PAUL MCLANEY RELEASES NEW INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM ‘EXEGESIS’AS BANDCAMP EXCLUSIVE
Paul McLaney’s new instrumental album ‘EXEGESIS’ compromises two 23 minute long pieces of music built upon the hypnotic and ever evolving melodic interplay of an almost chamber style collection of instrumentation. Acoustic guitars and pianos weave their way between glockenspiels and mellotrons, celestas and organs. It follows hot on the heels of his debut as a producer for another artist; Seraphim Night’s album ‘CERCA TROVA.’
“The thoughts and ideas I want to express with words at the moment are better suited to poetry rather than song, and the things I wish to express musically don’t want to be shackled by the specificity of lyrics.
Purely instrumental music can convey thoughts and emotions without prescribing them. Every listener paints a different picture in their mind when they truly engage in the considered art of listening. Really listening, like a meditation.
These two, long form compositions are an invitation to that kind of listening. They are a journey and a destination combined; a sanctuary. Music has been that sanctuary for me since I was a child and it continues to be that respite.
I’m interested in the miniature majestic; the inverse of the modern lexicon of epic textures. I’m interested in lattices of small melodies intersecting like the veins of a leaf or the subtle play of reflected light.
There is something of the way memories scaffold in the interplay of harmony and counterpoint. In their repetition and insistence. We are the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we continue to tell ourselves , the stories we repeat.”
The album is the first in a planned series of Bandcamp exclusives. Unlike major streaming services that pay miniscule amounts per stream, Bandcamp operates on a “fan-first” model, where artists typically retain 82-85% of their revenue. Bandcamp has created a community of music lovers; engaged listeners as opposed to passive consumers. Bandcamp encourages buying albums, fostering a listening experience where fans listen to the whole project, rather than skipping songs in a playlist.