Callum Alston is a Musician / Producer from East London who performs under the stage name Doomed Nymph.
He is about to unveil his debut EP Roses and Nettles on August 5th and he just released his debut single Blooms.
His music has been compared to a combination of Bon Iver and Radiohead
We are fortunate enough to exclusively review the EP and Callum has also taken time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.
How did you get into music in the first place? I got into music when I accidentally clicked on Nirvana instead of Nina Simone on my dad's MP3 player. The first 4 bars of that song began my infatuation with music as an art form instead of just background noise and lead me to start playing guitar.
Who were your musical influences? Far too many to list, but keeping it short and simple: Nirvana, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Modest Mouse, Actress, Aphex Twin, SCNTST, Burial, Alt J, Arcade Fire, Pariah, Atoms for Peace, The Bug, Bonobo, Moire, Damien Rice, Death Cab for Cutie, Dmitry Evgrafov, Good Weather for an Airstrike, My Bloody Valentine, Invisible Elephant, Zomby, Astronauts Etc., James Blake, FKA Twigs, Lorde
What tunes are currently on repeat on your Mp3 Player? Over 1000 of them haha, but my current favourites are New Year Son by The Amazing Broken Man, Little Motel by Modest Mouse, Hunger of the Pine by Alt J, Before Your Very Eyes by Atoms for Peace, Nose Grows Some by Thom Yorke, Elephant by Jason Isbell, Kettering by The Antlers, Old Pine by Ben Howard, Voodoo Posse Chronic Illusion by Actress, Marching Bands of Manhattan by Death Cab for Cutie and Up For Grabs by Astronauts, Etc and Fall Creek Boys' Choir by James Blake and Bon Iver
What’s your life outside of music? I'm actually about to head off for university up north to study politics and international relations, but currently my life consists of promotion for Doomed Nymph and also preparing a live show for next year.
If you could collaborate with any singer who would it be? Thom Yorke, his falsetto is everything that I wish mine was, and also Lorde and Joe Newman from Alt-J. For lyrics I'd want Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie.
What’s your favourite genre of music? This is between Alternative/Indie rock and abstract electronica ala Hyperdub and Warp records.
What’s next for you musically and are there plans for a Tour? Hopefully I'll be able to make a live show and write new songs with friends at university and expand this project out of my bedroom, there aren't touring plans currently, but hopefully there will be in the future.
What are your strengths and weaknesses? My weakness has to be the center of my vocal range, I normally hide that under tons of reverb or under auto-tune for a cool effect (not to fix the singing, haha) as well as my sound design. My strength is my falsetto, definitely.
Where do you draw inspiration for your song lyrics? Normally I take moments in my life and twist them into metaphors which are meaningless to everyone other than myself, however this allows the listener to make up their own meanings which is a different way of thinking about art. Finally I douse it in reverb to make it difficult for the words to be understood, almost using the voice as a separate instrument.
What is your guilty pleasure? Lorde and Kanye, I almost lost my voice at a Lorde concert. The theme of the EP is about getting lost in London and the relationships and memories created.
Intro (Roses) starts off proceedings with haunting instrumentals and catchy beats.
Blooms is a more uplifting number with catchier beats and a flawless vocal performance with heart felt verses.
Awash With Colour (LA) delivers an interesting blend of vocals and electronic beats, however sadly the arrangement is overbearing in places as the balance is wrong and the beats are slightly excessive plus the volume is too high for the instrumentals.
City's Hymn (Interlude) showcases choral vocals and unique samples.
Under The Watchful Eyes Of You presents an eclectic blend of electronic beats and vocals - the beats are semi captivating but the effects on the vocals are somewhat of a let down.
Doomed Nymph concludes his debut EP with a bonus track Nebulus, this extra track treats us to innovative beats and unique vocals.
I consider Blooms to be the strong point of Doomed Nymph's EP as it tends to fit my musical preferences more then the other tracks.
Post By - Boulent Mustafa
