Songs For Separation: Listening Notes
Album Title
Songs For Separation
Track Listing
Someone Else
Capture The Flags
Numb
Be True
Your Lighthouse
Signs and Symbols
Home For Me
Release Date
March 31st 2024
Availability
40 CD’s only, available by order from thelandingstage.net website.
What are Songs for Separation?
Following the successful release of Northumbria in 2020 two distinct yet interrelated strands of music began to develop, discussed here. The seven songs that would make up Songs For Separation emerged as one of those strands: deeply personal lyrically-informed responses to loss and separation at a time when the pandemic was making those feelings common to all, coupled with a renewed interest in classic song and arrangement forms.
How was Songs for Separation recorded?
Songs For Separation was recorded, mixed and mastered between August - December 2023 on the same equipment in the same way as Northumbria: on a 1978 TEAC quarter-inch analogue reel-to-reel four-track with all sounds and performances being generated by hand.
While the opportunity to shift to recording digitally was present after Northumbria’s release, a number of reasons informed this decision. Manufacturers, platforms and channels spread a narrative that specific kit is required to make and play music. What’s important is not what you’ve got, but what you do with it. Rather than wait until you’ve got the ‘right’ gear, I believe you get going and work it out along the way.
Also, although digital recording can offer options and ease these don’t necessarily promote personal, professional or artistic growth or the creation of great music. Creativity is the confluence of intent, engagement, resources and choices. Limitations drive creative solutions and decision-making far more than limitless options. Having only four tracks meant that everything that was recorded had to be considered in terms of context, performance and emotional relevance. I also wanted to push the limits of analogue recording so that no-one talked about how it was recorded, only about how good it sounded.
Who played on Songs For Separation?
All songs written and performed by A.I. Jackson
Additional drum and percussion parts on Numb, Your Lighthouse and Signs and Symbols: Simeon Moss (facilitated by Johnny Mac).
Describe the genre of music
Acoustic. Singer-songwriter. Melodic.
Album Art
Wild horses fighting at Sand Basin.
©℗ A. I. Jackson
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The Origin(al) Stories Journal was launched to track the writing and recording of the Northumbria album. You can read about the thought processes behind decision here. It has continued as a collection of posts drawn from my personal diaries, project journals, and process notes. Showing how I’ve found a path to doing something, often via experimentation, missteps, false trails and blind alleys, these posts do not offer definitive insights into any of the projects on The Landing Stage. They are just postcards from the ongoing journey.
Have a great day, be a positive force, and tell those you love that you love them.