Hello, friends and listeners, my fourth album of instrumental pop music, “Field Report,” will be released on Jan. 8, 2027, and it's unlike anything I have released so far.
Like my first three records, “Field Report” strives to conjure the mood of an earlier, analog era, but this time, I played all the instruments and mixed all the tracks, in my small apartment. (If you care to know, I did not intend it to be this way. I thought I was making multitrack demos for a band recording, but as I got into issues such as microphone placement and mixing techniques, the “solo” in “solo recording” became the project, and I got really into it.)
The main voice is once again a 1970 Wurlitzer electric piano, joined this time by a jittery analog synthesizer. And I was playing more bass guitar than I had in years. For percussion I played toy instruments and kitchen utensils instead of using drum machines (though I realize that some people make good and even great music using drum machines).
Each tune is tightly composed. “High Beam,” the first track, gets there in a hurry. Other tunes stretch out on a 6/4 beat. “The Bailiff’s Tale” may be the result of listening to too much medieval music. “Sight Unseen” uses an actual 14th century melody.
So now you are the first to know. When we all get on the other side of the new year, “Field Report” will be available on Apple Music, Bandcamp, Pandora, Spotify and other places. Hope to see you there.
