Beau Diako - Nylon [VINYL]

To Beau Diako, there is no purer form of expression than making music. This is how the introverted guitarist, songwriter and producer communicates with the world. “It’s an escape,” says the softly-spoken musician. “I find it hard to express myself in general. This is an alternate way of doing that.” His music, he says, is a reflection of his own personality: laid back, playful and experimental. His debut album, titled Nylon, unveils a bold, brilliant imaginative new talent in British music. Working with a dynamic array of vocalists and collaborators, Beau has crafted a sumptuous and soothing record. It’s a modern pop album that gently glides from mellow alt R&B to loose-limbed indie-pop, his mellifluous guitar work and lithe production at the centre of everything. Born Beau Diakowicz (he’s a quarter Ukrainian), he was brought up in Fareham, a small town just north-west of Portsmouth on the south coast. “It was a nice place to grow up,” he says, “but there wasn’t much inspiration there, not much music or culture.” He was 15 when he started playing guitar – before that, his attention was focussed on playing football. He was a playmaker, of course. But, not long after breaking his leg, one day he picked up one of his dad’s acoustic guitars that were lying around the house and decided he’d have a go at learning as many Radiohead songs as he could. Street Spirit (Fade Out) was the first one he mastered and, from there, Beau’s virtuoso talent blossomed. Jeff Buckley, The Smiths, Sufjan Stevens – he got them all down. “All day I’d be listening to albums,” he recalls, “and I just decided I wanted to get involved and learn how to play it.” Music was always around him, he says, the family always playing records in the house and the car. “I think my parents had quite a good music taste. That’s what got me into it.” He experimented in various bands during and after college and it was when one group slid sideways that he was inspired to begin his own solo project as Beau Diako. “It felt like the natural thing to do,” he says. “I’d been writing for other people and having to compromise on stuff. It felt time to do what I wanted to do and force myself out of my comfort zone.” The release of his 2019 debut EP Flutter, which featured nocturnal groove of the Jordan Rakei-featuring Flamingo as its lead track, felt like affirmation. “Flamingo was one of the first things I produced and it ended up being a single for the EP,” he recollects. “I was so proud that it was an experiment that ended up working. It gave me confidence.” What was planned as a follow-up EP turned into the album. “It just felt like the right time,” he says. He only had four tracks at the time but set himself the task of embarking on a creative streak that paid off. The numerous collaborators he worked with on Nylon include Galimatias, Jordana, Tennyson, Bas, Etta Bond and more, although the tracks were often pieced together remotely. “I’m quite a quiet person so I prefer having the space