wlr087 James Osland & Finn Kelvin - Don't Worry, I'm With You by Whitelabrecs

Don’t Worry I’m With You is a new collaborative album between James Osland and Finn Kelvin who first met one another at Bath Spa University, UK. They initially performed as part of the Elm Collective before releasing an EP under their respective names, on our sister netlabel Audio Gourmet. Their debut album ‘Colourless’ was released via Kate Carr’s Flaming Pines label in 2017 and this new record is their follow-up.

This record was created via remote exchanges of material at the beginning of the emerging pandemic. The resulting nine pieces are a set of foggy, atmospheric works which draw reflections from the passing of James’s grandfather at the beginning of 2020. James’s grandfather suffered with dementia for a long time and Don’t Worry, I’m With You explores the dark and unsettling place the mind must go when suffering with the disease, unable to communicate with those who love you.

The album features two very different approaches to sound creating as James focused on a purely digital sound through the complex processing of electronic sound beds, whilst Finn’s parts were guitar performances fed through a series of bespoke pedals. The human glimmers of guitar that are interspersed between layers of confusion, provide twists and turns throughout, as a milieu of contrasting moments.

The odd and unlikely emotions of sadness and relief meld together, as clearly recollected memories are interspersed with a vacant hum of melancholy and occasional paths of darkness. The album finishes to mark James’s grandfather’s passing on the 10th January 202; the track ‘Your Love, I Don’t Want To Lose’ is a reflection of the final release from this disease.
credits
releases February 20, 2021

Written and produced by James Osland and Finn Kelvin
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Peter Nejedly
CD Packaging Design by Harry Towell