Melancholia by Bradfield Dumpleton

Part 2 of an overlapping trilogy of musical responses to change & transition. Whereas TECTONIC (Part 1) represented upheaval & reaction, MELANCHOLIA is much more the pause in the process, the reflective, the letting go & the careful finding-of-the-way into something new and unfamiliar.

The catalyst of this particular transition, mundane as it seems, was moving house. Part of the melancholic tangle involved releasing the previous family home (steeped in a decade of memories) & stepping into an amazing new home that offered all kinds of new delights - including a 100-yr-old upright piano that features on some of these recordings. Not that I 'can' 'play' piano, but the resonance of this artifact invites the discovery & exploration....

This is an album of driftings, soundscapes, moods and atmospheres. There are some visceral moments, pushing through the membrane, reflecting the layers we move through during change - doubt, resolve, adaptation. Not exactly ambient in the wallpaper sense, but I definitely think it's an album to LISTEN TO LOUD IN THE BATH.

This is by no means intended to be a depressing album, nor an album illustrating depression, though in part it found shape in response to the powerful resonance I felt with the Lars Van Trier film of the same name.

Personally I feel "melancholy" is far more than mere sadness - it encompasses many states of deep reflection that enable us to access deeper understandings of self - the wistful, sombre, hesitant, morose, pensive, regretful, yearning.....perhaps the various voices of melancholy take us closer to the notion of Soul...

Many moments of fractured, frenetic & heartfull family life time-lapsed around & fed into these recordings as they evolved, all woven around the moving of home, the settling, finding new ground & establishing space.

Headphones for best results!

Tracklist

1.	Aubergine Dreme	14:51

2.	Sinking In	6:54

3.	Tendrils	5:45

4.	Walking Eclipse	3:43

5.	Solar Sonar	5:16

6.	Surge	6:18

7.	The Cadence Of Memory	5:02

8.	Uncertainty Box	11:51

9.	Melancholia	6:01

Credits

released December 20, 2017

All music, words & images © 2017 Bradfield Dumpleton. Composed, played, recorded & sculpted at Nicholl’s Rivulet, Tasmania, by Bradfield Dumpleton Sept - Nov 2017.

Instruments, organic & treated sounds on this album: Electric guitars, acoustic guitar, electric bass, cello, cello bass, acoustic piano, keyboards, Juno 6 synthesiser, voices, jungle kit percussion (cajon, kick drum, old tom, cymbals).

Field recordings include: 5 - the birds & the bumblebeez in our new garden / 8 - Heidi & Lucas original voice recordings made in empty silos on Maria Island + rain @ Eggs And Bacon Bay.

More info: bradfielddumpleton.com/trilogy-of-change-tectonic-melancholia-stelliferous-2017/

Big love always to Heidi for relentlessly supporting & sharing in my process / Ross for musical mentoring & inspirational friendship / Bryan for the amazing house & resident ancient piano / Cooper for the Juno 6 sounds.

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