maps and diagrams 'tone isolation' [CD]

Pro-printed Pantone CD-R edition in a four-panel 330 gsm matte card package. Printed locally in the U.K. Edition of 100.

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"I usually try to write these releases in a distinct “label voice,” but in this case that felt impossible. This one is simply too personal for that.

It is hard to believe that, in the more than seventeen-year history of Home Normal, this marks the first release by my dear old friend Tim Martin, under his maps and diagrams moniker. As Tim mentions later in this press release, our little sister label, Nomadic Kids Republic, released two seminal works by him — 'Lights Will Call On You' and 'The Town Beneath The Sea' — back in 2011. I had already been a fan of Tim’s music for some years before that, and what began as an invitation to release on NKR grew into one of the most natural and rewarding creative relationships I’ve ever had.

That period remains a significant one for me personally, and Tim’s music was very much a part of it. Over the years, that connection deepened through collaboration, friendship, and a shared sense of experimentation and irreverent fun in sound.

Tim later became involved in a long-term project that would turn into the Black Elk Quartet, bringing his gift for deep melody, electronic wizardry, and a welcome sense of lightness to the music. Following on from that, our work together as Ouvala developed into its own richly rewarding avenue for collaboration, through which we’ve quietly released a number of recordings and explored tape decay, delay, synth manipulation, and modular mischief in all its forms. It remains some of the most melodic, playful, and quietly ear-wormy music I’ve ever been part of.

So it feels especially fitting that in 2026 we are releasing three projects involving Tim: two solo records and one collaboration with another dear old NKR friend, The Green Kingdom.

The first of these, 'tone isolation, is a work of true beauty. Full of warmth, texture, and positive energy, it takes me straight back to long Tokyo nights, walking beneath neon lights while the quiet hum of the city drifted around me. Tim’s music has always had that rare quality of being both cathartic and transportive — music that seems to sit just outside of time, yet remains full of feeling, intimacy, and wonder.

I’m genuinely delighted that, after all these years, we are finally able to share this wonderful album with you on Home Normal."

Here are some words from Tim (maps and diagrams):

'After releasing two albums on the Nomadic Kids Republic label fifteen years ago, maps and diagrams' new long-player tone isolation is my first release on Home Normal. At the core of the record is a tactile, process-driven approach - tape loops form the spine of many pieces, gentle imperfections of movement and instability, fragments passed through cassette, re-recorded, edited and arranged in such a way that the songs are left to wander.

There’s a subtle shift - not a reinvention, but a narrowing of focus when compared to previous Maps and Diagrams' material - it resists resolution, instead offering a series of environments for the listener to move through.

I'm honoured to be releasing this album on Home Normal. It's an album I loved making, and I wholeheartedly thank Ian for the support, patience and effort he's put into the album.

Thanks to Ian and the Home Normal family x'

- maps and diagrams

Thank you for listening. 

Music by Maps and Diagrams, 2025
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Photography by Maps and Diagrams
Love to Ian and Home Normal

copyright © 2026 Home Normal

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