Hazy analogue walls of sound
Who He?
Hailing from Worcestershire, Inwards is the alias of multi-instrumentalist and music programmer Kristian Shelley. Drawing his influences from the outer edges of dance music, his weapon of choice is a modular synth with acoustic and electronic sources, giving him access to a pretty eclectic sonic palette.
Why Tom Hang?
Ahead of his debut album in the spring comes the double A-side ‘Amsterdam’/‘Computertalsk’, two tracks of colourful instrumental excursions. On ‘Amsterdam’ stabbing synth whirs echo in and out of mellow organic percussion, made from manipulated vocal sounds. ‘Computertalsk’ in contrast is more frantic, with all kinds of knocks and glitches fluttering about. Both songs are the product of Shelley exploring and familiarising himself with new kit. “I remember making the ‘Amsterdam’ riffs on the CS-80 plugin, and loving the sound,” he says. “I made the bass on a Korg MS-20, and drums from the Machinedrum SPS-1. They make a good team.”
Tell Us More…
There’s never a dull moment when you go to an Inwards live show. Each performance varies from venue to venue, accompanied by live visuals, tracks taking on new forms each time they’re played. So far he’s appeared alongside the likes of Forest Swords, Adam Betts and Ulrich Schnauss, including slots at The Great Escape and Brighton’s Digital Festival. The aforementioned live sets and from DIY releases caught the attention of Small Pond Records, who snapped him up last year. And judging by what we’re hearing now, we’re very much looking forward to that debut album.
‘Amsterdam’/‘Computertalsk’ is out on Small Pond
