UK composer and multi-instrumentalist John Holden has announced the arrival of his brand new album with a video for new song 13 which you can watch below.
13 features on Proximity & Chance, Holden's fifth album and the follow-up to 2022's Kintsugi, which is released on May 31.
The new album "considers how proximity was key for life to flourish, with the earth being perfectly placed in its distance from the sun," Holden says. "It looks at the ideas of human inheritance. With all the events and possibilities in our long evolution. it is amazing to think that we have all shared our lives under one sun. And just like with our early ancestors, we do look out into infinite space and wonder."
"The ‘Thirteen Club’ was created in 1880 to debunk the superstition of "13 at a table" being unlucky," Holden explains of the new song. "By 1887, the club was 400-strong, over time gaining five U.S. Presidents as honorary members. Meetings were based around flouting superstition. To this end, the attendees entered the room under a ladder where thirteen dinner tables each with thirteen settings were set and thirteen courses were consumed. Guests were forbidden from tossing spilt salt over their shoulders, and at later meetings open umbrellas and smashing mirrors were added."
As with previous albums, Holden has enlisted a veritable who's who of modern progressive music including vocalists Sally Minnear and Peter Jones, Vikram Shankar of Silent Skies on keyboards, Luke Machin on guitar and John Hackett on flute.
"For this set of compositions, I wanted to experiment at fully integrating an orchestral soundscape into a rock format," Holden adds. "So often orchestral sounds are used as replacements for existing synths and keyboards. I decided to have them at the forefront and play a leading role. For other songs I wanted a harder rock edge so, the album has plenty of contrasts. When starting this project, I was committed to making the songs as ‘entertaining’ as I could. Hopefully that feeling communicates to the listener."
Proximity & Chance will be available on CD and as a download album.
John Holden: Proximity & Chance
1 13
2. The Man Who Would Be King
3. A Sense of Place
4. Burnt Cork and Limelight
5. Agents
6. Fini
7. Proximity
8. Chance (Under One Sun)
