This is an album about things I like, memories and my mental health. I had a rebirth when I created this project I called nwmi, or new-me. It's been wonderful working through past events in my life as I wrote out the storyline of this tale1

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Fragments, the new 19-track LP by nwmi, emerged from an effort by Calgary-based producer Adam Blanchard to soundtrack a cooking web series with what he describes as “scenic beats” primed for chilling out and enjoying good food.

Blanchard, who runs the bass music collective DoYu and normally produces under the alias smol, is a longtime fan of culinary arts and frequently shares his passion with others through educational videos and menu design. Naturally, he began looking for ways to merge this with his passion for electronic music.

“Music to eat to, that was the original concept,” says Blanchard.

This concept initially began as a series of mixtapes of original productions called “music to be nice to” that Blanchard launched on SoundCloud in March 2021 under his smol alias. These productions soon morphed from a side-project into a full-blown foray into the world of beatmaking and the exploration of warmer, more reflective ambiances.

“I’m used to doing so much bass music, so it was nice to try something different and rebrand the whole writing process into a split personality,” says Blanchard.

Taking inspiration from artists like DJ Snake, Kaytranada, and Diplo, Blanchard created a new alias nwmi with the aim of producing tracks that crossed both genre lines and international borders.

The 19 tracks on Fragments are a mosaic of tempos that pay homage to genres like lofi hip-hop, downtempo electronica, house music, and jazz. To create a full-length album with this unique composition Blanchard assembled a vast library of samples, many of which can be linked to rich musical cultures around the globe. There’s the reggae-style vocal samples on “its yu,” the vocal percussion of Brazilian Baile Funk on “seaside funk,” and the dynamic guitars of Flamenco on “flamuego,” just to name a few.

“For the past 28 years I have explored every style, genre and cultural root of the music that floated into my awareness,” says Blanchard.

Fragments is the first full-length LP that Blanchard has released in the course of his decade-long career as a producer. To commemorate this milestone it will also be released on vinyl available through pre-order.

- written by Jonathan Crane