For Manchester-based Welsh-Ukrainian artist NØELLE, technology has never been separate from creativity. Over the last few years she has built a reputation for pushing the boundaries of live electronic performance through spatial audio, motion-reactive visuals and immersive digital experiences, collaborating with organisations including Ableton and MiMU Gloves and even creating the first virtual spatial audio live show in Fortnite.

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That makes the starting point of Are We There Yet?, her debut EP for CDR, all the more interesting. Rather than celebrating technological progress, the record was born from a growing discomfort with some of its consequences: social isolation, impossible standards of self-improvement and the increasingly blurred line between what's real and what's artificial online.

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"Are We There Yet? came mostly from my frustration of fighting against this better version of myself that will never exist," NØELLE explains. "Looking back, I feel like a lot of us are falling into the trap of social isolation through social media and this kind of digital overlay that sits on top of our view of ourselves and the world around us which distances us further away from real connections with real people."

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That frustration eventually found a focal point in the rise of AI, particularly as it relates to the visual side of her practice, where years of learning hyperrealist 3D rendering suddenly felt replicable through a text prompt. The concern runs deeper than artistic labour, though. "Watching all of my favourite creators have to justify whether their work is real while questioning whether we're even engaging with real people or if our entire online presence is talking to bots had me questioning how do we find space to really connect with each other within this period of dystopian level technological growth? And is watching the same AI replicated slop really where we want to go with all this?"

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Those questions sit at the centre of Are We There Yet?, a record that examines our relationship with technology at a moment when digital life increasingly mediates our relationships, identities and sense of self. Yet despite its themes, the EP never feels cynical. Instead, it reflects an artist trying to navigate those contradictions in real time.

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Sonically, the EP draws heavily from NØELLE's fascination with intricate sound design and immersive listening experiences. While making the record she found herself repeatedly returning to Pluko's Oxy. "I was really obsessed with Pluko's Oxy album while writing this and hammered home the whole intricate resampling and granular synthesis moments you can hear in moments like at the start of 'Shatter' and 'Take It Back'."

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Live performance also played an unusually important role in shaping the project. Rather than treating the live show as something to be adapted after the music was finished, NØELLE developed many of the tracks alongside their live counterparts, drawing on performances she'd seen from artists like Halina Rice, Andras_2020 and Max Cooper. "Normally when I produce, I would write the full track then look at how to adapt it to live performance but with this EP I really enjoyed just creating a vague backing and focusing a lot more on creating live, generative tools or synths parts that form most of the B-Sections of the tracks."

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The release marks a turning point for NØELLE as a producer, one she speaks about with newfound confidence. "This is the first EP where I've felt genuinely excited and confident in the sound world I've made."

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As NØELLE puts it, "Are We There Yet? questions the future of our relationship with the technological world amidst an epidemic of social media induced isolation." Fittingly, the question stays open, but NØELLE's questioning makes for a striking listen all the same.

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Stream Are We There Yet? now.

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Photos by Jay Fisher