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Limited Edition Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited Edition vinyl release with full colour inner & outer sleeves. 300 only. This is a PRE-ORDER - shipping expected early November 2020 but is subject to change.
Includes unlimited streaming of island
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
What did you do during the big stay-home? Solarstone wrote himself an album - an unplanned one obviously, and one - by his own acknowledgment - he wouldn’t have gotten to write in more conventional times. ‘A lockdown album’ by any other name - not the first and undoubtedly not the last.
‘island’ started with a thought, which was part of March and April’s global realisation that this summer was to be unlike any other.
The cornerstone for most in hot season revolves around a trip - often to an island and of course for many, one isle in particular. So Solarstone wrote something for those that would have to dream or recall, rather than first- hand-experience that first day on the island. The holiday literally reimagined.
Embarking with its title track, its soundscape-suggestion couldn’t be clearer. It conveys the inimitable pulse and thrill of arrival over island airspace, as blue gives way to beach, sea becomes sand and rubber greets runway. It’s followed by the heel-cool equalisation of ‘Deepblue’, whose low-tempo breaks, temperately warping synths and percussive claves muster vistas of rurally rugged between-towns roads, heat shimmer ever-hovering over the highway ahead.
With ‘When I Dream’, the album moves from a less reclined position, drawing inspiration (and indeed a sample) from ‘Virtual Reality’ by cult musical provocateur Momus. ‘Summer Fills The Sky’ is the backing for that first full roaring moment of elation every tripper experiences. When the journey’s done and – viewed from the balcony - the point between the ocean and the heavens becomes indistinct and infinite promise beckons. Notably making his debut on a Solarstone track is Richard’s son Oscar, who played session guitar for it.
Crossing into its second half, ‘Twilight’ puts a very specific time-pin in your first 24 on this ‘island’. After the initial rush, the sun consumes sea and you find yourself suspended in those magic few not-day/not-quite-night minutes. With ‘Heal My Broken Heart’ the album consummately clicks over into the dark half, its occasional drum & bass loops all that’s needed to propel it. 20 years on, Solarstone re-teams with ‘Speak In Sympathy’ singer Elizabeth Fields for a piece of music that echoes those transitions between bar, restaurant and club.
The most decidedly ‘club’ track on, unquestionably, Solarstone’s least clubby album is ‘Take Me On Your Flight’ – the orientation of which scarcely needs more explanation. In both production and vocal, pulsing, trippy and mesmeric - it’s the track that you hear from the entrance of the club that makes you wish you’d arrived ten minutes earlier.
‘Restless 4am’ – well, we’ve all been there. Solarstone captures the moment with a throbbing, bass heavy, 303 tinted number that nods to Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’, whilst seizing that dawn-on-approach mood. Blinking out into the post-club sunlight, the album concludes with two collaborative tracks with Murakami-inspired/Bristol- based electronic musician Space-Frog Saves Tokyo. ‘Frontier Pt II’ is the defiantly optimistic upbeat yang to their April-released dystopian ‘Pt.1. Setting you on the road home, ‘Tied’ meanwhile is its achingly beautiful beat-shorn companion, which wraps both the promise of rest and a brand new island day into its feel.
If you’ve not been to the island, or indeed any island in 2020, Solarstone’s 10-track evocation is the trip you should take.
credits
released September 18, 2020
All songs were written, composed and produced by Richard Mowatt. ‘When I Dream’ features a sample from ‘Virtual Reality’ by kind permission of Momus. ‘Heal My Broken Heart’ was written by Richard Mowatt & vocalist Elizabeth Fields. Vocals on ‘Take Me On Your Flight’ are by Bill McGruddy. ‘Frontier PT. II’ and ‘Tied’ were written by Richard Mowatt, David Harrison and Ian Urbina. Bass guitar on ‘Summer Fills the Sky’ by Oscar Easthope-Mowatt.
Thanks.
I would like to thank the following people for their help, support & contributions to this album, my love letter to Ibiza. Paula, Oscar, Arny Bink
& the Black Hole team, Andrew Debens, Billy McGruddy, Elizabeth Fields, David Harrison, Ian Urbina, Javier Cabanillas, Cassian Irvine, Tim Stark, my family, friends & fans.
This album is dedicated to Dimitri de Wit.
Management: Silver Lining.
Design: gadstudio.
Mastered: Wired Masters & Deep Wide Mastering.
Press: Stark Profiles & PR.
All rights of the producer and of the owner of the recorded work are reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, renting, public performance of this work prohibited. Black Hole Recordings, phone +31-76-5209805, fax +31-76-5138103, www.blackholerecordings.com.
I used to listen to so much trance in high school. 2006-2010. That era for me was amazing. Discovering electronic music a few years before and gravitated towards trance. I will say my favorite back in the day was Tiesto. In search of sunrise and the magik mixes will forever be my favorite. I say all this to say that I wish Tiesto had stuck with trance instead of becoming a sell out.
This album is euphoric, nostalgic, and familiar. Takes me back to 2008… great job and this will be a favorite . Fabled fox
The latest from Ryan Farish uses sweeping electronics and expansive melodies to create vast, rolling vistas of sound. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 21, 2020
Epic album all throughout, but for me "Unspoken Words" is nothing less than a work of genius, so impactful, incredible lyrics perfectly put down, so much passion. Outstanding album, bravo! SpyderTracks