Bill Laurance: Lumen (Limited Edition) (Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl) (180g) (LP)

It's not often you get to record alone in a church at 3am. I'm not religious, but I experienced something unique when I played at night while the streets around me were asleep. It felt like the music was telling me what to play and I was the passenger. Lumen emerged from a variety of compositional seeds - from through-composed songs that remain faithful to the score and leave little room for freedom, to wide-open improvisations recorded in the moment without committing anything beforehand. It is the space between composition and improvisation where the magic happens - and where the music can lead if the musicians are ready for it. I recorded day and night on a Yamaha grand piano and an upright felt piano. It felt like a kind of solo retreat: sitting up all night in a building of faith, immersing myself deeper and deeper in the music. When I finally emerged, I had a deep sense that it was the music that had led me, and not the other way around. As a composer, I am in search of simplicity - how to say the most with the least. My earlier albums were about filling the space, both lyrically and dynamically. But a solo performance is something else. There's an unlimited freedom, and while that can be liberating, it also brings an added responsibility. Beyond the recording, the music takes on a new life. The piano, the room, the acoustics, the mood of the audience, even how much sleep I've had - it all influences how the music evolves. So every performance is completely unique and unrepeatable. The recording of Lumen is just the beginning of the journey. Where and how it evolves from here is what keeps me searching - Bill Laurance