The journey of Slovak musician Nina Kohout had a promising direction from the beginning. These days she is defending her talent with her first album “Gently Autopsy”, which we have included in the “Album of the Week” section.
Nina Kohout‘s musical journey has been promising from the start. The release of her debut EP ‘Pandemonium’ cemented her place not only on the Slovak scene but internationally as well, gaining recognition from leading British music media, BBC Radio, and the American station KEXP. Touring across Europe with shows in Milan, Budapest, Brighton, and at the renowned Eurosonic festival, Nina began offering glimpses of her much-anticipated debut album in 2023. The industrial rage of ‘Little Butterfly’, the playful balalaikas in the tender ‘Song of an Unborn Mother’, and the ever-surprising ‘Flavoured & Eaten’ hinted at what would be her most diverse work yet.
The process of creation
“I never thought creating a musical work could be so much fun, yet born in solitude. With Gentle Autopsy, I discovered musical ease while touching on the heaviest topics to date. Personal ones, but also those that extend far beyond myself. As the album’s title suggests, the process felt like an internal autopsy, though done with the gentlest of hands. While my debut EP embodied wild chaos, this album feels like a step closer to order and understanding—both internally and sonically. Emotional wandering has been replaced by conscious grounding, yet the amount of vulnerability remained unchanged, which was my favourite part. Beyond that, this album fulfilled all my dreams in the field of music production while opening countless doors to new ones, which I’m already excited to explore,” explains Nina about the creation process of her debut album. Find out more in the video interview.
Collaboration
With the exception of the fifth track on the album, Nina is behind the music, lyrics, production, and mixing of Gentle Autopsy. The co-authored track ‘Caged’ by Nina Kohout, FAYE, and Austrian producer Ben Attic was created at the first Slovak songwriting camp organised by SOZA. On several album tracks, Nina was helped with production and mixing by Lucas Armstead, a former classmate from the prestigious The BRIT School in London, and part of the album was recorded in Matus Homola‘s Men at Sound studio in Trencin, Slovakia. The rest was recorded under Nina’s direction at the University of Sussex studios in Brighton, where the young artist is currently studying music technology. The mastering of the debut album was handled by Tomas Karasek from the studio Gargle & Expel in Prague.
Electronic and acoustic instruments
The electronic diversity of the album is enriched by acoustic contributions from several notable guests. Irish drummer Hannah Feenstra takes center stage in the dark, oriental-infused ‘Rhythm of Sirens’, while Michal Selep drives the groove of ‘Flavoured & Eaten’ on bass guitar, and Simon Vladar handles the bass in ‘Song of an Unborn Mother’. The cold aggressiveness of the beat in ‘Little Butterfly’ is contrasted by Michal Pagac’s violin, and finally, in the final track, ‘Traveller’, Nina’s tranquil vocals intertwine with a clarinet solo performed by her father, Peter Kohout.
The release of Gentle Autopsy will be accompanied by two different music videos shot on the British coast and a fall tour with stops in Slovakia, England, and a special performance at Prague’s Palac Akropolis, where Nina will share the stage with Never Sol. The tour promises to be both an auditory and visual experience, with each song on the album paired with visuals created by Natalie Portikova and Jakub Zanony. The project’s realization was supported using public funding by the Slovak Arts Council.
NMR (photo: press Nina Kohout)
Gentle Autopsy Tour:
25/10 – ALPHABET, Brighton, UK
26/10 – Hackney Church, London, UK
31/10 – The Actors, Brighton, UK
09/11 – Nova Cvernovka, Bratislava, SK
13/11 – History, Humenne, SK
14/11 – Tabacka, Kosice, SK
16/11 – Hogo Fogo, Banska Bystrica, SK
21/11 – Vikend Atraktivneho Divadla, Zvolen, SK
22/11 – Stanica, Zilina, SK
23/11 – Klub Luc, Trencin, SK
04/12 – Palac Akropolis, Prague, CZ
