Echoes from Isolation

The new EP from Void State

While digging through old, unfinished tracks, I stumbled upon a folder titled “lockdown.” Inside were sonic sketches, experiments born in the stillness of the pandemic. During lockdown, I was experimenting with a minimal selection of instruments and effects recorded to tape. That stripped-back process became a quiet soundtrack to the solitude and uncertainty of those days.

With the world paused, space opened up for reflection, for creativity, for simply being. These sounds are echoes from the past, once buried beneath the noise of returning life.

I wasn’t planning to release new sounds anytime soon, but here we are. Sometimes an idea just hits and you have to follow it – find it’s form and resolution, this was one of those occasions.

I was listening through a folder of unfinished tracks, no doubt you have that folder on your computer too - the tracks you quit, random ideas, moments captured and forgotten. This one, titled “lockdown,” contained unfinished tracks and experiments that I recorded during the pandemic in 2020 when the world hit pause.

The recordings included melodies and loops made using various synths and effects recorded on a Tascam 414 MKII – then sampled into Ableton. As I began to layer the samples together the muse tuned in. I had made some field recordings on my phone during a walk around downtown Tauranga before the pandemic hit, after some tape treatment I integrated the field recordings into the arrangements.

For the album artwork, I looked back through the photos I’d taken during lockdown. I came across this random night shot of my street, and it felt like a good match for the concept. I can’t remember exactly why I took it – maybe it was the lighting that caught my eye.

It’s a humble little lo-fi ambient endeavour, more than likely nonsense but I enjoyed making it, and that’s kind of the point right? Make art for yourself.