NEW YORK - Memories of Machines' "Warm Winter," the highly-anticipated debut from the art rock collective led by No-Man's Tim Bowness and Nosound's Giancarlo Erra, will be released July 191 via Music Theories Recordings (Mascot Label Group).
Both Bowness and Erra are well-known in the art rock world as prolific musicians with a variety of projects on the go (Bowness recently co-produced ex-Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble's acclaimed Talking With Strangers album).
The exchange of ideas and music that would become "Warm Winter" began in 2006, with Bowness in England and Erra in Italy. Over the next four years the album slowly came together via recording sessions in Manhattan, Sweden, Rome, and the UK.
The result of these sessions, "Warm Winter," is an epic album which possesses an unusual intimacy and ambience.
"All of the projects I'm involved in have a distinct identity, I think, and mostly that's due to the particular combination of writers or musicians involved," Bowness said. "Unlike some of the other projects I'm in, we didn't really sit down and write together, or improvise in the studio. I'd say the way that we've written together has been pretty similar to how I used to work with Steven Wilson in the early days of No-Man."
For "Warm Winter," Bowness brought a couple of complete songs to the table and Erra helped to develop them. Likewise, Erra also brought in several instrumental tracks that Bowness wrote lyrics and melodies for. The production, arrangements, and final track selection were a joint effort.
"MoM has been a genuine collaboration and I think we've arrived at a middle ground that works well for both of us," Bowness explained. "That said, I think MoM sits comfortably with No-Man in that it's a project that communicates on a slightly larger scale than most of what I do. Without sacrificing subtlety or idealism, I hope that there's something epic and accessible about MoM, which probably can't be said about some of the other things I do."
"Warm Winter" includes stellar guest contributions from the likes of Grammy nominated producer Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, No-Man etc), Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Jim Matheos (OSI/Fates Warning), and Ricard Huxflux Nettermalm (Paatos).
"Everyone gave something unique to the album," said Bowness. "The nice thing is that all the playing is subtle and working for the music rather than the musician's egos. Perhaps the guest parts that stand out most are Huxflux Nettermalm's assured drumming, Julianne Regan's backing vocals, which are unlike any I've worked with before, Marianne de Chastelaine's lyrical cello playing, and Steven Wilson's mixing, which has given the project a greater sense of cohesion and directness, I think."
The name of the project was partly based on the William Burroughs title "The Soft Machine."
"I quite liked the idea that, obviously, a machine on one level evokes industry and mechanization, and on another level, evokes human beings. Memories of Machines suggest memories of people and places and also nostalgic visions of industrial wastelands. There's something evocative in the three words, I think."
A video for an edit of the track "At the Centre of It All" may be viewed here. The video was directed by Grant Wakefield and features Peter Hammill on guitar and Colin Edwin on double bass.
A Soundcloud page with further samples is located here
