Just Announced!
Alabaster DePlume
Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade
(( Photo by Sofia Lambrou ))
IARC0082:
Alabaster DePlume
Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade
Out October 15, 2024
Cremisan: Prologue To A Blade features three deeply personal and evocative new tracks, recorded in locations of profound importance. Each piece serves as a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of place in shaping the artistic process.
The EP’s first two tracks, “Honeycomb” and “Cremisan,” were recorded in the experimental arts, music and architecture space The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, Palestine, during DePlume’s ‘Sounds Of Places’ residency.
The opening track, the wintry and elegiac “Honeycomb,” is a somber duet recorded with pianist Sami El Enani.
“Cremisan” — recorded in the final moments of a day-long non-stop performance put on by Radio alHara and Wonder Cabinet on June 1, 2024, that featured a robust array of local artists and musicians — finds DePlume’s wavering saxophone leads playing against featured artist Laith Albandak’s steadfast Qanoun in a call and response that gestures at both grief and resilience. The team planned and delivered this event as “a cry from the Cremisan Valley (Bethlehem, Palestine) to Rafah (Gaza),” and what you hear is its conclusion.
The EP concludes with “Gifts Of Olive,” a solemn melody that references Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I Must Die.”
DePlume shares: “To set you up for what’s coming I’ve layered up these compositions in private, and with friends. It’s a prologue to what we’re bringing next. It ushers it in. I went towards things I feared, to be in the places where this music has come from. Places in the world and in myself, where dignity and sovereignty has its role in the work of healing.
Looking For My Value: Prologue To A Blade
The EP release is accomanied by Alabaster DePlume’s first poetry collection, titled "Looking For My Value: Prologue To A Blade," which offers readers a deeper exploration of the themes of dignity, sovereignty, and the work of healing that are present in his music. Arriving as a limited gatefold custom A6 pocket book featuring cover art by British illustrator Ian Wright and design by London-based Jamie Coull, this collection features raw and vulnerable prose that reflects DePlume’s journey toward finding and taking responsibility for his own value as a human being.
Limited Edition - Signed by Alabaster DePlume. 75-page poetry book. Printed in UK.
Selected Press
Coming soon…
Notes
“Honeycomb” written, arranged, and mixed by Angus Fairbairn
Performed by Alabaster DePlume and Sami El Enani
Recorded in the Wonder Cabinet, Bethlehem, Palestine
Engineered by Angus Fairbairn
“Cremisan” written and arranged by Angus Fairbairn and Laith Ziad Albandak
Performed by Alabaster DePlume and Laith Albandak
Recorded live in the Cremisan Valley, Bethlehem, Palestine
Engineered by Radio Alhara
“Gifts of Olive” written, arranged, and mixed by Angus Fairbairn
Performed by Alabaster DePlume
Recorded at Total Refreshment Centre, Dalston, London
Engineered by Angus Fairbairn
Mastered by David Allen
“If I must die” from “Gifts of Olive” references the poet Refaat Alareer (1979-2023)
Special thanks to Radio Alhara for equipment hire, and to Edward Said Conservatory and Jacob Baboun for saxophone hire.
About Alabaster DePlume
Gus Fairbairn, aka Alabaster DePlume, has a pocketful of phrases that he uses all the time whether he’s walking down the street or holding court with musicians and an audience. For a long time the Mancunian would tell anyone who’d listen that they were doing very well. More recently, it’s another phrase which has a similar effect and which belies his unwavering commitment to personal vulnerability and collective politics: “Don’t forget you’re precious.”