Matthew Liam Nicholson is a recording artist & composer originally from Geelong, Australia. He currently lives in the mountains of Northern California.
Nicholson's work is grounded in a universal mysticism both gritty and ecstatic - his diverse compositions woven together BY a "clear, authorial voice" (Wire).
His music "stretches the ethereality of dream-pop into blissout" (Pitchfork, 8.2) and has been described as "reverent, expansive, magical realist folk music” (Uncut)
His previous bands include AT/ALL, Function Ensemble, Outshine Family, WARPED, THE GOLDEN LIFESTYLE BAND & AUNTY THEO.
His original compositions are featured in film and art installations around the world, as scores and placements.
"UNIVERSAL OUTSIDER", nicholson's "la studio lp" was RELEASED MAY 20, 2022. - which will be belatedly celebrated with some WEST COAST USA shows in SUMMER 2023.
NICHOLSON IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON MULTIPLE NEW ALBUMS & COMPOSitioN PROJECTS - AND is AGAIN PERFORMING LIVE IMMERSIVE SOUND BATHS. with his SOUND HEALING ARTS troupe as nicholson & belle.
“Despite its far flung origins and diverse input, Nicholson's music retains a clear authorial voice and purpose offering a series of panoramic variations, phased drones, vaporous trails, and heavily processed cycles of ebb and flow…”
--- The Wire, UK
"the raw thrashing of rustic instrumentation treads alongside mercurial, abstract electronics, forging a sublime juxtaposition."
--- Nuemu, USA
"an eclectic mix of pop, disposition, atmosphere, and instrumental packed integrity that has moments of brilliance, this isn’t any ordinary record”
--- Australian Music Online, AUS
"This kind of reverent, expansive, magical realist folk music owes an obvious debt to Sufjan Stevens, but Galeria de la Luz succeeds where Stevens’ The Age of Adz failed, its massed orchestral ranks marshaled with stunning composure and restraint."
— Uncut, UK
"magical music, hot shit, serious, suffocating and sparse, and aesthetically exquisite… from the outset you notice the lyrical quality is outstanding’’
- Adequacy.net, USA
“Angelic textures, dreamy pop songs, aerial drones, sumptuous arrangements and improvisations felt to mix and magnify. Impressive and ambitious, it provides a deep sense of well being and soothing freedom. Galeria de la Luz is an album that is shared between families, between people with similar sensitivity. Masterpiece."
— Rock It To The Moon, FR
"Almost impossibly beautiful. At 72 minutes long, and incorporating pristine folk, field recordings, pop melodies, jazz-like bursts of dissonance and sampled world music intervals, The Secret Miracle Fountain is immediately arresting"
--- Dusted, USA
“Fans of The Books, Low, Animal Collective & Broken Social Scene need to hear this densely layered pop masterpiece”
— Reckless, USA