With the ‘Neo One’ original, released in late 2025, Nickelle caused a stir with DJs across the 4/4 spectrum.
A beatific Carl Craig-style deep tech Detroit builder, ‘Neo One’ is built around an ascending/descending octagonal chord pattern, with the keys touching the soul as they cascade from the sky. When the emotive orchestral synth joins in with all the panache of the string section of an orchestra from outer space, you’re lost in celestial heaven at the centre of the dancefloor. It’s a mesmeric cut: simple, deep, rich, and deadly — a bit like a deeper ‘Knights Of The Jaguar’. Yep, that classic sounding.
Nolan’s remix from the first package elongated the percussion and robotised the keys, and it’s the ascending/descending octagonal chord pattern that both of these two fresh remixers concentrate on. Detroit techno don Gari Romalis Electronix, who has recorded for labels like Soma, Tresor and Mike Banks from UR’s Happy Soul Records amongst others, starts his mix with the keys, unfurling a nightsky tapestry that bubbles along on one plain seductively.
Justin Harris from Music For Freaks turns ‘Neo One’ a bit more maximal, utilising the violin sounds judiciously and muting the keys slightly so that they’re tempered a bit more into the prog world. Prog is back, baby, in case you didn’t know! Introducing a bit of a bassline clang in the drop, he opens the gates and let’s the emotion flood out in the final third as it eases towards its conclusion.
Brought up in the picturesque environs of the Lake District in the north-west of England, Nickelle started sneaking into club nights such as Vague in Leeds and events at The Arena in Middlesbrough while underage. She arrived in Brighton at 18 with just a bag of records and a change of clothes, and never made it home again.
Nickelle soon scored a residency at The Honeyclub on the Brighton seafront and soon began playing other UK clubs such as Turnmills, The Zap, Ministry Of Sound and The Escape. These choice gigs led to residencies at Fabric and The End/AKA in London (for DTPM and Jaded respectively), and then international gigs in far-flung places such as Bali, Indonesia, Bucharest, Rome and Singapore.
In tandem with the explosion of her DJ career Nickelle began producing her own music, releasing on labels such as Slip N Slide, Art & Craft Recordings, Iberican, Bullet:Dodge and Rebirth, and also remixing the mighty X-Press 2. Now, after a short break, she’s writing the next chapter of her career.
With some cracking sets at Jack Said What parties, Nickelle had already cemented her place at the heart of the Jack Said What firm. Following her ‘Westpoint’ release on acclaimed New York label Nervous and now, with the future classic ‘Neo One’, she’s shooting for the stars.