FFO: Eric Lunde, Allen Ginsberg, Gil Scott-Heron
"In his lightly accented voice, Scott speaks of a star-filled river flowing across the land, of all tangled things being loosened and all broken things remade. It’s a lovely poem, one that — despite the evenness of Scott’s voice — is filled with an emotional yearning for reunion and restoration." - Opus
"Steve Scott’s is a more mystical offering. His album of poems weaving their way above and through loops, field recordings and simple instrumentation, is conceptually rooted in a text by I. Lillas Trotter, writing at the interface of radical Christianity and Islam, seeking bridges between factions, eager to see similarities between Eastern and Western mysticism, but not afraid to point out differences and disagreements. Scott’s album starts with two brief tracks, one a celebration of ‘Rainbows at Midnight’, the second an elegy for a departed friend.
Then the 25 minute title track begins… an epilogue of bells sound as Scott announces he seeks the light, which begins a journey through metaphor and image: light, door, bread, shepherd, companion, vine and, finally, Life. It is an ambient voyage, a searching liturgy, an engaging, thoughtful album." - The International Times
The last time we were able to deliver a Steve Scott album, it was a collection of stories and feelings crafted over a decade’s (or more) worth of time. Perhaps it was the global pandemic’s penchant for driving focus, or maybe it was self-directed study of various religious texts, but something stirred our favorite British expat toward a cycle based on a 1926 booklet by Lilias Trotter. “Secret” begins with a pair of set pieces that read like memories as much as they do poems. The remainder of the album works through seven movements (plus an epilogue) that mirror Trotter’s writing.
Each poem is accompanied by subtly haunted tones that reinforce the presence of something more than Scott’s words. There are extended moments beyond the words that seem to invite reflection and internalization – as if the sounds that swirl around Scott mimic the role of Virgil leading Dante through the Inferno, Purgatory, and ultimately, Paradise.
Some albums resonate because the vibe they create invites an immediate repeated listen – the party doesn’t have to stop. The resonance of “The Way Of The Sevenfold Secret” is paradoxical in that the listener may find the silence replacing the final track to be the perfect headspace to make sense of the meditation through which they were just ushered.
Track 3 is based on the 1926 booklet by Lilias Trotter entitled "The Way Of The Sevenfold Secret."
"(Epilogue) The Bells" first appeared in Stride (UK) in 2022.
* Help a child to breathe:
www.cfvww.org
released November 3, 2023
For Debbi, Emma, and Rebecca, with love.
Lillias: Always.
Music Programs: Geoshred gets special mention - thanks for the awesome Indian flute.
All pieces written and performed by Steve Scott.
(c) 2023 Semionaut Music (ASCAP)
Album recorded and mixed by Manuel Luz.
Mastered by Scott Reams at Mr. Cat, Sacramento CA (
www.mistercat.com).