Liverpool-based songwriter Duncan Patterson (formerly of Anathema, Antimatter) is now unveiling “Grace Road” after a five-year hiatus.
For orders, the new album “Grace Road” is now available on Bandcamp, here: https://duncanpatterson.bandcamp.com/album/grace-road
The first video single, ‘The Amber Line’ is online and can be viewed here:
The new Duncan Patterson lofi gothic opus album echoes the artist’s compositions of days gone by. With Palestinian singer Enas Al-Said, “Grace Road” plumbs melancholy and infinite sadness.
The artist took his time on the new record, as he states “a five-year self-imposed exile from music. I was unsure if I would find the energy and inspiration ever again, but I did.” He crafted an album of regret and moodiness with 5-tracks, a record primarily shorn of the piano sounds and Enas’s beautiful and ethereal presence and voice. No track escapes the gravitational pull of melancholy.
Starting with ‘Absolut Absolutum,’ the song is a piano-driven sentimental ballad that employs religious imagery, going right to the heart and feeling so personal, authentic, and true. The album continues with ‘The Quiet Light’ and ‘Walking Between Worlds’; one could say that Duncan is one of the most lauded songwriters of his generation because of his ability to craft such piercingly devastating vignettes of loss and sadness.
Much has changed in Duncan Patterson’s life in the past years – ever since with Anathema, Antimatter, and Antifear, he has worked remotely gathering ideas for what it is today, “Grace Road.” All his experiences are baked into this album, and it seems like he is looking back a lot, being influenced by the most recurring themes in his recent times: lies and injustice. When he looks up, Duncan does not see humanity doing much better, suggesting that “I killed my time for an awfully expensive lie/ Rebuilt in spite of you/ I drew a line of fire to get out alive/ I killed my time for you.”
Recorded at Articulo 123, Monterrey MX & Aeonic Studios, Los Angeles, Duncan is clearly working out a lot of personal emotions on “Grace Road,” leaving the listener nostalgic, torn up, and longing for home. The album is a beautiful testament of musical skill and honesty, as Enas Al-Said truly understands how to turn her soft, vulnerable voice into a strength. Once again, Duncan is setting off to comfort us with his melancholic sounds and touching songs.
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