Love In The time Of The Anthropocene
is my new album which is a culmination of around three years’ work and features, among others, spoken-word narratives from British writer Naomi Ishiguro and New York Times bestselling American author Francisco Cantú (author of The Line Becomes a River) both of whom have written and narrated exclusive work for this project. Also featured is Time Song author Julia Blackburn. The album also features text taken from The Human Planet: How we created the Anthropocene, a book on climate change and the environment which appears with agreement from Penguin books and the authors (Prof. Simon Lewis and Prof. Mark Maslin).
My new work is thus a concept album about the human age of the climate emergency and the family unit. Researching the themes that would make up the album content in 2017-2018 I was struck by the fact that climate change is already with us, here in motion, affecting our world and we’re all going to have to endure this at some level.
The subject matter seems even more prescient now in 2020 then when I started to make the album. The music was made in stages in 2018 and a little more in 2019 (in between other projects) but things really gathered steam during the lockdown in 2020 and the album was finished this summer. It thus touches on Covid-19 and the lockdown as well as putting the climate emergency and current world situation into context. It’s a mixture of fact through the use of the scientific text and personal narratives from contemporary writers and poets.
I have two small children and like many I am concerned about the world future generations will inherit. The project is a way to try and creatively reconcile the state of the world and the love for my family.
I was interested in blending the spoken-word and music in a way that is compelling and new. Spoken word gets bad press and when I was making this more then one label told me I was doing something ‘unfashionable’. The album was sent to 30+ labels and was either met with silence or rejected by them all but I am very proud of what I achieved.
The music is a mix of ambient sounds, lush post-classical strings, harsh electronica, occasional noise elements and fractured broken radios. There are a number of musicians guesting on the album from 3 continents so it’s a very international affair! A good friend heard bits and said it’s like a meeting between the Kronos Quartet and Autechre, which I liked!
I thought it might appeal to you /////////// folks… !
Have a listen…
(nice digi-pack CD as well for those who like a physical release…)
Thanks for listening.
