Tourism by Andrew Eaton Lewis

'Superlative.... riven with a yearning and melancholia that’s reminiscent of some of Nick Cave‘s early solo work. The sense of clarity here of experiences lived and learnt and the acknowledgement of the fragility of life makes this a record you should invest time in.' Bill Cummings, God is in the TV.

In early 2018 I moved from Edinburgh city centre to a clifftop in the Outer Hebrides. Tourism is a collection of songs inspired by that life change - songs about crofts and sheep and dark skies and wild weather, about feeling like a tourist in someone else’s culture, about the ‘mainland’ becoming somewhere on the edge of your experience, about my past and my children's future, and ultimately about whether we are all just tourists on Earth, on a brief visit from somewhere more permanent that we return to afterwards.

The album consists of ten new songs plus two contrasting cover versions. Sad Country Boy was an attempt to draw out the hidden melancholy in my Wee Studio label mates Peat & Diesel, which they may not thank me for. And in keeping with Tourism’s exploration of mortality and returning to nature, it closes with my version of Find the River by R.E.M. The track first appeared last year on a A Carnival of Sorts, a compilation of R.E.M covers by musicians from all over the world, curated for the band's 40th anniversary by God is in the TV (and endorsed, excitingly, by R.E.M themselves).

THANK YOU

Keith Morrison of Wee Studio Records, without whose generous support this album would probably never have been made. You are an absolute legend and I will always be grateful to you.

Scott C Park. for your enthusiasm and creative brilliance.

Andy Yearley for allowing me to use his photograph of Mercury orbiting the Sun, as seen from the Isle of Lewis, a perfect cover image for this album. In Roman religion Mercury was the god of 'financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery, and thieves', which sums up both the tourism industry and the music industry quite well. In this image, Mercury the tourist/musician/god/human is dwarfed by the vastness of the Sun. You can decide for yourself what this massive ball of fire might represent.

And also YOU, for making the effort to listen to this when there are so many other things you could be doing.

Tourism is dedicated to Laura and my children (always the most important place on the map) and to the memory of our friends Beldina Odenyo and John Stahl.

'Extraordinary, outstanding.' Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music

‘Exhilarating… stirringly fresh and smart.’ The Independent

'Adult pop with heart and brains.' The Guardian.

'Like minimalist classical composers working on adventurous ballads for R.E.M.' The Herald.

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