Former Twelfth Night bassist and C:Live Collective mainstay Clive Mitten has announced details of his upcoming new album Tales From A Misspent Youth – Volume 1 which he will release on January 28.
The new album sees Mitten continuing the orchestral style of Suite Cryptique: Recomposing Twelfth Night 1978-1983, which was released earlier this year and saw Mitten rework material from Twelfth Night's back catalogue. Tales From a Misspent Youth... sees Mitten tackling the progressive music of the 70s that inspired him as a youth.
"14 months in the making, this album is my tribute to those who inspired me in my teens to become a musician, Mitten explains. "I could already play the piano and classical guitar, but aged 12 I encountered ‘prog' for the first time. I saw Pink Floyd play Dark Side Of The Moon live, and witnessed Supertramp perform Crime Of The Century before many knew who they were - all while wearing a great coat and carrying a crate of Newcastle Brown with me.
"These experiences and others led me to electrify my playing to work out what my heroes were doing. Now, 50 years later, I am paying my dues to them in my current style, which you can loosely define as cinematically orchestral but with an in-depth understanding of prog. Why take this on? The originals are complex works which are fiendishly difficult in places and already well-loved. Lockdowns are part of it, but the main reason is that I feel I can shine a new light on the material - and in places it is an unexpected light.
"This album has been a labour of love, both for the people who drove me to write music in the first place and led me ultimately to being able to call myself a composer, and, as always, for the music."
You can see a work-in-progress of the upcoming album art by David Read, which references some of the tracks on the album, along with the tracklisting below.
Tales From A Misspent Youth – Volume 1 will be released in a jewel case as a double CD and, as you can see, runs to just over two hours. It will be accompanied by a booklet containing comprehensive sleeve notes written by Clive explaining the concept of the album, and giving detailed information about the tracks.
Clive Mitten: Tales From A Misspent Youth – Volume 1
Disc 1
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
2. Jeux Sans Frontiers
3. Tubular Bells (side one)
4. Rudy
5. Supper's Ready
Disc 2
1. Echoes
2. Solsbury Hill
3. Countdown
4. La Villa Strangiato
5. School
6. Bloody Well Right
7. Xanadu
8. Living In The Past
9. In The Cage Medley
