Listen on the digital music page
 
Credits:
Music by Stephen James Buckley
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios
Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with Stephen James Buckley
Design by quiet details
© quiet details 2025 all rights reserved 

For the next edition in the quiet details series we have a wonderful interpretation from the UK-based synth master craftsman, Stephen James Buckley, here as Polypores.

An essential element of the British electronic music scene, Polypores’ expansive albums and electric live shows have cemented him as one of the most loved and admired exponents of esoteric and endlessly original modular synthesiser sound-worlds at work today.

With releases on a slew of labels, including Castles in Space, Frequency Domain, Miracle Pond, Woodford Halse, Waxing Crescent Records, DIN, Aural Canyon and more - plus loads of self-releases - his unstoppable creativity knows no bounds.

I Wish There was a Place Like That sees the signature Polypores freewheeling and completely unique approach take a deep and psychotropic leap - dense and highly detailed textures swirl and emerge from the ether, melodies grow and branch across the spectrum like fractals, always shifting and becoming something new.

Layer upon layer of glistening harmonics mesh and unravel themselves as time edges forward, time slows and quickens, headspace shifts.

Each track started as an extended improvisation, edited down to its essence then carefully shaped into the finished pieces. As Stephen says:

I took the best sections of these and used them as the basis for the tracks, adding a few extra parts to develop them and add to the texture. There's a lot of repetition here - I experienced audio hallucinations during a lot of these recordings. 
Voices emerging from the music. Hopefully the listener will experience some of this too.
Using the trio of semi-modular synths from the visionary Make Noise, perfectly designed to live together as a self-contained system - augmented with a few choice additions - this focused setup allowed Stephen to explore their symbiosis to its fullest, an incredible example of how these tools can be used to create pieces that are both wildly experimental and deeply musical.

This is some of the finest synthesiser music we can have the pleasure of experiencing - kaleidoscopic, consciousness-expanding and life-affirming - huge thanks to Stephen, a beautiful addition to the series.

The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - originating from a photo from Stephen which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios.

As usual, the album is presented on the physical edition, a custom six-panel digipack with a separate fine art print too.

The CD also has a special long-form continuous mix of the album, representing the music in its purest form. 

polypores.bandcamp.com   
credits
released March 12, 2025