Hollows by Manzuma

Hollows is a palindromic hour-long album. The form of this work is crucial. Each song has a mirrored counterpart. The central piece has a mirrored middle sequence. All precise right down to the second. If you ever got into concept albums and like basic maths, you’ll probs enjoy this one.

From a time when we still made CDs, Deon Roux composed the wholly digital cover image and I laid out the package with millimetre accuracy so the bleak desert-world wrapped around and through all the bits. It was a perfect accompaniment to an album about togetherness & absence.

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Anonymity is power. Without identity you make your own. Your name exposes you. Googlable & undifferentiated from any part of your own life. I’m okay with that now, I suppose, but earlier... not so much. Shyness, anxieties about my queerness in potentially homophobic places, and still learning my craft kept me from jumping the hedge to show myself off.

So, between 2001 and 2012, I made music with Vanessa Cronin under the moniker “Manzuma”. Vanessa sang, and I played instruments, but we wrote and produced together. We were joined by others, too. Most notably, Dale Watkinson’s guitar and production were a critical ingredient in our later work.

We recorded 3 albums with a dozen singles and EPs. I’ve now remastered these (and in some cases remixed or lovingly corrected), and the whole lot is available here.

I hope you enjoy.
Timothy

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Manzuma
timothyfairless.com