It’s been a while since we had a new album to announce, but rest assured we have plenty lined up for the rest of 2024 and beyond. Here’s the first – a new album by Nightports, teaming up once again with Matthew Bourne.

Dulcitone 1804 is the fourth collaborative album by musician-producers Adam Martin and Mark Slater, following a trilogy of releases with Bourne, Betamax of The Comet Is Coming and double bassist Tom Herbert. This one is centred around recordings of Bourne playing a scarce Victorian instrument called a Dulcitone – specifically instrument number 1804, hence the album title. Recordings of these instruments are rare, and we’re going to go out on a limb and say this is the first album produced entirely on Dulcitone. It’s not often you get to make these bold claims, so you’d better believe we’re going to take it and run with it.

The album came about almost by accident, when Martin and Slater were at Bourne’s studio working on another project and spotted a small, unassuming instrument against the wall. “As Matthew does with all instruments he plays, the first sounds he made with the dulcitone were immediately beautiful,” Martin explains. “Somewhere between a celeste and a piano, it has a clear, bell-like quality that’s evocative of a strange other world. Something old and distant.”

Get your rare Victorian instrument kicks with first single ‘Machell’.

There’s also a little video here where Bourne explains a little more about the Dulcitone and recording the album with Nightports.

Dulcitone 1804 will be released May 24th on limited edition CD and digital. Pre-order now.