Back in October, we shared with you Nocktern's slow-motion dark rocktronica "Hollow" - a collaboration with another familiar face here in our feed - SAÍGO. 4 minutes and 26 seconds of pure goosebumps.

I'm beyond excited to see another talented name being thrown in the mix of this beauty. Ivan Shopov is one of the most multi-faceted artists I've ever seen. Besides releasing music as Balkansky, Cooh, and Drumkid! he is a member of Bulgarian progressive/post-rock band smallman. Easily one of the most important names in the Bulgarian electronic scene and a true inspiration to many young artists nowadays. He is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of experimental electronic music and can blow your head with some bass-heavy drum and bass or just bring you to a whole new zen world, like Unearthing Buried Chapters which he released with Valance Drakes back in 2018.

For his re-imagination of "Hollow", Shopov strips away the rock elements of the original and re-constructs the rest using elements of drone, ambient, and cinematic music. This whole new sonic universe makes SAÍGO's voice feel more disturbed and sizeable, and it almost feels as if the protagonist is dwelling in this weird post-apocalyptic world deprived from hope... in a weirdly cool way.

"Hollow grabbed me from the first listen with its cinematic tone. Saigo's voice and Nocktern's arrangement inspired me to refract them through my own prism, retelling a film in my own words.", Ivan shares.

2021 is shaping to be a great year for the now trio Nocktern. Stoimen and Boris recently announced that they are joined by Dido Peshev (member of Last Hope and Them Frequencies and the creative force behind Bare Hands Society) on guitar. Band's new album Scavengers is just around the corner and the promo event is going to be this Saturday (15th of May) at Sofia's Space 108.

posted by Ivo
May 2021