"Work on this album started with me just noodling on electric guitar, that at times was prepared with pencils, aluminium foil, et cetera. Not with the usual conceptual idea or a story to tell. That story developed later, while working on these tracks. It was just me, capturing little riffs and looping them through my modular setup, which is not really a modular synth but more a modular sampler based around a Make Noise Morphagene and a QuBit Nebulae 2 and some effect modules and pedals.
This workflow gave me tracks that were still recognizable as being electric guitar, but also other stuff that was much more drone-y soundscapes and some chaotic, percussion-like weirdness. I really liked the organic feel of it, knowing that everything, every sound came out of me playing the guitar.
Then I started thinking about how to make it even more organical and rich in layering. So I asked Marcus Hamblett to play brass on some of these tracks and the stuff he came back with was amazing. These really laid-back jazzy phrases that fit really well with the twangy guitar stuff but also some really weird and freaky stuff. As he put it: ‘I don’t think I ever made sounds like this with a trumpet before!’
I have collaborated with Rutger Zuydervelt before on my Reiko album and wanted to ask him again to add some of his magic to the tracks I had. And he very generously obliged, giving it even more warmth like only he can.
Thomas Jaspers I met when we played together at Doornroosje in my hometown Nijmegen in June of 2023. I was immediately blown away by his style of playing and felt that adding drums to these tracks would give them another dimension, making it even more dynamic.
In closing, a special shoutout to Taylor Deupree who did an amazing job on mastering these tracks and getting them to sound even more crisp and beautiful.
For me the album feels like a lonely, nightly walk through an unfamiliair city or driving in a car by yourself, late at night along the highway, lamp posts whizzing by. It has a strong feeling of solitude, as well as a warmth to it. It is equal parts comforting and challenging.
The inside of the cd sleeve features a poem I wrote in a William S. Burroughs collage style. It concludes with the album title ‘Finally We Are All Floating’ and captures my feelings during the last weeks of completing this music. A very emotional time for me, as my 7 year relationship ended. Listening back to the album makes it much more melancholic and emotionally wrought than I felt when making it. It has forever changed the music, and me as well.
Much love."
credits
released April 12, 2024
electric guitar and electronics by Michel van Collenburg on all tracks
trumpet and flügel by Marcus Hamblett on tracks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7
drums and percussion by Thomas Jaspers on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8
additional electronics by Rutger Zuydervelt on tracks 1, 2, 5 and 6
drums recorded by Stefan Kollee at Broedplaats de Ceuvel in Amsterdam
mastered at 12K Mastering by Taylor Deupree
artwork and poem by Michel van Collenburg
a special thanks to anyone and everyone who has supported me on this long and winding road