Oh Minnows

Album released Monday 20th June 2011 on Young And Lost Club

“I read somewhere that self-expression is about concealing yourself and that makes sense to me,” says Chris Steele-Nicholson, the man behind spectral pop act Oh Minnows. “Maybe it’s that reflecting on something intrinsically makes you withdraw.”

It’s a comment that’s reflected in an album that reveals itself to the listener coyly through woozy synths, effected vocals and thoughtful, philosophical lyrics punctuated by bursts of colour and sound. 

The dreamlike debut album from Oh Minnows, For The Shadows is the first full length LP to be released solely by Young and Lost Club, and the first taste of a serious new talent, though one that’s more familiar than might first appear. 

Chris Steele-Nicholson is better known as multi-instrumentalist in cult indie trio Semifinalists, a project he remembers fondly. “Semifinalists was a collective effort, and it was great fun,” he says. “You’d get an idea going then someone would step in and take it in a direction you didn’t expect. It was like being in control and having no control at the same time. Oh Minnows is just me having to confront my views on my own.”

To do so, he worked in isolation, often late into the night, for a period spanning from autumn 2009 to spring 2010. The album took the transatlantic-based American across the USA and back, from a warehouse in Chicago to a studio in San Francisco and finally a beach house in North Carolina. Throughout, he used authentic ‘80s synths and effects boxes, creating a warmly human form of electronic music. 

Chris began working as Oh Minnows in 2009, following the break-up of Semifinalists. Releasing the Might EP the same year, the album has been his main – but not only – focus ever since.

A former film student and co-founder of film production company Muscle, Chris was working on a project with a friend – a feature film called Boring Film – during the making of the album, which provided plenty of food for thought. “While we were making the film we had an on-going, friendly debate about human nature,” says Chris. “He asserted that people are basically selfish and I think the opposite – we are basically in it for each other.”

It’s probably why this album feels so life affirming. Listen and absorb – he made it for you.