Ten Titles by Luke Plumb and the Eumelia Ensemble

In October 2009 I flew some of best musical friends, Khaled Arman from Afghanistan, Pavlos Michaelides from Cyprus and James MacKintosh, Anna-Wendy Stevenson and Donald Hay from Scotland, along with sound guru Calum Malcolm, and Louis "Mr. Photo" de Carlo to a small eco farm in southern Greece. We set up a recording space and lived there for a week, cooking, playing, walking and recording together. The music was a suite I had written for two fiddles, two mandolins and two percussion though Khaled masterfully switched from mandolin to the afghan Rubab for the recording.
It remains a fairly special recording for me - made with some kind assistance from the Scottish Arts Council. It even remained unmastered until now, but with concerts forthcoming with Khaled and Van Diemen's Band, and the inclusion of a couple of these pieces in the set list, I thought now was the time to finish the thing off and get it out there.

Hope you enjoy it!

The music was written for a concept I had to use "ten titles" as a provocation for creative activity. After the 2006 London bombings I experienced a momentary physical fear response when a feller got on a bus I was on with a backpack and fitting a profile the media has drilled into us to be wary of. The shame I felt was equally real, and I thought about shared experiences we all have - hence these titles. I started floating the titles around wherever I could and inviting responses. In the flurry of activity before my own ill-health kinda forced me out of doing all "extra curricular" projects, I got essays from a high school student in Malaysia, a photo series and street art installations in Mexico City, a dance show in Dundee, a published suite of poems from Sydney, sculptures from Athens and probably a couple things I can't remember. I'd loftily thought if we got enough items we could exhibit it all in an immersive tribute to everything we hold dear and share.

Life feels a lot more fractured now than then.

Tracklist

1.	Fulfilment and Frustration	5:12

2.	Nothing but the Almost Truths	5:39

3.	Being Redeemed	5:36

4.	Searching for Madness	6:11

5.	More than Memory	5:45

6.	Obsession	4:16

7.	It is Real	4:27

8.	To Yearn	7:35

9.	Endless	5:17

10.	Αγάπη	9:29

Credits

released September 5, 2025

Khaled Arman Rubab
Donald Hay Drums
James MacKintosh Drums
Pavlos Michaelides Violin
Luke Plumb Mandolin
Anna-Wendy Stevenson Violin

Phil Alexander Piano

Calum Malcolm Engineering, Mixing, Mastering
Louis de Carlo Photography

Recorded at Eumelia Farm, Laconia, Greece in October 2009, Piano recorded in Scotland 2009
With some much appreciated assistance from Creative Scotland.

License