Norman Westberg came to visit in April this year. We took the days off around his concerts to record some new solo material for him. In the later evenings Norman kindly laid down some incredibly physical guitar playing. His knowledge of how to make amps saturate is beyond compare. His playing was hugely influential across the record. You can hear his Baritone guitar actions prominently on the piece Negative Drone.
Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb,
Thy saviour has pass’d through its darkness before thee…
And the lamp of his Love
Is thy guide through the gloom
“And above all, I will argue the necessity for preserving, against all shame, a demanding question of revolution itself, a question about utopia that keeps pushing its way through a field of failed aspirations, like a student at the back of the room who gets suddenly, violently, tired of being invisible.”
Cruel Optimism Recording Session: Coffee, Tubular Bells at Thor’s House. April 2016. Photo by Conor Walker
Finally (!) reached peak avant garde this morning at breakfast….
Becks – what is this your listening to?
Me – What?
Becks – This music?
Me – I’m not listening to any music.
Becks – Oh.
Me – That’d be the air compressor a few doors down and the reporting of warfare in Aleppo on the TV outside mixing together.
Becks – Fair enough.
my dear American friends,
You know I love you all so very dearly. So, here is a little note of hope and inspiration to you all.
No matter what happens this eve, this is a reminder that change erupts from within and it comes from action; our action. Each and every one of us makes choices, moment to moment, and these shape the micro (and gradually macro) environment we find ourselves in.
This very moment, you have a choice, roll over, shy away and be apathetic or actively pursue the changes you want. This is a chance for you to love, respect and debate, to cherish each other and most of all think deeply, with a desire to creating profound futures. Most of all, you must fight for what matters; for equity across race, gender and sexuality and for a quality of living that encourages and nourishes those around you.
I send you all my very warmest from the bottom of the planet.
xo.
In 2015, my friend Jamie Stewart and I were invited as HEXA by curator José Da Silva to respond to David Lynch’s powerful Factory Photographs as part of the Between Two World’s exhibition at the Gallery Of Modern Art. We had the pleasure to chat to Self Titled Magazine about the record and talk track by track about how the project came together.
An essay: The Sound Of Fear