It’s an unprecedented time to be releasing new music, so it seems prophetic that lo-fi bedroom pop artist Unstabile (pronounced un-stuh-beel) harnessed the loneliness of a western Mass fall and winter in their latest EP Glimmers. Their serene vocals overlay textured tracks of keys, bass, and light snare drums that echo sounds of nature. The slow drip of rain, a flowing river, and some shimmering breeze are transformed into a meditative dreamscape that soothes the soul. Glimmers is the perfect soundtrack for introspection while you’re holed up at home.
ALLSTON PUDDING: Congrats on completing your Glimmers EP! What emotions do you feel when you think about these songs?
UNSTABILE: It’s a balance of something that feels dreamy or hopeful, even if the subject matter or emotional meaning is kind of sad. Something exciting about the project was getting a lot out of a little, with the tracks being short. Just getting to know myself a little bit better in a way that allowed me to make these glimmers of songs, glimpses of light in the world, while at the same time, I had these cold and sparse feelings.
AP: “Falling” seems like an especially apt song for right now. Do you have any self care rituals that keep you from falling?
UNSTABILE: I’m glad you asked. Making music is definitely one of them. That song was about a situation that felt like being pulled out of my senses. Frankly, I don’t remember what it was because I tried to give it up.
Mediation is a big one for me. It came more recently in my life and around this project, when I was finishing it. Also lighting candles, setting atmospheres for myself, generally setting intentions, journaling… I’m thinking about how if someone 5 years ago said, “You should meditate and it will make your life better,” would I believe them? Different people encouraged [meditation], it wasn’t spurred by anything in particular but an eventual “oh shit” moment. Though I will throw credit to a great friend who I lived with when we were still in school. He moved to China after graduation and left behind a meditation cushion, and I texted him recently how it’s become a big part of my life. I’m not good at sitting on the floor, I need the right support, and I associate it with the act.
AP: What instruments do you play? What kind of mood do you hope to create when you incorporate them into your songs?
UNSTABILE: Piano/keyboard is my main thing, my go-to to play. Also electric bass and drums. There’s a lot of bass on this project. I feel incompetent on the instrument compared to keys, but I decided to use it. It just happened this way. Not knowing how to do it that well was that much more grounding because I was focusing on simpler actions.
I have other sounds in there—digital sounds and field recordings. I actually used a lot less [on Glimmers] than other projects. But I still ended up using textures from nature. Precipitation has a certain richness to it. The very beginning of “Falling” is this distant natural environment. I put the field recorder by my window, and then it’s amplified by what I play. It’s also grounding even if it’s some small interaction with the environment outside of myself. I’ll take a sample tone and turn it into keyboard sound. Around high school and college, I started going on hikes and more, and the sounds hit me. All of nature has their own sounds on the frequency spectrum. Sounds can communicate. What you’re experiencing when you’re out there is simple tonality. Obviously birds aren’t on 12-tone scale, so it’s inspiring for that reason. It’s why I like field recording. You start with something how it sounds, not about what chord you’re playing.
AP: What kind of a journey are you on in the song “On My Way?”
UNSTABILE: Hmm… on a journey of the Avatar. It’s so nerdy, but I feel like a bender—understanding the elements more deeply, particularly sound.
I’m not even thinking of a distinct journey so much as just being. I’m talking to myself, I’m only freaking out about everything when I think I’m stuck, or worried about stagnancy. I’m really distracted and feel like life is not a linear thing going in some sort of direction. I’m learning how to center myself, become more ritualistic, caring and self-caring.
AP: What kind of story are you trying to tell with “I Am (Before I Think)”? What do you hope listeners will take away?
UNSTABILE: It’s pretty literal in a lot of ways. It’s dealing with how I might have expectations for myself that I haven’t lived up to and I’m not who I thought I was. That’s the main takeaway. Then there’s the recognition that you are not your thoughts, despite recognizing that what you think and how you think will shape your mental landscape and shape your life. I wanted to share that contradiction, feel it in some way. I wanted to get across, in some slightly simple way, why I do what I do and be upfront about that.
AP: Which song came to you most easily to write, and what was the most difficult to figure out?
UNSTABILE: A lot of them came pretty easily. The exception would be “Closet,” which also came quickly, but I had been sitting with it for a long time. The second track was pretty quick. “Falling” took a little more time. I had the beats quick. I love to do things faster, it feels the nicest. It’s easy to detach from it, not think of it as your own. I know I should acknowledge [my music] and appreciate that, but stuff that comes fast feels like it’s coming from somewhere else, and it’s nice to feel more neutrally towards what you make. When you work on something a long time, you’re in your head about it, and you feel like it’s yours in a way that’s not healthy. I have a more emotive quality to my music than the way I am in any interaction, but it doesn’t feel that compartmentalized. I am feeling those things whether I went there or not, so I try to create space with that feeling and take it somewhere else or transform it. That’s what powerful about doing music, spilling out emotions, and some of it gets into the music.
AP: Now with 2 albums and an EP under your belt, how do you think you’ve grown as an artist?
UNSTABILE: I think I’ve started to feel more like a songwriter. I feel like I can go for that. My little attempts at that on earlier projects—not to undermine them—feel more abstract to me. One way I’ve come along is being more comfortable with myself. I have a better sense of putting songs together. I’ve written more songs that aren’t on projects, just getting to know myself better through the craft, clarifying things I want to do within it.
Stream to Glimmers via bandcamp below!