Written during the beautiful and quiet springtime of 2020, Drawings from Imagined Cities represents a shift in my work from the intimate and at times darker and somber moods of previous releases, to a more open and tonal sound reflecting that peaceful, unhurried environment. I found myself experimenting with a more dreamlike palette, warmer and quieter which mirrored the days I spent walking and simply listening to the muted world around me. My ever present use of field recordings are delightful traces of small events that took place during the writing of this album, for example the blackbird in ‘Melancholia’ which we would listen to each evening as the light faded in our garden.

So, informed by this ‘quiet time’ that we all found ourselves in, I was also inspired by much of the new music I was listening to which seemed to resonate with this feeling of allowing oneself to drift as if in a daydream. My ‘rediscovery’ of an earlier body of my work that became ‘Arcadia’ seemed to point in that direction as well.

I had also started experimenting much more with my guitar and this album presents it more prominently than previous releases, but possibly not in ways that are easily recognizable. I loved the physicality of playing, with small movements bringing about a controlled change in sound however, my continuing fascination with the piano remains.

Originally released on cassette, I’m hugely grateful to Elm Records for bringing this into the world. 

Released July 23, 2021
Mastered by James Armstrong
Artwork – Sat.VI by Ian Chamberlain