We’re not just looking to work with established artists but we’d also like to be known for releasing débuts. The next of these is the very first album by Australian pianist/composer Andrew Lang entitled Burnt Shades. This is a record full of piano notes, varying in pace and timbre – recorded in a small music room which is adjacent to a busy road. As a result, accidental sounds from the world outside creep in between the creaky notes of Lang’s old piano. The album will appeal to anyone that routinely enjoys the work of Peter Broderick, Goldmund, Nils Frahm or perhaps Andrew Lang’s compatriot Sophie Hutchings.
The album went live to our mailing list at the weekend and physical copies have nearly sold out already! There are still just a few available at time of writing and you can grab one of these by clicking HERE or the player above. Once it’s all sold out, you’ll still be able to purchase a digital version – to avoid missing out in the future, why not join our mailing list?
Press release
“Andrew Lang is a pianist and composer from Adelaide, Australia and ‘Burnt Shades’ is his debut album which follows a free EP released via his Bandcamp page. His influences are varied but he cites fellow pianists/composers Max Richter, Nils Frahm and Philip Glass as being particularly important. He also mentions another key inspiration in books, as he began to read again whilst recording ‘Burnt Shades’ – in fact, some of the track titles stem from literary references.
We’re pleased to be able to present Andrew’s first long-player, a moody and creaky but magical album that retains a live feel. This raw, honest effect was achieved by simply playing and recording piano improvisations in his music room, which is situated near a busy road and park. Andrew began to embrace the sounds of the outdoors as the world went on by whilst he sat recording, with birds, creaks and traffic noises accidentally making their way onto the album.
The piano itself was purchased by his parents several years ago, having formerly been used in a church crèche. For that reason, it has seen better days; physically worn in appearance and the keys themselves sometimes create odd sounds due to kids with sticky fingers and biscuit crumbs. Andrew wouldn’t have it any other way, cherishing the sound of his old piano with its creaking pedals and the noticeably audible resonances of hammers at work.
Andrew had been writing an album for some time, only to scrap it as he grew frustrated at the dead ends he’d encounter. Then at the turn of 2015 on New Year’s Day, Andrew started work on Burnt Shades with a fresh determination; he wanted to build on his previous work by approaching the recording process a little differently. Previously he’d taken to working tirelessly on recordings taken on a mobile phone, by applying several EQ chains; this time he wanted to change his approach by focusing purely on his piano as well as upgrading his recording techniques.. So Andrew began to record into a DAW with a pair of carefully placed microphones and simply applied some compression and EQs. He also gave himself the challenge of playing the piano using just two fingers at any one time to rid himself of the constraints of complex playing – this allowed him to focus more on building the tracks carefully, with more freedom.
The result of Andrew’s work through 2015 is a short but beautiful set of tracks that will appeal to fans of Nils Frahm, Goldmund and Modern Classical Ambient music in general, featuring artwork from Slovakian photographer Milan Očenáš.”
credits
Catalog number: WLR006
Written, produced and mastered by Andrew Lang
Artwork by Milan Očenáš
whitelabrecs.com 