Friend of all the World
Today marks the official web-launch of an album I've been working on for the last year and a half or so. The project started in the fall of 2008 with a core of tunes that came together over the year I lost my Dad and a few other from various places.
Slowly, over the last 2 years of tracking in my home-studio and mixing at a small studio here in Montreal, the 16 songs got whittled down to 9 tunes that sort of meshed together and conveyed the theme I was going for.
Apart from launching the new album, this blog also launches Friend of all the World, my new project and one which will hopefully be fruitful and offer a rich canvas upon which to put down a lot of ideas that have been circulating through my head on 4-track tapes, hand-held recorders, scraps of paper and an increasingly full external hard-drive.
I've decided to launch this album as a totally new project and not under the Robert Cole moniker for a few reasons. First and foremost was the goal of giving these songs some space, to let them breathe on their own without needing to adhere to me and my changing whims. I've always felt that a song was there before you came by it and will continue long after you've moved on or lost interest. Having a lone side-project creates a world where these and future songs can roam free and pursue their own courses.
My good friend Nicolas Huart has set up a web-site for the band at: www.friendofalltheworld.com where you can listen to 3-sample tracks and find a link to buy a copy of the full album on CD. This is the hardcover release so to speak. In a few weeks the album will be available on Itunes and just about any other (pay) digital download service you can name. So if, like me, you tend more to the digital download for reasons of reducing wastage and saving the poor planet then I would advise waiting a few weeks to get your digital copy. Buyers of the CD, however, get to appreciate the magnificent album artwork put together by my good friend and long-time design advisor Tim Andrews of Slide Designs.
If you still need convincing, check out the first (largely positive) review of the album More news on the project and an official off-line album launch to follow in the near future.
Quick edit on this one... I think I have been too discouraging of people buying the actual CD. It is really quite a nice little package and available for only $15 from my website. Also, for people in the Montreal area, I have 100 copies that I am selling so if you are local and want a copy, drop me a line.