The Slanted City
The Slanted City sees Sweden’s Erik Nilsson shape the experimental instrumental work of his previous two Hidden Shoal releases with his exquisite sense of songcraft and pop nous. The delicate marriage of melody and tone results in elegant minimalist pop with a master craftsman’s attention to detail.
Discography
The Field
November 2021
The Field comprises three songs, written over the course of some fifteen years: ‘Counting Days’, a bossa nova about fieldwork far from home; ‘A House Divided’, a ballad about political polarization in the guise of a relationship drama; and ‘The Collective Field’, the program statement of World Listening Day 2020 set to music.
The Slanted City
October 2020
The Slanted City sees Erik Nilsson shape the experimental instrumental work of his previous two Hidden Shoal releases with his exquisite sense of songcraft and pop nous. The delicate marriage of melody and tone in opener ‘Density’ typifies The Slanted City’s elegance and charm. Each part feels carefully placed, the song’s robust structure swaggering and shifting over its 5-minute runtime. Single ‘False Starts’ is as if Split Enz collaborated with King of Limbs-era Radiohead, insistent rhythms interplaying with expansive guitars, synths and Nilsson’s vocal repetitions reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.
Gentle lullaby ‘Further’ hypnotises with its melancholic piano refrain, hushed vocals and subdued sonic treatments. And ‘Don’t Think of an Elephant’ further emphasises Nilsson’s compositional restraint as he gently marries the song’s two distinct movements before unleashing a wonderful fuzz guitar crescendo. Across these nine tracks and 43 minutes, Nilsson demonstrates a master craftsman’s attention to detail, resulting in an album that blooms on repeat listens.
Biography
Erik Nilsson lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Initially inspired by the grunge scene, Erik first picked up his mother’s old, busted guitar in his early teens and formed rock quartet Banda de Ladrones. Upon hearing Björk some years later, Erik became fascinated with audio manipulation and spent much of his time in the following years mangling samples on his digital workstation. Meanwhile, his musical tastes and influences evolved and expanded into folk, jazz, classical and contemporary experimental music.
Erik’s previous work includes the album Recollage, released by Luxus-Artica Records (re-released by Hidden Shoal in 2016), and the score for Ahmed – Almost 13, a Norwegian documentary screened at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam. His music can be heard in Project Power, which chronicles civic resistance to privatisation in New Brunswick, Canada, and in Are You Still There?, finalist in the 2011 edition of the short film competition The 24 Hour Film Race. Erik is a regular contributor to the Disquiet Junto Project, an online collective exploring the creative potential of constraints. He is also the singer and guitarist of folk-rock trio Otinget. His solo work also includes Hearing Things (Hidden Shoal, 2015) and The Imperfect Tense (Hidden Shoal, 2018).
News
“The Field” – Beautiful New EP from The Slanted City
We’re excited to announce the release of The Field, the new EP from the Erik Nilsson project The Slanted City. The EP is available now via Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and the rest. The music of The Slanted City is available for licensing (film, tv, web etc) via Hidden Shoal.The Field comprises three songs, written over the course of some fifteen years: ‘Counting Days’, a bossa nova about fieldwork far from home; ‘A House Divided’, a ballad about political polarization in the guise of a relationship drama; and ‘The Collective Field’, the program statement of World Listening Day 2020 set to music.
Continue reading →New Single From The Slanted City, “The Field” EP Soon
We’re excited to present ‘A House Divided’, the first single lifted from The Field, the new EP from the Erik Nilsson project The Slanted City. The EP will see release on 5th October 2021 through Hidden Shoal. The music of The Slanted City is available for licensing (film, tv, web etc) via Hidden Shoal.“The Field” comprises three songs, written over the course of some fifteen years: ‘Counting Days’, a bossa nova about fieldwork far from home; ‘A House Divided’, a ballad about political polarization in the guise of a relationship drama; and ‘The Collective Field’, the program statement of World Listening Day 2020 set to music.
Continue reading →New Erik Nilsson EP – “Music For”
We’re excited to announce the release of more new work from the wonderful Erik Nilsson. On the heels of The Slanted City’s self-titled debut album, Erik Nilsson is cleaning his hard drive. In the coming months he will be releasing a series of neglected musical projects under the banner Notes and Sketches. Music For is the third installment of the Notes and Sketches series and explores the notion of musical use value. As Nilsson explains,“It contains music intended to (1) accompany tooth brushing (subtly notifying the brusher to change sides every thirty seconds), (2) stimulate contemplation during the blue hour, (3) amplify the perceptivity of cloud watchers, and (4) awaken the joy of singing in machines. Feel free to use the music for other purposes, too – at your own risk, of course.”
The album is available now from Bandcamp and soon via Spotify, Apple, Amazon and all the other likely suspects. The music of Erik Nilsson is available for licensing (film, tv, web etc) via Hidden Shoal.
Continue reading →
The Slanted City Debut Out Now!
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of the brilliant self-titled debut album by The Slanted City, the new minimalist pop project from Erik Nilsson. The album is available now via Bandcamp, Spotify and all good online stores and streaming services.The Slanted City sees Erik Nilsson shape the experimental instrumental work of his previous two Hidden Shoal releases with his exquisite sense of songcraft and pop nous. The delicate marriage of melody and tone in opener ‘Density’ typifies The Slanted City’s elegance and charm. Each part feels carefully placed, the song’s robust structure swaggering and shifting over its 5-minute runtime. Single ‘False Starts’ is as if Split Enz collaborated with King of Limbs-era Radiohead, insistent rhythms interplaying with expansive guitars, synths and Nilsson’s vocal repetitions reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.
Gentle lullaby ‘Further’ hypnotises with its melancholic piano refrain, hushed vocals and subdued sonic treatments. And ‘Don’t Think of an Elephant’ further emphasises Nilsson’s compositional restraint as he gently marries the song’s two distinct movements before unleashing a wonderful fuzz guitar crescendo. Across these nine tracks and 43 minutes, Nilsson demonstrates a master craftsman’s attention to detail, resulting in an album that blooms on repeat listens.
The music of The Slanted City is available for licensing (film, tv, web etc) via Hidden Shoal.
Continue reading →
New Single from The Slanted City
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the second single lifted from the self-titled debut album by The Slanted City, the new minimalist pop project from Erik Nilsson. ‘Further’ is a stunning slice of lullaby pop and along with first single ‘False Starts’ speaks volumes about the depth of songcraft on The Slanted City’s debut. The track is available now via Spotify, Bandcamp and SoundCloud ahead of the album release on the 9th of October 2020.The Slanted City sees Erik Nilsson shape the experimental instrumental work of his previous two Hidden Shoal releases with his exquisite sense of songcraft and pop nous. The delicate marriage of melody and tone in opener ‘Density’ typifies The Slanted City’s elegance and charm. Each part feels carefully placed, the song’s robust structure swaggering and shifting over its 5-minute runtime. Single ‘False Starts’ is as if Split Enz collaborated with King of Limbs-era Radiohead, insistent rhythms interplaying with expansive guitars, synths and Nilsson’s vocal repetitions reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.
Gentle lullaby ‘Further’ hypnotises with its melancholic piano refrain, hushed vocals and subdued sonic treatments. And ‘Don’t Think of an Elephant’ further emphasises Nilsson’s compositional restraint as he gently marries the song’s two distinct movements before unleashing a wonderful fuzz guitar crescendo. Across these nine tracks and 43 minutes, Nilsson demonstrates a master craftsman’s attention to detail, resulting in an album that blooms on repeat listens.
The music of The Slanted City is available for licensing (film, tv, web etc) via Hidden Shoal.
Continue reading →
The Slanted City – New Single and Forthcoming Debut Album
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the first single lifted from the self-titled debut album by The Slanted City, the new minimalist pop project from Erik Nilsson. ‘False Starts’ is available now via Spotify, Bandcamp and SoundCloud ahead of the album release on the 9th of October 2020.The Slanted City sees Erik Nilsson shape the experimental instrumental work of his previous two Hidden Shoal releases with his exquisite sense of songcraft and pop nous. The delicate marriage of melody and tone in opener ‘Density’ typifies The Slanted City’s elegance and charm. Each part feels carefully placed, the song’s robust structure swaggering and shifting over its 5-minute runtime. Single ‘False Starts’ is as if Split Enz collaborated with King of Limbs-era Radiohead, insistent rhythms interplaying with expansive guitars, synths and Nilsson’s vocal repetitions reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.
Gentle lullaby ‘Further’ hypnotises with its melancholic piano refrain, hushed vocals and subdued sonic treatments. And ‘Don’t Think of an Elephant’ further emphasises Nilsson’s compositional restraint as he gently marries the song’s two distinct movements before unleashing a wonderful fuzz guitar crescendo. Across these nine tracks and 43 minutes, Nilsson demonstrates a master craftsman’s attention to detail, resulting in an album that blooms on repeat listens.
Continue reading →
Reviews
The Slanted City Self Titled Debut Reviewed at Music Won’t Save You
“Electro-acoustic composer Erik Nilsson reveals an unprecedented songwriting profile in the new project The Slanted City. The homonymous debut consists of nine songs that combine elegant melodic writing with oblique synthetic lines. The Swedish artist’s wild and vaguely “emotional” approach is tempered by interpretations with an enveloping charm and a surprising pop vein.”
Continue reading →The Slanted City ‘Further’ Reviewed at Here Comes The Flood
“Swedish musician Erik Nilsson explores synths and piano-driven ambient pop on Further, the new single by his one-man project The Slanted City. He sets sail to explore uncharted waters, longing to find to places that no one has ever visited before. He takes it slow, but somehow the six minutes track ends much too soon, leaving the listener both wanting more and slightly puzzled.”
Continue reading →
Artist Photos
Music Videos
No music videos yet, sorry.
Licensing
The Slanted City’s music is available for licensing (master & sync cleared) through Hidden Shoal. Please contact us with some basic details about your project and the track(s) you wish to use and we’ll be sure to get back to you straight away.