Jock Nowell-Usticke AKA New Zealand-born, London-based electronic artist and producer, BAYNK, today releases his incredible long-awaited debut album, ADOLESCENCE. Listen HERE.
The album includes the new focus single, ‘Naked’, featuring BAYNK’s lush and dynamic lead vocals and comes with an accompanying video. Watch the video HERE.
With a trilogy of celebrated EPs, more than 250 million streams, headline tours in US and Asia, and festival spots at Lollapalooza and Coachella under his belt, the release of ADOLESCENE is a significant achievement in BAYNK’s already amazing career.
When the pandemic hit immediately after a 17-date North American headline tour, BAYNK found himself returning to the formative years of musical discovery and youthful innocence. “I was concerned that I didn’t have enough heartbreak or trauma to make decent art,” he explains. He soon found himself asking the question that would drive the ideation behind his debut album: “If I don’t feel like I have any emotions to pull from now, then why don’t I just write about my childhood and adolescence?”
ADOLESCENCE, the resulting 11-track collection, chronicles a time and experiences that took place between New Zealand and Europe when Jock was between the ages of 14 and 22, the songs were recorded between Los Angeles and London, where he relocated to in 2021 inspired by the cities’ alternative music scene.
Sonically revisiting snapshots from his past, ADOLESCENCE plays through like a coming of age movie: ‘Touch Me (Hold My Hand)’ is the song he would have wanted to hear at his first music festival, while ‘Mine’, featuring Australian band Cub Sport and co-produced by Canadian experimental soul act Chiiild, recalls teenage moments on the backseat of his car. “It fascinates me now that I’m 28 looking back on that period and how uninformed I was, and how much more inspiring music creation and going to festivals seemed to be,” he says. “ADOLESCENCE is me trying to re-encapsulate first falling in love with music.”
Having started out in bands, BAYNK’s transition from his laptop to the live stage has been a natural process. Although DJ shows seemed to be the natural fit for peers in his scene, BAYNK’s curiosity lead him to expand his sets into a captivating performance that incorporated singing and playing saxophone with his own production. “I’m always looking for something to make life the live show more interesting; it became show visuals, and then playing saxophone better or singing better, making the shows as incredible as they could possibly be,” he says. His innovative sets have led him to sold out shows across the US and Asia, including performances at iconic festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Electric Forest and Life is Beautiful.
Opening a new chapter, post-lockdown, with his debut album ADOLESCENCE, BAYNK welcomes listeners to join him in rediscovering the open-eyed curiosity of youth: “Try and find some of that childhood energy, that adrenaline that everyone had at some point. Just the same thing that music in general gives to me when you find a good track and it makes you feel a specific type of way. As many people as I can give that to as possible is always the goal.”
BAYNK – ADOLESCENCE:
01. ‘Touch Me (Hold My Hand)’
02. ‘Esther’ feat. Tinashe
03. ‘How Does It Feel?’ feat. Cosmo’s Midnight
04. ‘1 Chance’ feat. DRAMA
05. ‘Mine’ feat. Cub Sport
06. ‘Remember’ feat. Rainsford
07. ‘Naked’
08. ‘Till It’s Even’ feat. Golden Vessel
09. ‘When I’m Alone’
10. ‘What If He Put His Hands On You’