Nick Haeffner ○ What Time Can Do

  From CANADA 

Dimple Discs is thrilled to announce the official release of the fourth album 'What Time Can Do' from UK singer-songwriter artist Nick Haeffner, now available on CD and limited-edition white-label vinyl. Offering a unique take on quintessential British folk-pop, this is Haeffner's most ambitious work to date.

Involving a considerable amount of creative input from Marcus Holdaway (High Llamas, Stereolab, Colourway), this album was recorded, produced and mixed by Nick Haeffner and remastered by iconic producer Paul Tipler (Stereolab, Elastica, Idlewild, Placebo, Julian Cope, House Of Love).

Four years in the making, 'What Time Can Do' marks a new stage in the evolution of Nick’s music, blending the folk, psychedelic, experimental and orchestral sounds of his earlier material with Latin, jazz and dub influences. The title track exemplifies this ambition, described as "Eleanor Rigby meets Sly and Robbie" with its strident cello parts over a dub backbeat. The song poignantly tells the story of a young immigrant navigating big dreams, demanding shift work, and the challenges of English weather.

Haeffner first gained prominence in the 1980s as the guitarist for post-punk band The Tea Set (supporting legendary acts like U2, The Stranglers, The Clash, Iggy Pop and XTC) and has a storied career ever since. Following the band's breakup, he worked on numerous projects, often under assumed names, having signed with Phil Smee's Bam Caruso label.

"This album represents a big step forward for me. Elements of my previous albums are present, but there is a lighter, jazzier touch to some of the tracks, much of it due to the presence of some superb musicians I came into contact with during the making of the album. Marcus Holdaway (cello, vocals, keyboards), Chris Cummings (backing vocals and keyboards) and Yani Martinelli (backing vocals) are associates of Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas, while Marcus and Chris also have associations with Stereolab. Their contributions, especially the backing vocals, are a real highlight, bringing a new level of musical sophistication to my sound," says Nick Haeffner.

"The album is very accessible and easy to listen to, but there’s a depth to the lyrics, an underlying darkness and an attention to detail in the production, which I think gives the album substance and the ability to outlast musical trends or fashions. It contains some of my best songs, performed to perfection by the musicians, produced with loving care and given a final polish by one of the best engineer-producers in independent music, Paul Tipler".

A testament to Haeffner's eclectic and innovative musical vision, this record blends genres, offering listeners quirky lyrics, earworm melodies, intricate chord changes, toe-tapping rhythms, and trippy atmospherics. Lyrically, the album is original and poignant. The deceptive lightness of the music conceals darker and more bittersweet pre-occupations with aging, mental health, Margaret Thatcher’s legacy, loneliness, the metaverse, work/life balance, physical imperfection, cats and ghosts.

After a 30-year hiatus from music, during which Nick taught film and photography at a London art college, he returned in 2019 with the album 'A New Life Awaits You', conceived as a follow-up to his debut album 'The Great Indoors' (originally released in 1997 and then as a deluxe double-CD in 2019) received rave reviews, including from The Guardian ("The best sixties-style psychedelic release of the week is not Sgt Pepper on CD but the debut by Nick Haeffner...an album that is varied, unexpected and wonderfully refreshing") and The Observer ("Reminiscent of the best of English psychedelia").

After signing with Dimple Discs, Nick released 'The Electromagnetic Imaginary', a mini-album of experimental instrumentals and contributed to experimental albums such as 'Miniatures 3' (one minute wonders), Mike Adcock’s 'The Ludwig Variations' (an album of improvised music), 'My Grief on the Sea' by Bring Your Own Hammer (an Irish legacy-demographic project) and the upcoming musique concrete collection 'Household Objects' (realising an unfinished project conceived by Pink Floyd).  

As of August 1, the 'What Time Can Do' album is officially out everywhere on CD, which can be ordered directly from the label via Bandcamp. The album release show will happen that evening, upstairs at the Betsey Trotwood.

“I’m loving the album! So squishy and inventive. A really fun listen… the sonics are  other-worldly and the production is fantastic” ~ Jason Falkner (solo artist, ex-Jellyfish & guitarist for Air, Beck and Paul McCartney)  

"The best sixties-style psychedelic release of the week is not Sgt Pepper on CD but the debut by Nick Haeffner...an album that is varied, unexpected and wonderfully refreshing" ~ The Guardian  

"Reminiscent of the best of English psychedelia" ~  The Observer 

Nick Haeffner

What Time Can Do

Dimple Discs

1 August 2025

TRACKLIST - SIDE ONE

1 What Time Can Do  
2 The River Knows a Secret  
3 In the Life  
4 The Cat’s Pyjamas  
5 My Funny Valentine
6 There’s Another World

TRACKLIST - SIDE TWO

7 The Years Lie in Wait for You
8 I’m Not Here Right Now  
9 Versailles 1783  
10 It’s All Maggie Thatcher’s Fault  
11 Cranham  

CREDITS
Recorded, produced and mixed by Nick Haeffner
Mastered by Paul Tipler at Unit 13 Studios
Written by Nick Haeffner, except 'The Cat’s Pyjamas'
(Haeffner/PiG), 'My Funny Valentine' (Rogers/Hart) and 'Cranham' (Holst)
Nick Haeffner - guitars, vocals, keyboards, mandolin, melodica
Chris A. Cummings - backing vocals, electric piano (3,8)
William Hayter - percussion (5, 10)
Marcus Holdaway - cello, keyboards, backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Pierre Lassegues - spoken voice (7)
Yani Martinelli - backing vocals (1, 4, 6, 8)
Ian Montague - bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10)
Clive PiG - vocal (4)
Arjuna Satchitananathan - trombone (3, 7)
Allan Seago - dobro (2)
Sowa - drums (1)
Getrude Veremu - vocals (3, 7)
Jim Wallis - drums, percussion
Nat Yelverton - bass, guitar solo (5)
Cover design by Paul Brand
Released by Dimple Discs. Catalogue no. DeeDeeLP29
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR


Keep up with Nick Haeffner  
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook 
 Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music

Keep up with Dimple Discs
Bandcamp | Facebook 
 Twitter | Instagram | Proper Music

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