusing contemporary, innovative arrangements with driving sound design inspired by the UK's love affair with sine compression, Nowfeel captures the precision of modern engineering principles alongside impeccable phrasing and pace. It's both a difficult balance to achieve and a difficult position to maintain, and it invariably sets Rissin's work apart from the veritable pack. Expounding on the motifs and breakthroughs of his Spectrum LP in 2019, Rissin has achieved terminal velocity once again through his latest release, the kin LP.
nowfeel · kin
kin wastes no time hitting its stride, with the opening track "reach through me" dancing wide spectrum percussion across earthy reese bass and spatial harmonies. It lays out an audio topography that will endure across the rest of the album, elucidating the positive relationship an album can have with a strong, relatively singular hand of tones, patches, and drum programming. In general contrast to his contemporaries, Rissin avoids the rat race of constant, invariable change in the timbre of an album or EP, and instead flexes that singular hand in the way a live band can channel visceral changes in energy without necessarily changing its core sound throughout an entire evening. Moving through the rest of the LP, the dynamic movement between tracks at half time and full time breathes an extra pulse of life into the release, with rhythms stretching from downtempo to midtempo, drum and bass, and variations on drumstep motifs. It's an ideal spread of the vibe, avoiding the trap of lingering too long in one discipline of songwriting or another, and it positively tees up kin for a place amongst some of the best albums and EPs to come to light so far in 2022.
The Nowfeel project has only been planting roots for a short few years, but the distance gone in both composition and design speak volumes about his otherwise frugal catalog. Rissin's ample control over the trajectory of his craftsmanship will undoubtedly continue to pay off with even more visceral musical moments, but in the meantime, there's plenty stuffed within the grooves of kin to keep even the most ferocious appetites satisfied."
-The Rust
Finding music that makes us feel in sync and connected to the world around us is crucial to the human experience. Artist Nowfeel continues to bring forth new music that does just this: heightens our emotions and allows us to be introspective of all that is going on in life. His newest LP, kin, combines multiple genres to bring an intimate deep listening experience that is not to be missed. Each of these 7 tracks put listeners into a whole new soundscape as they are taken on the journey that is kin. Our premiere today, “all around you” is a UK garage inspired track that is at the epicenter of this deep listening experience. It’s ambient sound plays perfectly into all that kin is: “a love letter to electronic music, nature, and the human spirit”. Let’s a take a deeper dive into why we are calling “all around you” and the rest of the kin LP, a certified bop.
-Headbang Society
If there was one thing you could change for the betterment of society, what would it be and why? (Headbang Society)
That’s a really hard question….I will go with some sort of global crop-dusting of a magical powder that increases the human population’s level of empathy by at least 75 % 😉
What would you tell your younger self today knowing where you’re at now and what it took to get there?
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“The most important thing to do if youwant to be a better artist is to make art (easy right?). However, if you are one of the many artists who struggle with mental health issues that hinder your ability to stay motivated and focused, then that needs to be addressed first. I know it’s been said a million times but there is no silver bullet to becoming a better musician besides finding ways to stay disciplined and put in the hours to hone your craft. Working on my health has had the most profound effect on my ability to create and it’s something I wish my younger self would have put more attention towards.”
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If there was an artist you had the chance to collaborate with, who would it be and why?
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“There are so many! Datassette, Tom VR, Lusine… I could go on forever. These days I would love to work with Richard Spaven, one of my all-time favourite drummers, who has such an amazing feel and understanding of D&B and Jungle percussion. It would be amazing to make an IDM-fused Jungle tune with his live drumming
credits
released July 1, 2022
Music by Ben Rissin and Patrick Cheater
Mixed by Ben Rissin and Howard Rissin
Mastered by Moomin
Artwork by Ryan Germain
Nowfeel is the artistic alias of Ben Rissin, a Canadian producer and songwriter whose watermark is a distinctly fluid brand
of electronic music. Fusing contemporary, innovative arrangements with driving sound design inspired by the UK's love affair with sine compression, Nowfeel captures the precision of modern engineering principles alongside impeccable phrasing and pace....more
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