New Album OUT NOW!

First the announcement! A Place I’ve Only Seen In Pictures is OUT NOW on all major streaming sites. You can head to this page to find links to Spotify, YouTube, and if you’re feeling really generous, consider buying the album on Bandcamp, CDs are currently still available.

A little about the album

I signed an album contract with Monochrome Motif and started writing this album in 2023. The brief was to produce an album similar to Kintovia II. I had a large number of voice notes on my phone of me humming, singing and playing piano and quickly whittled down a list of about 30-40 ideas.

I had this concept in my mind of the album being inspired by a number of pictures. In fact, that’s where the title came from. As I started working on tracks and bringing them into life, I actually forgot to look at any pictures at all. It sounds rather odd, but it’s what happened. I instead started to see each piece as representing a life. Each piece is a journey through a perceived life. They weren’t based on actual people, but I did have events, or emotions of peoples lives in my head as I got further through the compositions.

As Above So Below starts off very audaciously. I imagined a very strong individual, someone who knows where they want to be and isn’t afraid to stand above the crowd. The violin is loud at sections and this further emphasised this fact. A pain comes in in the mid section. The violin returns later, feeling more tired before the tracking coming to an end unexpectedly - A life cut short maybe.

With Faint Intent contrasts with a beautifully soft piano melody, backed by a Cello. The life of this person is sweet, touching, hopeful and helpful, reaching a different place with a key change that signifies their reaching a peak, perhaps the highlight of a happy life. I saw this one representing someone who led a happy, simple, joyful life.

When we get to Reminding Us of Days we hear a rather harsh beating sound, along with an odd time signature. It’s not quite right and it gives off an uneasy vibe. The intention here was of someone living with a difficulty that stays with them throughout their life. We do find a melody in a later portion of the song. The difficulty is perhaps overcome, but never truly leaves, as demonstrated by the piece ending without resolution.

Funnily enough, When Clouds Recover, which marks the end of the original tracks (Tired Bones is a remix), was one of the first finished tracks. I always knew it would be the ending piece and tried several times to make the entire album finish with it. It didn’t quite work out that way, largely because I had a very definite idea in my head about the track titles making up a poem.

as above so below
with faint intent
nostalgia hangs
and we wait to see
a glimpse into our past
appear in view
reminding us of days
when clouds recover
tired bones (anew)

I really hope you enjoy the album, I had a lot of fun making it and expect more music from me before the end of the year.

See y’all soon