It has been ten years since my last collaboration with Tim Jones and the Census of Hallucinations family — too long! It’s a funny thing about numbers and why they have special significance (I am somewhat of an amateur student of numerology, and I know that Tim is too). And so, 25 years after my first Paradox One album, Reality Quake, I found the inspiration to start making music again, rather than just listening to and reviewing it.
“Waves Across the Ocean” is a forerunner of “Save the Migrants” and reflects my empathy towards them — and my anger at their treatment. The calm reflections of the voices show the racists, and those who politically and economically exploit migrants, up for what they are, I think.
The four “Steps” act as bridges and were put together in a similar fashion to the This Fragile Peace album from 2015 — working from a bass, guitar, and drums/percussion backing track and then superimposing a melody. They are intended to be meditative rather than effusive.
“Aliens in a Railway Station” has H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds in mind, and the two extracts here are from a longer piece I was working on for a series of Extinction EPs, as Paradox One again — with a little help from my friends, of course!
This album would not have been possible without the excellent job done by Tim Jones in remixing and mastering the music — bringing it to life more vividly than my original demo. Also, James Jones keeps coming up with his marvelous cover artwork, which is much appreciated.
Big thanks also go to Barry Lamb and Falling A Records for the interest he has shown in my music — and of course to the musicians who have contributed to the first (and I certainly hope not the last) Paradoxical Hallucinations album.
I feel like I have awakened from a long period of hibernation!