(Photo (c) 2021 by Jennifer New. Used with permission; all rights reserved.)
Some album projects rise up spontaneously and fructify quickly from a fully-formed idea, without any warning. Divinations, We Once Were Lost and Personal Bhajan all happened that way.
So it was with this new release, Visions of Old Souls, released New Year’s Day 2022.
I have sometimes felt, upon hearing a piece from one of my early albums, that it could be made to sound a fair bit better. While I’m not very interested in remixing those albums, a pleasing idea had me: remix a handful of favorites, add something new, and offer it as a gift to listeners. So here it is: a Surprise Remixed-Favorites Collection.
The idea’s timing was right: Christmas was just over a month away, and the final piece for the Carving in Shadows album needed more mulling time. So a change of focus was welcome.
Visions of Old Souls includes two pieces from each of The Separate Ones and Divinations, and one from each of Souls Adrift, in Disrepair and The White Island.
On all the remixed pieces, I replaced my DAW’s effects with recent, more pleasing acquisitions from Valhalla, Izotope and FabFilter, and reworked the volume levels. This had the strongest effect on Crystalline, with its “wall of sound” now lightened up and more varied. Improved effects have also given Snowdance in Starlight the glint-and-shimmer it deserves.
The new piece is A Million Suns: majestic multi-synths with a long chord progression built solidly on the bass line. The way the chords evolve – changing one note at a time, instead of all at once – is another happy step forward. This feels like one of my strongest ambient pieces to date, and I’m excited about exploring this all-synth direction further, incuding possibly expanding this piece into a long-form journey.
Big Gratitude to Chicago photographer Jennifer New, whose stunning work directly inspired the album’s title.
Visions of Old Souls will be free for the month of January.
Many thanks for all your support!
Track List:
1. Mirage One (2021 Remix) 8.32
2. Crystalline (2021 Remix) 12.04
3. Fading Angel (2021 Remix) 9.38
4. Expanse of Heart (2021 Remix) 7.05
5. Snowdance in Starlight (2021 Remix) 11.35
6. A Million Suns 14.08
7. First Day Apart (2021 Remix) 7.54