Over Xmas last year, in the space of about 7 days, I managed to write and record an entire album of original music.
Now, while the music has elements of my ‘day job’, it is so far removed from it that I felt that releasing it under the Elegant Simplicity banner would be a disservice to everyone. In view of that, I have created a new side project.
The project is called Afraid to Wake (yes, an oblique reference to an old song) and is subtitled music for dreamers and escapologists .
Essentially, the music is electronic, ambient, acoustic, mellow and psychedelic in feel. Mostly very short compositions and lots of spur of the moment improvisations. I think it is rather spiffing and I very much enjoyed the creative release.
So much so, in fact, that there are another two albums in the can! Not having to worry about drummers and bass players and all the logistics that go with full band recordings (don’t worry, the new ES album is nearing completion!) is very liberating.
A lot of you will know that over the years most of our Elegant Simplicity albums have contained a short piece of ambient or electronic or orchestral connecting themes. Think of the new project as an extension of that.
The album is called A Haunting at Sea and is 41 minutes long. It’s very different music and features a whopping 24 minute title track.
The song has a couple of minutes of normal rock music in it, but for the most part there is hardly any guitar and what there is kind of clean and jazzy in nature. I must say, though, the rock section is something else!
The first two singles are already out and you can check them out here. Even though it is fully recorded, I am drip feeding the tracks before the album comes out to see what happens and what kind of traction it gains. There will be a CD version, too.
Please check it out – there is lots to enjoy. Maybe!