MMXIX by Angus MacRae

MMXIX is a collection of singles that I wrote and released throughout 2019, brought together into a complete album for the first time. Together, they form a series of snapshots of a passing year.

Two new pieces, reworked and reimagined from the original recordings, complete the album.

After a number of months apart from these pieces, it has been a real pleasure coming back to them with fresh ears and figuring out how best to present them as a collection.

The challenge of writing and releasing music so regularly throughout the year meant the pieces were always driven by instinct - there was no time to overthink decisions, or endlessly tweak and adjust the minutiae. For each single, I needed to commit to an idea, write and record it, send it for mastering, release it, and start again on the next. Listening back now, it is often with delight that I reflect on creative decisions lead more often than not by impulse rather than reason. It was certainly an exciting way to work.

I also can't ignore the strange new nostalgia that has permeated through the music since I left it at the end of 2019, in light of the events so far of 2020.

In many ways, the music feels blissfully innocent - perhaps oblivious - to the changed world that would emerge so soon into this new decade. For me it speaks for the unique power of music to capture history, not just of events, but of emotions.

For me, each of these pieces is a memory jar, ready to be reopened in a not too distant future, for a fleeting glimpse at how life felt, once upon a time. Let's hope, when that time comes, that the new world turns out to be better than the old. I am optimistic.

Angus MacRae is a composer, pianist and recording artist. His solo work explores themes of imagination, memory, and escapism, pairing panoramic electronic backdrops with intimate instrumental recordings to create transportive, elegiac works of unflinching emotional honesty.

angusmacraemusic.com
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