300 copies in Dark Crystal vinyl. The enigmatic sound architects of Nurse With Wound return with Backside, a haunting new studio album that bridges four decades of underground sonic archaeology. Released through Rotorelief in an exquisite limited edition pressing, this latest opus represents Steven Stapleton and Andrew Liles at their most revelatory, breathing new life into fragments of the long-lost Bladder Flask sessions from circa 1980. The paths of Nurse With Wound and Richard Rupenus's Bladder Flask first intersected in 1980, when United Dairies distributed the latter's debut One Day I Was So Sad That The Corners Of My Mouth Met & Everybody Thought I Was Whistling. Following an aborted second album project in 1981, these sonic fragments lay dormant for forty years until Rupenus approached Stapleton with newly unearthed recordings – an invitation that would birth one of NWW's most compelling releases in decades. Rather than simply remixing existing material, Stapleton and Liles have crafted something entirely new, reinforcing both projects' shared sense of the absurd while creating a work that stands as pure Nurse With Wound alchemy. The opening title track emerges as a direct descendant of early 1980s NWW – a maze of squeaky textures, vast plate reverbs, and plunderphonic cut-ups that feels both nostalgic and startlingly fresh. Chernobyl Picnic ventures into Cooloorta-era territory, deploying extended tones and liberally manipulated sounds in what critics are calling "a harsher and more multi-faceted Soliloquy For Lilith."
As Alan Freeman notes: "As the closest release style-wise to classic old NWW in decades... It's quite an intense listen, but totally enjoyable... An excellent release, especially for jaded old NWW fans who want more in the style of 'the good old days.'"
Backside arrives as a testament to the enduring power of sonic archaeology – proof that the most compelling music often emerges from the shadows of forgotten collaborations. For longtime devotees of NWW's singular universe, this represents nothing short of a return to the fertile chaos that first established their legend.
