“No click tracks, no headphones, and no film. Just the spontaneity of
performance and the sound of musicians hearing, connecting and
responding.”
‘Entanglement’, the debut album by Michael Price fulfills his long-term
desire to explore new musical territories, featuring Michael on the piano, with
the addition of cello, soprano voice, string orchestra, modular synth, tape
effects and electronics.
Throughout the record you will hear street sounds from ‘Budapest’ captured
and processed on Michael’s mobile phone, as well as chamber music recorded
direct to tape with vintage microphones in single takes. ‘The Attachment’ was
partly recorded onto a 1940s magnetic disc recorder, which immediately
connected the piece back to a pre-digital musical age. Many of the titles and
underlying concepts behind the tracks come from Michael’s love of science and
physics, and fascination with how science often can give us intriguing
metaphors for human relationships.
“Entanglement is a very personal expression of my obsessions: music, love,
physics and the inter-connectedness of things. There is structure and freedom,
chaos and control, and the beauty of ancient instruments set against impassive
machines.”
Collaboration and connection with musicians has always been a crucial element
to Michael’s music making, and in ‘Entanglement’ the cello and soprano vocal
parts were written specifically and directly for cellist Peter Gregson and
vocalist Ashley Knight, whose expressive voice features on tracks ‘Maitri‘ and
‘The Uncertainly Principle’. The lyrics for both songs are Japanese poetry sung
in English, dealing with age, loss and the inevitable fading of beauty. Michael
wanted to further extend the sound world of Ashley’s voice with tape effects
and natural reverbs, so that although the music could have been performed in
any era, the interpretation was contemporary.
‘Entanglement’ was written over a period of two years on paper and by hand
with Michael exploring oldest and the newest technology at Abbey Road
Studios and Snap Studios in London, before most of the recording and mixing
took place at Vox-Ton in Berlin. Joe Rubel’s involvement from the beginning
of the project, along with Nick Hill, was crucial in bringing the ideas, intact and
prepared, to the Berlin sessions with Francesco Donadello at Vox-Ton – a
haven for creating music that can stand on its own, outside any era or genre.
“I wanted to make an album that sounded like a dark, Berlin record store
discovery from the 30s. Something that had timeless emotive power, and predigital
rawness. Something that I hope would make a deeper connection in
superficially networked times. I think there is a duty for artists to be honest,
and vulnerable. Because then there is a possibility of real connection.
Entanglement is both honest and vulnerable and to go through the two year
process of writing, refining and recording an album has been more intense and
more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined.” – Michael Price