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ABOUT THE UPCOMING ALBUM "ELECTRIC SUN"
The new VNV Nation album "Electric Sun" will be released on April 14. A series of singles will be released before then, starting in mid-February.
I want to give you as much info as I can about the release so you know what's planned.
So, as it says in the into text - the new album "Electric Sun" will be released on April 14. A series of singles will be released before then, starting in mid-February.
1. CD Mediabook (ANA-CD-8) - hardcover CD book with a 20 page booklet containing special artwork, lyrics and liner notes. (EU only. The US edition will be available in digipack format)
2. Double Vinyl LP (ANA-V-6 and 6A) - regular and limited electric-blue vinyl editions, includes a fold-out poster, lyrics and liner notes (EU only or available as an import)
3. Deluxe Limited Boxset (ANA-CD-8LB) - a high-quality collectors set, limited to 1500 copies with exclusive artwork, a double vinyl album, the CD album, a 12" with two extended versions, a deluxe 44 page hardcover book with beautiful illustrations by our long-term partners Rodolfo Reyes and Michal Karcz, lyrics and liner notes, and an exclusive 8x8cm metal emblem (EU only or available as an import)
The Boxset and Limited Vinyl will be released in Europe and available as export to other countries, and can be ordered online (more info on that soon). Every element of the different editions is manufactured in the EU (except the North American release which is pressed locally). This is to avoid any debacle with customs while waiting for any parts. Which brings me to ....
Even though the album's production and release schedules were set in June 2022, this is not a time where there is any certainty in planning. Anyone in industry can tell you that there were supply chain problems to deal with. That worsened when global events took a darker turn in 2022, profoundly affecting the world. While our situation is a cakewalk compared with what many people in the world are dealing with, in our corner of things, it means increases in material and energy costs and much longer pressing and printing times. Some retailers then decided that they wanted their stock a lot earlier than normal, which didn't help. These kinds of issues, and more, have forced many labels to re-work their plans. As some of you might know, I was also written off sick in December which meant less time in the studio. It all adds up. Aiming for a safe release date and releasing singles before the album was the right decision. It also means going back to how we used to do tours, as with Empires and Futureperfect, where the songs were performed live first. People at concerts will get to hear some songs before anyone else. It's different but it's exciting.
Making this album was a different affair from the usual. I'd been building a new studio from the end of 2019, which the "lost years" turned into a frustratingly slow process. I focused instead on everything close to home. Starting work on another album had to wait until the right time, when the feeling was there. VNV Nation and the label are a solo endeavour so I used the time to change a lot about the label and how I work, which was time well spent. I moved distributors for physical and digital and was incredibly lucky to meet some great new people to work with. BUT .. if you've been paying attention these last years to how I write, you will know that ideas for songs, melodies, designs and more always appear in my head when I'm doing anything and everything except thinking about writing music. Coordinating and cleaning up a never-ending building site, cabling, discussing contracts or doing accounting are particularly productive. Whenever I had an idea, I'd make voice notes, record the screen on my phone while playing a synth app, add to a pile of paper scribbles or, if I was in the office, sketch out a very basic demo in some music software. Demos started to evolve in 2021, as well as the ideas for impossible orchestrations.
When I got around to sitting down and thinking of Electric Sun as a concept, I found myself living in a different world from the one I'd left in 2019. The album is the product of change and reflection, love, loss, toil, not-toil, learning and a pinch of soul-searching. I described it to my friend as the impressions left on me, these last years, left by what is right in front of everyone's face but always seem to be missed. What's truly important and how superficial everything had been were there in technicolor.
Electric Sun resonates deeply with me. There have been revelations and epiphanies in its making. There are sides to it where I've expressed things in ways I hadn't until now. It's allowed me to explore and reach new levels in the kind of music I make. I said on stage a few times that the next one would be darker. It was more a feeling than a conscious choice. Now, I don't mean darker in an "alone in a concrete cellar at 2am on a Saturday" or "my hunchback brother fell down a well and now I'm sad" kind of way. You don't plan creativity but you can curate and guide it. You are a vessel for it and, if you're like me, you let it do its thing. It's not the tools themselves but what they enable you to do. I find this album to be more emotive than usual, at times reaching some intensity. A lot was waiting to come out, I guess. I think you'll understand what I mean once you've heard it. From the title track "Electric Sun" to songs like "Prophet", "Run", "Sunflare" and "At Horizon's end", there's a cinematic-size scale to what I've made here. If you want, the album will make you dance, or ask you to think or make you smile and, at times, it might well put dust in your eye. I find it hard to grasp what I've achieved on this and I can't wait for you to hear it.
Sincerely,
Ronan Harris
p.s. If you're curious about the new studio, as well as an up-to-date studio gear-list, there are posts about them in the news section
So, as it says in the into text - the new album "Electric Sun" will be released on April 14. A series of singles will be released before then, starting in mid-February.
FORMATS
1. CD Mediabook (ANA-CD-8) - hardcover CD book with a 20 page booklet containing special artwork, lyrics and liner notes. (EU only. The US edition will be available in digipack format)
2. Double Vinyl LP (ANA-V-6 and 6A) - regular and limited electric-blue vinyl editions, includes a fold-out poster, lyrics and liner notes (EU only or available as an import)
3. Deluxe Limited Boxset (ANA-CD-8LB) - a high-quality collectors set, limited to 1500 copies with exclusive artwork, a double vinyl album, the CD album, a 12" with two extended versions, a deluxe 44 page hardcover book with beautiful illustrations by our long-term partners Rodolfo Reyes and Michal Karcz, lyrics and liner notes, and an exclusive 8x8cm metal emblem (EU only or available as an import)
The Boxset and Limited Vinyl will be released in Europe and available as export to other countries, and can be ordered online (more info on that soon). Every element of the different editions is manufactured in the EU (except the North American release which is pressed locally). This is to avoid any debacle with customs while waiting for any parts. Which brings me to ....
Even though the album's production and release schedules were set in June 2022, this is not a time where there is any certainty in planning. Anyone in industry can tell you that there were supply chain problems to deal with. That worsened when global events took a darker turn in 2022, profoundly affecting the world. While our situation is a cakewalk compared with what many people in the world are dealing with, in our corner of things, it means increases in material and energy costs and much longer pressing and printing times. Some retailers then decided that they wanted their stock a lot earlier than normal, which didn't help. These kinds of issues, and more, have forced many labels to re-work their plans. As some of you might know, I was also written off sick in December which meant less time in the studio. It all adds up. Aiming for a safe release date and releasing singles before the album was the right decision. It also means going back to how we used to do tours, as with Empires and Futureperfect, where the songs were performed live first. People at concerts will get to hear some songs before anyone else. It's different but it's exciting.
MAKING THE ALBUM
Making this album was a different affair from the usual. I'd been building a new studio from the end of 2019, which the "lost years" turned into a frustratingly slow process. I focused instead on everything close to home. Starting work on another album had to wait until the right time, when the feeling was there. VNV Nation and the label are a solo endeavour so I used the time to change a lot about the label and how I work, which was time well spent. I moved distributors for physical and digital and was incredibly lucky to meet some great new people to work with. BUT .. if you've been paying attention these last years to how I write, you will know that ideas for songs, melodies, designs and more always appear in my head when I'm doing anything and everything except thinking about writing music. Coordinating and cleaning up a never-ending building site, cabling, discussing contracts or doing accounting are particularly productive. Whenever I had an idea, I'd make voice notes, record the screen on my phone while playing a synth app, add to a pile of paper scribbles or, if I was in the office, sketch out a very basic demo in some music software. Demos started to evolve in 2021, as well as the ideas for impossible orchestrations.
When I got around to sitting down and thinking of Electric Sun as a concept, I found myself living in a different world from the one I'd left in 2019. The album is the product of change and reflection, love, loss, toil, not-toil, learning and a pinch of soul-searching. I described it to my friend as the impressions left on me, these last years, left by what is right in front of everyone's face but always seem to be missed. What's truly important and how superficial everything had been were there in technicolor.
Electric Sun resonates deeply with me. There have been revelations and epiphanies in its making. There are sides to it where I've expressed things in ways I hadn't until now. It's allowed me to explore and reach new levels in the kind of music I make. I said on stage a few times that the next one would be darker. It was more a feeling than a conscious choice. Now, I don't mean darker in an "alone in a concrete cellar at 2am on a Saturday" or "my hunchback brother fell down a well and now I'm sad" kind of way. You don't plan creativity but you can curate and guide it. You are a vessel for it and, if you're like me, you let it do its thing. It's not the tools themselves but what they enable you to do. I find this album to be more emotive than usual, at times reaching some intensity. A lot was waiting to come out, I guess. I think you'll understand what I mean once you've heard it. From the title track "Electric Sun" to songs like "Prophet", "Run", "Sunflare" and "At Horizon's end", there's a cinematic-size scale to what I've made here. If you want, the album will make you dance, or ask you to think or make you smile and, at times, it might well put dust in your eye. I find it hard to grasp what I've achieved on this and I can't wait for you to hear it.
Sincerely,
Ronan Harris
p.s. If you're curious about the new studio, as well as an up-to-date studio gear-list, there are posts about them in the news section
05 Feb 23
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