Elysian Feilds

In Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields is a destination only accessible after death, a place reserved to the heroic, righteous few who were granted admission to the paradisiacal dimension. In reality, Elysian Fields is a Brooklyn-based musical duo, whose sonic surrealism confirms the mythos of their name…

Fika (pron. 'fee-ka') is an exploration of my Swedish heritage and the links group members have with Scandinavian. It is the recording I always wanted to do but only felt able to achieve at this point in my life.

‘Beauty for Ashes’ is a unique collection of unrecorded music from some of the UK’s foremost choral composers. Whilst the programme includes well-established names from classical music such as Bob Chilcott and Judith Weir, it also includes newer voices such as Alison Willis, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Judith Bingham, Sarah Macdonald and Roxanna Panufnik. Six of the contemporary composers featured on the recording are women, and their work exemplifies the enormous contribution female composers are making to the English choral tradition, in a genre where they have been historically under-represented and under-recorded. The principal aim of the recording is to enable these compositions to find new audiences and to promote the creation of new choral works. At a time when the sacred choral tradition is under severe threat from budget cuts, Beauty for Ashes reveals the vibrancy and variety of contemporary composition.

Elysian Fields is a progressive rock band formed and led by Mark Jeffry Dye in 1973. In 1978 the band moved to Los Angeles amd changed their name to Impulse and they released five albums on the Electric Fantasy label. While living in Los Angeles Mark became a Midi and synthesis specialist for many top artists like Van Halen, Guiffria, Gino Vannelli, and even appeared on Entertainment Tonight as a technical adviser for electronic music. He now operates a state of the art digital recording facility in Saint Petersburg, Florida. He is now retired but continues to pursue projects that he hasn't had time for over the last 40 years. The Elysian Fields releases should be considered as part of the overall M J D discography and vice versa.

This session with Elysian Collective and Chris Vatalaro was recorded at Evolution Studios in Oxford, where I recorded the bulk of Strange Dance and also my soundtrack work. It took place at the end of April ’23, just before I went out to do my UK and European dates. I originally brought this ensemble together to play at the launch event for Strange Dance back in February, as I felt this combination of string quartet and percussion, together with my vocals, piano and guitar would be a compact way to capture the scope of the varied musical textures on the album. I was so made up with how it sounded and how it reframed the songs, that I wanted to capture this dynamic in a recording. As well as songs from Strange Dance, there is also a version of one of my soundtrack pieces, ‘People Of The Sea’ (the original is on Liminal, the bonus album) and a track called ‘Song For Us’. This one was written as a pitch piece for a TV show. I didn’t get the gig, but I was delighted with how this song turned out. It’s how I sound as a one man band and it felt as though it rounded off the record nicely. I’ve worked extensively with Elysian Collective and Chris Vatalaro since my second solo album, Weatherhouse.