18-12-2023
(Glass Onyon) Bill Nelson has released “Starlight Stories”, an album consisting of a mixture of song-based and instrumental material, released by the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies and available digitally.
Despite being recorded during the same 2022 sessions that produced the 'All The Fun Of The Fair' album, 'Starlight Stories' has a completely different vibe and intent.
Wistful and melancholic, the album contains dreamy meditations fed through the filter of Bill Nelson's contemporary musical sensibility. “The inspiration for many of the songs came from my memories of a set of children's story books, published in the 1920s, that my mother had when she was a child in the early 1930s. She had kept these books and he read from them when I was an infant in the early 1950s. They were thick, heavy bound books with embossed covers and titles like The Golden Book of Children's Wonders. They were exquisitely illustrated by artists who presented a combination of Art Nouveau and Art Deco Styles. The books contained stories by famous authors such as HG Wells, Miguel De Cervantes, Homer, William Blake and others, as well as poems by various poets, both classical and contemporary of the time. I was captivated by the wonderful stories and illustrations They had an aura of magic and mystery about them, with fairy tales and evocative British poetry, filled with seasonal and rustic imagery. A treasure trove of fantasy and adventure, which I loved.
“Starlight Stories” does not attempt to directly depict these old books, but tries to capture some of their atmosphere and manifest my nostalgia for them. Consequently, the songs on this album have a softer, melancholic quality, albeit with some distressed, patina-like textures that evoke the aroma and feel of those old books. They are dreamy meditations, sad reveries fed through the filter of my modern musical sensibility. I hope that, in some small way, they will connect you to your own lost storybooks, as well as mine.” – Bill Nelson 2023.
PIECES:
01) A wide open window (star view)
02) Sailing Through Skies Of Blue
03) Andoria
04) My Signal Light
05) Goodbye Golden Sands
06) Everything is ancient now
07) Standing In A Starlit Room
08) Slow, Slow, Slow
09) Meanwhile, Elsewhere
10) Ghosts Of Ancient Houses
11) Celestrum
12) Starlight Stories
13) The Land Of Lost Dreams
14) The doctor was an alchemist
15) Ian's radio is on
“Starlight Stories” is available for purchase at Dreamsville Store here.
Related stories
Bill Nelson Shares “Starlight Stories”
Billy Joe Shaver One Night At Luckenbach Texas Coming
Billy Strings & Willie Nelson Release 'California Sober' Video.
News > Bill Nelson
