Bleep

Nathan Jenkins is something akin to your favourite alt-pop star’s secret weapon. A quiet architect in the ever-growing tribe of 80’s inflected, yet thrillingly modern pop progenitors, the UK producer has worked with beloved luminaries like Carly Rae Jepsen and Ben Howard and underground heroes like Avalon Emerson and Westerman alike. With a feel for the ethereal and the dramatic, his production work has sparked crucial breakthroughs for artists on several different scales. That said, his solo work under the name Bullion has taken a different shape thus far. Though parallels obviously exist, the mercurial nature of his releases on labels like Trilogy Tapes, Jagjaguwar, and his own DEEK Recordings promised smaller, more personal offerings. Beautifully rendered and often shadow-y and plotted delicately with musical trap doors, the Bullion project of the past landed firmly in the avant-garde. Let this be something of a reinvention, then.

Affection, his latest LP for Ghostly International as they reach their 25th anniversary acts something like a homecoming party. Illuminated by a move back to his native London from Lisbon, Bullion found himself turning introspective among the comforts of home. Vulnerability, masculinity, the space we take up in the world, these were the big topics pondered and researched as these songs took shape. The music surrounding such weighty aspirations responds with fervour. Bullion’s typical avant tendencies still creep into frame on tracks like ‘Your Father’ and ‘Open Hands’, but these devices are employed carefully and with discernment. Less concerned with tripping listeners up than inviting them in, Bullion made his strongest artistic statement yet simply by letting a little more light in.