Nurture, the new album from acclaimed vocalist, songwriter and producer Porter Robinson, is out today via Mom+Pop!
“Nurture is an album about hope, overcoming despair, faithfully pursuing a sense of purpose, and trying to prove that it’s worthwhile to try,” says Porter. “This album came about during a period of intense creative and emotional struggle. I had structured my life around the expectation that the only thing that made me happy was writing music. But it was exactly that obsession and imbalance that made writing music an impossibility for me for years. I wanted it too much, was highly self-critical, and I was so scared that I wouldn’t ever be able to write music again. And the more desperate I became to write music, the harder it became. Only by accepting that I might never be able to do it again, and by embracing and trying to find happiness in aspects of life outside of music, was I able to slowly claw my way into being able to do it again. And on the other side of all this fear and anxiety, I found this life-giving sort of light and beauty. I felt a gratitude towards real life that I used to only feel towards fiction.
“I’m really, deeply glad that I wrote this album. It’s my favorite music I’ve ever made, and it made me feel purposeful and happy to write music again.
“I want to write music that tells people that an earnest and sincere effort to overcome that thing you’re struggling with is the best path forward. There’s no shortage of fuel for despair and nihilism, but I’ve found that those things don’t help. I want the listener to know that even when it seems impossible and insurmountable, it’s worthwhile to do your best, that there’s no shame in hope, and that purpose and meaning are worth pursuing.”
Additionally, Porter’s livestream festival Secret Sky will return tomorrow, April 24. This year’s lineup, curated by Porter, features artists from across the world including Baauer, Boys Noize, End of the World, Imanu B2B Buunshin, James Ivy, Kero Kero Bonito, Laxcity, Masakatsu Takagi, No Rome, Rezz, Salute, Serph, Swardy, Wave Racer and Yvette Young. Porter’s headline set marks the first time he will perform music from Nurture—see the full line-up and register to attend the free event here.
Nurture, Porter’s first full length in seven years, features previously released singles “Musician,” “Look At The Sky,” “Mirror,” “Get Your Wish” and “Something Comforting.”
Nurture spans a highly challenging period in Porter’s life. Following his 2014 debut Worlds, which found Porter headlining festivals worldwide and being heralded as a wunderkind of a burgeoning new style of electronic music, Porter began to experience severe anxiety under the pressure of his success to a degree that was creatively crippling, smothered by his own self-criticism and high expectations. A vicious cycle began to take hold—the more Porter struggled to write, the more his sense of self unraveled, leaving him in a state of despair, which was exacerbated by his brother’s diagnosis with a rare and aggressive cancer.
Through much personal work, Porter began to claw himself out of his creative slump little by little. He began to experiment with a completely new sound inspired by early-aughts rave music, which turned into critically acclaimed side project Virtual Self. After some time, he finally returned to the piano and his own voice as the basis for the next evolution in his sound. Nurtureis the resulting document of this period, a testament to hope and persistence in the face of the negative voices in one’s own head. It is a hopeful, intimate album that champions the power of vulnerability while paying homage to the struggles that pushed him to grow. This iteration of Porter’s sound stands starkly in contrast to his prior productions as it blends live instruments, digital synths, artificially pitched vocals, chopped samples and cozy ambience.
Nurture is available in a number of physical formats. The Deluxe Vinyl Box Set includes opaque white vinyl and deluxe gatefold jacket with boxset-exclusive alternate album art, six 7” singles with box set-exclusive alternate album art and a Nurture hardcover artbook plus complete lyric booklet. The Standard Vinyl includes the opaque white vinyl discs and a matte finish gatefold jacket as well as the Nurture lyric booklet, while the Standard Retail Vinylfeatures clear vinyl discs with matte finish gatefold jacket as well as the Nurture lyric booklet. All physical orders come with a digital download of the album—order here.
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Check out more of Porter Robinson and their music here: INSTAGRAM / ALBUM HERE
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