NEW EP
OUT NOW
NEW EP
OUT NOW
NEW EP
OUT NOW
MUSIC, PRODUCTION
AND
MYSTERIES
NIELAND
CHARLIE
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THE
OCEAN
UnDERSTANDS
"A message of hope and a vision for a better future"
-- REBEL NOISE
NEW EP OUT NOW
LISTEN NOW ON STREAMING PLATFORMS
NYC-based songwriter-producer Charlie Nieland has been writing, playing, and producing music for decades, with a focus on the atmospheric and the imaginative.
He played power dream pop with the band Her Vanished Grace for over 20 years before establishing himself as a solo artist, blending nuanced songwriting with sonic exploration on Ice Age (2014), Hopeful Monsters (2016), and Divisions (2021).
Along the way, Charlie wrote and produced material with Debbie Harry, Rufus Wainwright, and Scissor Sisters. He is currently half of the literature-inspired songwriting and performing duo Lusterlit with Susan Hwang and also produces and co-hosts the podcast An Embarrassment of Prog.
He scored the feature film The Safety of Objects (starring Glenn Close), the pilot episode of The L Word on Showtime, and the VH1 documentary NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell.
Charlie was awarded a Gold record (UK) for his production work on Blondie’s Greatest Hits: Sight & Sound and achieved a Top 10 Billboard Dance Chart position with Debbie Harry’s single “Two Times Blue,” which he co-wrote and produced.
CONNECT WITH CHARLIE
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ABOUT
SOUND WORLD
EXPLORING CREATIVITY IN SONGWRITING, ARRANGEMENT AND PRODUCTION
Charlie Nieland searches for the continuum from melody to chords, from chords to construction, from construction to cinema. From idea to material via flow thinking and musical contrast.
WATCH THE LATEST EPISIDE ON YOUTUBE →
AN EMBARRASSMENT
OF PROG
A PODCAST BROUGHT TO YOU BY HYPOALLERGENIC CHAMBER PRODUCTIONS
Henry Tenney, Charlie Nieland and Bill Tipper invite you to join them on a triple-disc, extended-Mellotron-solo journey through the astounding, perplexing, (sometimes) agonizing Embarrassment of Prog,
LATEST PRESS
"Nieland approaches such subjects with a musical deftness and sonic poise which may at first belie the poignancy of the message he is sending... he balances shards of guitar noise, beguiling electronica and his imploring vocals"
-- DANCING ABOUT ARCITECTURE
"A restless atmosphere that’s reinforced by brightly winding guitar lines, and Nieland’s heartfelt vocals as he sings socio-politically steeped lyrics”
-- BIG TAKEOVER MAGZINE
"Spectacularly unearthing our worldly connection through his profound, thoughtful and grounding music"
-- THE SPILL MAGAZINE
STORIES FROM THE
BORDERLINES
Four years since releasing his acclaimed ‘Divisions’ album, Charlie Nieland once again brings us a collection of sweeping melodies and restless rhythms, tastefully blending post punk, dream pop and prog rock.
The material from this new 'The Ocean Understands' EP and the forthcoming album 'Stories From the Borderlines' (out later this year) took root through the NYC performance series The Bushwick Book Club in response to various literary sources and was inspired by Nieland's deep love of David Bowie, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Cocteau Twins, Love + Rockets and The Cure.
"This set of songs is a kaleidoscope of styles. They are luminous secret rooms that reflect one human’s heart in a world at the precipice. Staying creative is resistance. As authoritarians attack culture, they make the mistake that imagination can be controlled when it actually emerges from the bottom up. Culture is not imaginary. It’s is rooted in imagination but it’s more real than what can be measured...
These songs tell stories of growing up, of how we got severed, and how we connect. I burrowed into each idea over several years that were filled with love, uncertainty and family drama. The time allowed me to create and explore sound worlds with a cinematic eye; finding contrasts in texture and time. To create an experience that shifts with each listen."
-- CHARLIE NIELAND
UPCOMING SHOWS
JULY 9 7PM
CHARLIE NEILAND OFFICIAL EP RELEASE SHOW
With The Ritualists, Lizzie Edwards, and Angel Grit
95 Stanton St, New York, NY 10002
TICKETS→
LATEST
MUSIC VIDEOS
Redshift (from The Ocean Understands)
Directed by HYPNODOLL
TIghtrope (from Divisions)
Directed by B.A MIALE
Drown (from The Ocean Understands)
Directed by HYPNODOLL
Divisions (from Divisions)
Directed by HYPNODOLL