Elysian Feilds

The Elysian Singers of London celebrate the enormous and varied contribution of Sir James MacMillan (b. 1959) to the choral repertoire over the last 20 years. Beginning with MacMillan’s blazing 2016 ‘choral fanfare’ Blow the trumpet in the new moon, the programme explores the spiritual and secular texts that have influenced MacMillan, also including his monumental setting of Psalm 51 Miserere.

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…

A semi-progressive British power-trio, Baker Gurvitz Army produced a trio of noteworthy LP's during the mid-seventies, with this 1975 release the highly-recommended pick-of-the- bunch…

A semi-progressive British power-trio, Baker Gurvitz Army produced a trio of noteworthy LP's during the mid-seventies, with this 1975 release the highly-recommended pick-of-the- bunch. Sandwiched between their spiky self-titled debut and the underwhelming commercial rock of 1976's 'Hearts On Fire', the eclesiastically-monikered 'Elysian Encounter' finds this sadly short-lived outfit at their most instrumentally ambitious, toning down the brash rock excess of the group-members previous outfits in favour of a slower, more measured brand of still commercially-viable FM rock that also had half-an-eye on the progressive rock market…

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.