Tim Bowness will release his fourth solo album, Lost In The Ghost Light, through InsideOut on February 17.
A concept album revolving around the onstage and backstage reflections of a fictional classic rock musician in the twilight of his career. Ranging from the hypnotic opener Worlds Of Yesterday to the wistful climax of Distant Summers, via the thrilling rage of Kill The Pain That’s Killing You and the orchestral expanse of You’ll Be The Silence, the album features some stunning solos and harmonically rich compositions that represent Bowness’s most musically ambitious work to date.
Lyrically, the album addresses how the era of streaming and ageing audiences affects creativity, how a life devoted to music impacts on real/family life, and how idealistic beginnings can become compromised by complacency and the fear of being replaced by younger, more vital artists. Tim elaborates: “It all started with me seeing a sixty something jogger in an expensive tracksuit rifling through the vegetable racks at my local Co-Op. His intense glare combined with his thinning long grey hair and Mick Fleetwood beard left me wondering which veteran rock band he’d once played with. This got me thinking about the moment when music first came into this person’s life and whether it still informed his music making in the present.
“Other questions followed about the tensions between commerce and art, career and idealism: Could the creative ‘spark’ be lost then re-discovered?; What were the costs of dedicating a life to music and how much did ‘real’ life get in the way of the ‘magic’?; What was the effect of the changing nature of the industry on music itself as physical objects d’art became unpaid streams?; Were, as Brian Eno suggested, professional musicians like blacksmiths, echoes from another age and, if so, what was the impact of that realisation on a performer playing to an ageing crowd? Clearly, I thought too much!”
Bowness utilises a core band comprising Stephen Bennett (Henry Fool), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), Hux Nettermalm (Paatos) and Andrew Booker (Sanguine Hum), and is also joined by guests including Kit Watkins (Happy The Man/Camel), Steve Bingham (No-Man) and the legendary Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull). Andrew Keeling (Robert Fripp/Hilliard Ensemble/Evelyn Glennie) arranges for string quartet and flute on three of the album’s songs.
The album is now available to pre-order from Burning Shed, including an exclusive hand numbered gold vinyl LP + CD limited to 400 copies. All orders will receive a signed artwork postcard.
