Dear Whoever,

“The Separate Republic” is an album that has been requiring much patience, and it continues to do so. The release date that had initially been communicated by Fronte Nordico has been postponed for another two months. This means that I will not receive my album copies before the end of July or early August.

However, this does not mean that nothing is happening behind the scenes. I am keeping myself busy with many other projects.  One of them is my work as the producer of Misty Bywater’s debut album, a collection of psychedelic lullabies.

I made Misty’s acquaintance in 2013 when she presented me with several demo recordings of songs which she had composed. I was so intrigued with the compositions that were drafted in those raw recordings that I immediately suggested to collaborate and offered my help to record these songs properly. At that time, Misty still lived in England, and we met for one brief weekend in 2014 to make a few recordings. After that, however, I was so busy with “The Separate Republic” that we had to shelve our project for quite a while. In the meantime, Misty moved to Germany, which made it much easier to resume our work.

For me, this is the very first time that I put so much effort into producing music that is not my own. It is a very interesting process during which I am learning a lot about the role of a music producer, and it is quite rewarding in many ways.

I must admit that I am so proud and excited about our accomplishments so far that I am really yearning to present them to the world. But I still need to be patient and keep them secret! We have finished about half of the album, and I guess we will need about two or three more months before I will initiate the album’s release through my label, Opus Abscondi. The only thing I can give away for now is that the album will be titled “Lullaby Waterfall”.

I will permit myself to boast, and I will only do so because it is not my own music: The songs on this album are like nothing I have heard before, even if they feel strangely familiar. And I am sure you will have the same experience. Stay tuned, we might soon share one or the other song here and elsewhere.

I am also working on another project. But that is even more secret. All I can say for now is that Michael, the man behind the Grandmaster’s mask, will soon present his own music project, which will be very different from ART ABSCONs. Look out for a guy called Tellbach.

Yours absconsly

+Art/Michael+