FRESH WIND SESSION No. 43
Diatom Deli
Recording Date: 12 September 2025
Substack Premiere: 19 September 2025
Deli Neblett-Quiles’ music under the Diatom Deli moniker is quite different than most of the music I’ve had the pleasure of capturing here in Taos as part of my series of Fresh Wind sessions. While the majority of artists I’ve interviewed and attempted to document in my home studio have been singers with guitars, Neblett-Quiles utilizes a whole table of gear (including two samplers, a voice FX pedal, harmonizer, vocal loop station, and OP-1 synthesizer), alongside her trusty classical guitar, to conjure whole worlds of sound.
Neblett-Quiles is currently at work on a trilogy of records in tribute to black female elders. The first in the trilogy, “Time~Lapse Nature,” inspired by Maya Angelou, saw release in 2022 on the influential experimental label RVNG Intl. (pronounced “Revenge International”). That release, her first with a label, saw Neblett-Quiles’ music reaching a wider audience than ever before. Of the four songs that appear as part of this session, “False Alarm” is the representative track from that release. A standout track from many of the Diatom Deli shows that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing here in Taos, the version in this session (clocking in at 9:12) extends the composition almost five minutes beyond the length of the officially released version.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Neblett-Quiles’ process of songwriting is the way that her songs continue to grow and expand over time. As she described it to me in the interview portion of the session, it can take years for her songs to come into being - and once they are birthed, they never stop growing and changing. “Calla,” the third track from this session, has been growing and changing for over a decade - first seeing release in 2014 on the “Feelsounds” EP.
The other two tracks from this session (“Quest” and “Yuna (The Kindest Chapter)”) come from the forthcoming second entry in Diatom Deli’s trilogy - this one in tribute to/inspired by Toni Morrison. I’m told that this new record (recently mixed and mastered) will be released at some point in 2026. The day after we recorded this session last week, Neblett-Quiles began an Olamina Global Arts Residency, where she’ll be working on the 3rd entry in the trilogy - this time inspired by the work of Octavia Butler.
Soundscapes are an important part of the Diatom Deli sound, and they make their way into the interview portion of this Fresh Wind session. I normally keep my cats out of the recording studio when working with artists, but Neblett-Quiles was eager to allow them to wander through the space while we recorded. So, daily life finds its way into this session with the sound of my cat Mugwort having her say during the interview sections. Those unfamiliar with the musical world of Diatom Deli are in for a treat here - and longtime fans will find new aspects of Neblett-Quiles’ practice revealed as well.
