Second Thought -
Safernoc
01. Send More Bees
02. Night Train
03. Barghest
04. Marown Dhoo
05. Savernake
06. Kelpie
07. Cwn Annwn
08. Moss
09. Vantage Point
10. Timber Wolf
11. Aqueduct
12. Beddgelert
Recorded throughout 2009, Safernoc was the first music I had written in three years, since completing Vacuum Road Songs and scrapping tentative demos for a dark ambient/industrial record. Eschewing much of the conceptual heaviness of the previous album, and carrying a whole new selection of influences, I recorded the album with a sense of joy that hadn't been present since Purlieu, six years previously. Some pieces on the album continued in the vein of Vacuum Road Songs's synth-heavy rhythmic sound, albeit in a more light and spacious manner, while others bore the new influence of composers such as John Cage, Gustav Holst and Philip Glass, with arrangements for strings, piano and brass added to the mix. I also returned to the approach of incorporating field recordings into the tracks themselves, such as 'Savernake's chorus of yelping dogs, the distant steam locomotive in 'Marown Dhoo', and the cut up gull chatter in 'Vantage Point'. The pieces on the album were largely inspired by ghost stories, myths and legends from throughout the British Isles, and I had in mind the idea of a village where many of these were witnessed; indeed, the dogs in 'Savernake' could well have been reacting to something they'd sensed nearby. Despite this, the concept of the album was considerably more vague than the previous two records, which gave me more freedom when composing the pieces.
The album's main release was by The Future Sound of London, undoubtedly the biggest musical influence on my music over the years, on their FSOLDigital online store, in MP3 format - probably my proudest moment to date. I also funded a short run of CDrs through Jerky Oats for use as promotional copies, and to sell at shows, and promotional versions were also shared on mp3 and cassette format.