Jabun's new "Nephology" album has been released along with download rewards for all subscribers on Patreon! Join me for a cloud watching party at 8pm GMT tonight on YouTube!
Hi everyone! It's finally time to release Jabun's 6th album/EP project "Nephology"! Check it out now on Bandcamp and I hope you enjoy it:
Purchase the Nephology album now on Bandcamp:
https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/nephology
Well... I got distracted again! After I released my 5th and shortest collective Jabun project June22 in March 2023, I was super sure that it’d be my ska-punk project Better Than The Book which would be getting the next album release. Time sure does fly though, and alongside the hard work on that BTTB album I got back to some ambient explorations in some free evenings. An experiment with the first track from my 15-4-20 album turned into an over 2 hour long ultra ambient remix like nothing I’ve ever done before, and after revisiting the results at a later date, I figured I’d do similar remixes for the other 2 tracks from 15-4-20 as well and a new album project (and by far the longest one to date) was formed! For those eager to hear the new Better Than The Book album though, don’t you worry. Audio is actually now 100% complete for my ska-punk project’s next release, but it just so happened that the admin for this Jabun project filled a much smaller to-do list so it’s coming first! Thanks for your patience!
Nephology is a 6+ hour collection of 3 long-form ultra ambient remixes of my 2nd album 15-4-20 inspired by cloud gazing. Each track is a 2+ hour long soundscape showcasing a different atmosphere and mood, and the album as a concept aims to be an auditory and musical expression of cloud watching. All tracks were remixed using Paul’s Extreme Sound Stretch, Ableton Live 8 and Valhalla Supermassive and were mastered in Ableton Live 8.
Nephology isn’t an album to listen to note for note so to speak, more a collection of 3 sonic paintings to have in the background, glance through at your leisure, and just enjoy the vibes for as short or long a time as you want, much like how you’d experience watching clouds in the sky. These 3 tracks and over 6 hours of ambient remix material are all non-looping and never exactly repeating much like how the 15-4-20 album was (and how cloud gazing is) and through the gently evolving sounds I hope you enjoy the sound design, shifting textures, and unexpected moments and have fun with it.
Cumulus shares deep, dense and warm slowly drifting ambiences gradually morphing as time goes by. Meanwhile, Stratus shares a similar vibe to its precursor but with lighter and more dynamically evolving textures. Finally, Cirrus shifts the tone entirely to a colder, mysterious and more out of this world soundscape where you can almost hear the wind and ice crystals swirling into those distinct wispy formations as they pass by. Whether you sit down to listen intently, have them on in the background while doing something else, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds for as long as you’d like to, I hope you enjoy these ambient sonic experiments from 2024 and the overall concept I wanted to share with this album.
Much like the 15-4-20 album, Nephology’s album cover photo is of the sky, in fact the same sky as before, but this time looking up from the ground instead of out of the window. The note paper motif is very typical for me (see Better Than The Book) but hadn’t previously been used in any of the Jabun album covers. I thought it fit well with the literal meaning of Nephology which is the study or contemplation of clouds. Interestingly, the lines of the paper were drawn digitally, but the punched holes were actually photos of paper holes because drawing them in didn’t look quite real? Strange how that goes! I also created visualisers for this album which are slowed down footage looking out of that same window as 15-4-20 at the passing and evolving clouds. I’m really going to miss the view from that studio of 2019-2024 and I wonder what will bring me inspiration and where it’ll take my music in the next few years to come!
Nephology Tracklist:
01 Cumulus
02 Stratus
03 Cirrus
All tracks written, performed, remixed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]
Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]
Album artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]
No generative A.I. tools were used in the creation of this album.
You can explore the full Nephology album credits and special thanks on the dedicated Bandcamp page, but for now I'd like to extend an immediate thanks to my family and friends (both online and offline) for their support and a big thanks to the current supporters on Patreon with extra mention to $10+ patrons: Nathan Puray, and Michael White! Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!
Read more on Bandcamp: https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/nephology
To celebrate the release launch I'll be hosting a listening / chillout / cloud watching party "premier" for the first track "Cumulus" on YouTube at 8pm (GMT) tonight! Check out the link below and come hang out, ask questions, and let's enjoy some Nephology together! I look forward to seeing you there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vzMQN8_AE
And I'll be holding listening parties for the next tracks on my JabunAudio YouTube channel in the coming week too (on Sunday 1st December and next Wednesday 4th December). If you've not done so already, subscribe to the channel to keep in the loop!
https://www.youtube.com/@jabunaudio
Of course my supporters on Patreon are celebrating today with the full download package of Nephology which includes Mp3s (+ WAVs for the $10 patrons) and full sized album art + cover photo + alternative cover! If any of that sounds good to you, then consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 today, and remember you'll be getting the full back-catalogue of rewards for your tier when you join, including the full BTTB, Jabun and Nick Standing discographies, bonus Patreon exclusives and much more! Find out more below:
$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116372988
$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116372989
Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842
Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding
That about wraps things up for this post! I'll be back on Sunday for a shared monthly news roundup for all Patreon supporters but since the Nephology album has just launched there'll be no extra rewards this time. Having said that, I will be back before the end of the year with something extra special from BTTB before it's time to update the reward archives at the beginning of 2025! Until then, I hope you enjoy the Nephology album, hope to see you at some of the listening parties this week and thanks as always for supporting my music however you can and on Patreon! Take care and enjoy some cloud watching!