Because, Remember by Bradfield Dumpleton

In 2006 I made a recording of my two youngest kids, who were 2 and 4 yrs old at the time. They took turns wearing the headphones and speaking into a microphone, and it was the first time either of them had heard their own voice from the 'other side' - often a significant shift in perception for anyone at their first encounter.

In 2017, I rediscovered the recording and used parts of it on 'The Fox', the opening track for the album The Ears Have Walls. Mainly the track features a story that my daughter Lotus improvised, about a girl who gets lost in a forest and turns into a fox.

In revisiting the original recordings for this new album, I wanted to slice out abstract samples, focusing on the textural & melodic qualities of their young voices as pure sound. A few recognisable phrases or words are woven throughout, but in most cases they are left incomplete or ambiguous, so that the listener is forced to extrapolate meaning from something that almost makes sense. Elsewhere the voice samples are too abstract to imply meaning; they exist as a sound, texture or rhythmic element.

These pieces aim to evoke an atmosphere of wistfulness, of innocence, something summery and blue-skied, and a memory of a time my kids can't even remember having with me. These pieces are composed as loveletters to that time of loving innocence.

A library of musical sketchbooks, mapping my various evolutions from 2005 to next week. Dedicated to exploring sound for its own sake. Many diverse delights here for the patient & attentive listener.

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