Saccades - Flowing Fades (2021) [Hi-Res]

‘Flowing Fades’, the second Saccades album from The KVB’s Nicholas Wood, is due for release April 9th on Fuzz Club Records. Where Wood’s work in The KVB (Invada Records) trades in minimalist post-punk/coldwave, the Manchester-based artist’s solo material under the Saccades moniker is an exercise in escapist psychedelic pop. On ‘Flowing Fades’ we find a world of blissed-out synths, languid carefree guitars, dreamy vocals and influences that range from J.G. Ballard and Serge Gainsbourg to 80s dream pop and yacht-rock.

“I began to properly work on this album after returning from The KVB’s North American Tour in late 2019, my head filled with new inspiration for this project and a clear idea on how this album should sound”, Wood remembers: “I wanted to create something soothing and immersive. Music for escapism, which can be listened to at sunrise or sunset. Even though it’s lighter and mellower than my usual output, I feel like there are strong hints of melancholia in there too, reflecting the world in which it was created.” With the bulk of the album written whilst Wood was cooped up in his apartment over lockdown, the album inevitably reflects the social unrest that was unfolding outside - touching on everything from lockdown paranoia and fractured relationships to missing life on the road.