Brian Eno's shared the video for There Were Bells, which was recorded with his brother Roger at the Acropolis in Athens – you can watch it below. It's the first release from his new album, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE, out on October 14
On the day of the concert, it was 45C and there were wildfires outside the Greek city prompting him to remark, "I thought, here we are at the birthplace of Western civilisation, probably witnessing the end of it.”
Eno recorded his latest 10-track album at his studio in west London and, for the first time since 2005's Another Day On Earth, he sings vocals on most of the album tracks. Included on the CD version of the album is Making Gardens Out Of Silence In An Uncanny Valley, which Eno created as an audio installation for the Serpentine North Gallery's as part of the Back To Earth programme. An edit is presented on the digital and vinyl formats.
Thematically, the full album explores the current climate emergency and asks whether art inspire action.
“Like everybody else – except, apparently, most of the governments of the world – I’ve been thinking about our narrowing, precarious future, and this music grew out of those thoughts," explains the pioneering musician. "Perhaps it’s more accurate to say I’ve been feeling about it… and the music grew out of the feelings. Those of us who share those feelings are aware that the world is changing at a super-rapid rate, and that large parts of it are disappearing forever, hence the album title.
“These aren’t propaganda songs to tell you what to believe and how to act. Instead they’re my own exploration of my own feelings. The hope is that they will invite you, the listener, to share those experiences and explorations."
The artist, who also teamed up with brother Brian on 2020's Mixing Colours and is a trustee of ClientEarth, adds, “It took me a long time to embrace the idea that we artists are actually feelings-merchants. Feelings are subjective. Science avoids them because they’re hard to quantify and compare. But ‘feelings’ are the beginnings of thoughts, and the long term attendants of them too. Feelings are the whole body reacting, often before the conscious brain has got into gear, and often with a wide lens that encompasses more than the brain is consciously aware of.
“Art is where we start to become acquainted with those feelings, where we notice them and learn from them – learn what we like and don’t like – and from there they start to turn into actionable thoughts. Children learn through play; adults play through Art. Art gives you the space to ‘have’ feelings, but it comes with an off-switch: you can shut the book or leave the gallery. Art is a safe place to experience feelings - joyous ones and difficult ones. Sometimes those feelings are about things we long for, sometimes they’re about things we might want to avoid.
“I’m more and more convinced that our only hope of saving our planet is if we begin to have different feelings about it: perhaps if we became re-enchanted by the amazing improbability of life; perhaps if we suffered regret and even shame at what we’ve already lost; perhaps if we felt exhilarated by the challenges we face and what might yet become possible. Briefly, we need to fall in love again, but this time with Nature, with Civilisation and with our hopes for the future.“
FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE will be available on vinyl, CD and digital formats, including Dolby Atmos.
Watch the performance video for There Were Bells below.
Buy the latest issue of Prog Magazine
LP & digital tracklist
Who Gives a Thought
We Let It In
Icarus or Blériot
Garden of Stars
Inclusion
There Were Bells
Sherry
I’m Hardly Me
These Small Noises
Making Gardens Out of Silence
CD tracklist
Who Gives a Thought
We Let It In
Icarus or Blériot
Garden of Stars
Inclusion
There Were Bells
Sherry
I’m Hardly Me
These Small Noises
Making gardens out of silence in the uncanny valley
