A few words to my fans

I recently realized that my new album, called Straw Man and running 9 songs and ~32 minutes, took more than 8 months to record, mix and master. When that sunk in, I started listening to the little details in my new songs to try and figure out if it was really worth this time and effort. The conclusion was that to me, it was worth it.

Straw Man is a wide concept album on media control and manipulation. It's heavier than my first solo effort, it's all in English and may seem a little extreme at times, but I think that's the best way to get a point across. Anyway, I tried to get all the songs to click, so that the listener (casual or not) gets that "album feel".

Some songs ran through up to 7 draft mixes before we finally hit the sweet spot. Others simply worked out from the beginning. At one point things got so intense that I was in the hospital for 2 weeks because of strained vocal cords, with the doctors telling me that I had to write everything (and I mean everything, from "how are you?", to "analogue recording greatly enhances sound warmth") down on a piece of paper. I got over it, but I'm trying to take it easy... for a while.

Now the album is almost done and I'm proud of it. Only the mastering process remains to be done for the audio portion, while the cover art and CD booklet are both underway. I bought a seal and red ink from Venice, which I will use to manually inscribe the first 50-100 CD copies. These will be collectible items for my most hardcore fans and friends, and a way for me to say "thank you" to some of the people who got involved directly in the album making and/or showed incredible support for my work. Most likely I will ship these CD's personally, upon request.

There will be a slight delay with the album release, so instead of November '09 it will probably come out in March '10. This is because I'm out of the country for 3 months and can't take care of last minute details.

That's about it for now, but stay tuned and spread the word! It'll make a difference!