Placid/Intrepid circumvents and deliberately abandons established norms on what a techno EP should or must sound like, enabling NLI to position her work as a pivot of change within a genre that is growing increasingly more desperate in its attempts of reinventing itself
Building upon the foundations of her previous releases including ‘Initiation’ LP in 2025 and ‘Siren’ EP earlier this year, NLI pushes further into new and unchartered territory with the upcoming release of ‘Placid/Intrepid’ on Adhesive Records this May. Structured as a techno/experimental hybrid 2-part EP, she utilises sound design as a narration tool to tell an unsettling story about decay, connection and human morality across 10 tracks.
Divided into 2 distinct sonic narratives, Part 1 ‘Placid’ reshapes emotion, anxiety and human chaos into something more structural and almost architectural; textured drones and industrial noise collide with techno elements by exploring the peripheries where thumping rhythm meets ambient experimental soundscapes. Half techno, half ambient noise, NLI deliberately steps away from the norms dictated by the industry where artists are expected to confine, adapt and fall in line when it comes to music production. Across the five tracks of ‘Placid’, its sound design intentionally creates a feeling of unease. From the wailing sirens in ‘Nosebleed’ to the unsettling chords in ‘Celestial’, the first half of the EP neatly packages the all-too-familiar feeling of impending doom for the listener, reflecting the state of our decaying world.
Part 2 ‘Intrepid’ draws upon hypnotic textures, Berlin warehouses and the depths of NLI’s underground heritage – deliberately stepping away from the established norms within classical techno. The title track emphasises the genre’s structural complexity without compromising on its emotional intensity. Using more traditional sound design, NLI nevertheless leaves her unique sonic fingerprint in her more liberal approach to arrangement and the use of elements characteristic to her work and sound including delicate bells and tonal kicks. More conventional works such as ‘Monolith’ act as a counterweight to the more experimental track ‘Exit Wound’, which brings out both an element of surprise to the listener as well as an unsettling kind of beauty in the strangeness of ‘Cobra’ and ‘The Serpent’.
‘Placid/Intrepid’ EP will be released both on digital and vinyl via Adhesive Records. The vinyl edition will be released in collaboration with British emerging visual artist Maya McDougall; her work will be featured as cover art for the ‘Placid/Intrepid’ release. With the release of ‘Placid/Intrepid’, NLI positions herself alongside a multi-disciplinary new generation of techno artists who are actively breaking out of existing moulds imposed upon them by a rigid and capitalist system through their music, cross-discipline collaboration and artistic innovation.
