INTRO
IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE
The celebrated keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist flavours his first solo album in 20 years with celtic influences with a little help from his friends.
Oliver Wakeman has teamed up with vocalist Hayley Griffiths and Nightwish’s Troy Donockley for his first solo album in almost 20 years.
Released on May 17 via Spirit Of Unicorn Music, the celtic-inspired Anam Cara is the first LP to be billed under the keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist’s name since 2005’s Mother’s Ruin. It follows collaborations with the likes of Gordon Giltrap, Rodney Matthews (on the Trinity project) and Arena/Pendragon keyboard player Clive Nolan, as well as a stint in Yes between 2008 and 2011.
“I see it as a sort of spiritual sequel to The Three Ages Of Magick [his 2001 collaboration with Yes guitarist Steve Howe], even though it’s a completely different type of record,” Wakeman tells Prog. “On that one I used whistles and a violinist and a Uilleann pipe player, and it worked really well. I went back and listened to it when I did the box sets, and it sort of stoked that fire in me to use those instruments again.”
Aman Cara wears its celtic influences heavily, both musically and in the album title, which roughly translates as ‘soul friend’.
“It’s fitting, because the songs are about interactions between people,” he says. “There’s songs about people being away from each other, about people from the past who are no longer with us, there’s even a song about a love triangle. The songs are all little vignettes. It’s not a concept album, but there is a theme around the idea of the soul friend, someone who is looking for something, a connection.”
Opening track, The View From Here, dates back to 2002, when it was recorded in a different form with vocalist Rachel Williams (“I’ve completely rewritten parts of it, but the chorus is still recognisable,” says Wakeman). Others are more recent, including the album’s eight-minute centrepiece Marble Arch, which centres around a love triangle.
“I’ve basically been writing all these pieces of music over the years – I’d think, Well, that fits that sort of spiritual, celtic thing, so I’ll save it with all the other songs that are along the same lines,” says Wakeman. “Then a year or two ago, I listened to them all and thought, ‘Oh, they sound pretty good.’ Then you get into it, and actually you end up rewriting half the stuff!�
