"In Search of Silence" finally complete and master off for CD production

After 10 months work, my 23rd instrumental music solo album "In Search of Silence" is finally complete. The master was sent to the CD manufacturer today, a month behind schedule, so the release date looks likely to be 15th November 2011. Apologies to fans who have pre-ordered but I promise it'll be worth the wait.

The album is very much a journey through musical styles linked to the ebb and flow of life and that is reflected in the different moods you'll find on the album and cover art. However, I do believe that the 12 tracks present a coherent "whole" album in the best tradition of journey style space music.

Those who have heard the album pre-release have likened it to a cross between "Dreams and Distant Moonlight" and "Walking with Ghosts" with something extra added. Those comparisons please me a lot and I think the "something extra" is a different approach to both the compositional and production techniques. It's easy to get lazy after so many years making music and with so many sound sources to chose from it's easy to fall into a "same old same old" rut, so, I made a conscious decision on "Silence' to approach things differently and almost re-invent my style, but in a way that didn't change who and what my fundamental musical style is all about. I certainly felt a lot more adventurous on this album simply by sitting at the Kurzweil PC3x and other hard synths and just "playing" instead of sitting in front of a computer screen which I've felt in recent years I was doing more and more of!

Okay, so what can you expect to hear on "In Search of Silence"? Well, modesty, I believe it's my best work too date - a subjective opinion I know. But, I feel that this album pulls together all the best elements of my musical styles from over the years in a fresh new way. It has an ethnic flavour, without ever being world music; it does have an atmospheric, space music feel without being space music and on other tracks it gets close to classic rock, lounge chill out and ambient. So like I said at the start, a variety of styles and moods. But I think it's all imbued with the emotional sensibilities that people associate with my music and I hope that that emotional element is what links me as the composer with the listeners and what ultimately people enjoy and relate to.

I have to thank Dave Massey, who, while not credited on the album, has helped enormously by being my executive producer, double checking the final mixes and helping me to get the great sound by pointing out details I missed.

In Search of Silence is, of course, released by AD Music, on 15th November 2011 and the CD is distributed worldwide by New World Music. It's available from AD Music and all major stores. It will also be available from iTunes and all major download stores from 15th November as well from the AD Music site. It's also available from AD Music in Flac format.