Black hole horizon in space and time
No matter where you begin
Collapsing boundaries of your own design
Even light will be pulled in
Charlie Nieland returns from the edge of the event horizon with Redshift, a radiant reverie from his forthcoming The Ocean Understands EP, arriving June 20. With this latest single, the veteran producer and post-punk polymath catapults his sound into the stratosphere, drawing on a constellation of experience that includes stints with dream pop stalwarts Her Vanished Grace, experimental duo Lusterlit, and production work with Blondie and Rufus Wainwright.
Redshift is a supernova of sentiment and self-discovery. Set adrift in a universe of chromatic confusion and celestial compression, the track frames personal transformation through the lens of astrophysics. Redshift, the phenomenon where light stretches as it speeds away, becomes metaphor: for letting go, for drifting from past pain, and for redefining your own gravitational pull.
Nieland bends light and time with layered guitars, restless rhythms, and a voice that hums with quiet conviction. His introspective tenor, gentle yet grounded, pairs beautifully with luminous guitar lines, striking a balance between the melancholic grace of Nick Drake, the world-weariness of Richard Hawley, and the soaring calm of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. As black hole metaphors collapse inner walls, a sharp clarity emerges, slicing through like cosmic rays in a frozen vacuum. Rather than recoil from the vertigo of existential drift, Nieland finds solid ground in the steady determination to move ahead.
Photo: Alice Teeple
Lyrically, Nieland trades planets for pain and nebulae for nuance. He speaks not from the safety of escape velocity, but from the still center of acceptance, reminding us that light, even when bent or buried, can be reclaimed. Redshift finds freedom in facing the fractured past and forming something stronger: a chosen family forged in trust, tenderness, and shared orbit. As the EP title The Ocean Understands suggests, there’s a tidal pull to Nieland’s work; a deep sense of motion and magnitude. But here in Redshift, he’s not swept away. He steers the ship straight through the starstuff, steady, luminous, and loud.
“Redshift is a slice of dream pop about growing up – as viewed from space,” Nieland explains. “The book STRAY, by Tanya Marquardt, got me thinking about how we choose new families when we’re alienated from our birth ones. This coincided with another thing I was reading about Steven Hawking and astrophysics. The song became a little field guide on how to put your own story into a cosmic context…There’s an eerie freedom to embracing life when the universe is pulling apart. While in lockdown, I’d made up a modal exercise for the guitar and it was a perfect shimmering fit for this, with Billy Loose’s symphonic drums bringing it all down to earth.”
For those drawn to the drama of dream pop, the patience of post-rock, and the curious poetry of the cosmos, Redshift is your guiding star.
You can also listen to the track below and pre-order The Ocean Understands here.
Earlier this year, Charlie Nieland unveiled the reverb-soaked lead single Drown, accompanied by a striking video directed by the multi-talented artist Hypnodoll. Drawing from a dystopian vision, this mythical, psychedelic siren song plunges into the chaos of an authoritarian past, filtered through fragmented futures. As it navigates the wreckage of the present, Drown seeks glimmers of grace amid violent, surging tides.
“With its mind-melting imagery, the video for Drown…is beautiful and deranged,” Nieland reflects on Hypnodoll’s artistry. “She conjures storytelling just out or rational reach, playing tag with the ancient and futuristic in a way that perfectly compliments the song. Collaborating with her is such a thrill.”
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