A quick trip down the streaming rabbit hole to discover that Nathan Fake’s most popular track – by far – is the James Holden remix of “The Sky Was Pink”, which was a ground-shaking banger back in 2004 and remains so to this day. But it seems to have overshadowed Fake’s own output – the original version “The Sky Was Pink” is a distant #2, and after that, there seems to be a drop off. It’s as if people who were expecting more progressive house epics have found the warm and fuzzy electronica of the original version and impulsively decided it’s not for them. Which is a shame because that means the parent album – Drowning In A Sea Of Love – remains a hidden gem rather than being heralded from the rooftops for its combination of woozy shoegaze, fizzing circuitry, playful psychedelia, and a nostalgia for an undefined moment.
Although Fake has never completely left the sound of Drowning… behind, it feels like there’s a conscious attempt to celebrate its sound 20 years on with Evaporator. This is his first record for Infiné, the French label that is clearly intending 2026 to be a breakthrough year with this and the Lattimore / Barwick album in the first two months. Following an opening run of releases on Holden’s Border Community, and 2017’s Providence appearing on Ninja Tune, Nathan Fake’s last two albums have appeared on his own label Cambria Instruments – sometimes you need to run things yourself, other times it’s good to be part of a group of fresh and enthusiastic people behind you which is hopefully what’s happening here. Whatever the reasons, Infiné has found another gem here.
The opening pair of tunes are strong but distinct from the mood that follows. The melancholic “Aiwa” is maybe a little too in love with the sound of Boards Of Canada – only 11 years since their last album, perhaps it’s understandable that we’re missing them. “Hypercube”, which follows, snuck out under the radar nearly a year ago, with a thumping kick drum to propel it along in a manner that Fake described as ‘almost a pastiche of dance music’ – but he holds off on the drop and release so it steadily builds but lacks a real sense of resolution. There are elements from both openers that occur throughout the rest of Evaporator, so it’s a successful ploy in setting the stage.
It’s “Sunlight On Saturn” where the sound of Drowning In A Sea Of Love really resurfaces, however, with its hazy, woozy synth lead. It sounded gorgeous then, as if bathed in a sunset’s glow, and it still does today. This feels like the heart of the record, pulling everything around it into focus. We have a pretty good idea of Nathan Fake’s influences and peers from his mixes and the EP Covers (From Memory); Autechre, Orbital, Aphex Twin and Slam, to name but a few, and it makes sense for some of this to trickle down into his own production. And you can spot elements bubbling up to the surface throughout the album’s duration – it adds to the sense of nostalgia without detracting from the dominant voice.
Many of the sounds on “Hypercube” found their way onto a sample pack Nathan Fake created for Spitfire Labs, and it’s no coincidence that the pack is entitled Digital Memory; the sounds of old machinery coaxed into still working, still producing sounds. It’s the sense that the equipment is really on the ragged edge here, and it’s probably why Fake has been able to channel the sounds of his first album onto his most recent work – because he’s working with the same hardware. The music produced 20 years ago had a distinct sense of the past, and now on Evaporator, we are still leaning into that nostalgia. Do we want to go back to 2006, or 15 years previous? Is it a case of ‘any time but now’?
If there’s a sense of looking back for the listener, then there’s much more of a feeling of no time like the present for Nathan Fake. Not only does the sound lead to comparison to Drowning In A Sea Of Love, but so does Evaporator’s consistency – not only carrying through a definite mood, but being a strong suite of songs. It’s almost like Fake is emerging, blinking, into the daylight with a new sense of purpose and drive. A new label, a new album, an upcoming tour – he’s not looking back, but forward, ever forward. (Jeremy Bye)
a closer listen 