Show Us The New Stuff!

Allright then. Some artwork had to be done. Did it. You must have seen a few snippets already. If you put these pieces together, there it is.

Maybe it's not modern to say in these streaming spotify playlists times, where your songs are mostly shuffle played, I still love the "album" concept though. A year's work and it's more than the music. The package. A promo. To show it. To give it a name.

First: how did I come up with this title?

                                                              "Just Say KNOW"

Such things you don't come up with instantly, but as I read a lot of fine written biographies and watch the eye catching docs, movies and tv-series, a simple sentence or quote always seems to be laying there for grabs.
I already had this song (the first promo) "Not Now". Well, just dare to say NO for once. I guess my father taught me long ago to say that. Then I saw this documentary- Dying To Know- about Timothy Leary, 60s LSD guru/icon (“turn on, tune in, drop out”), read more about him and one quote grabbed me: "Just Say Know" (read more HERE) as a reaction to Nancy Reagan's war on drugs in the 80's/90's: Say NO to drugs. Leary used it in a smart way: just say kNOw. It has more merit: knowledge is power. To say NO to any authority or anything that wants to overrule you is more legit then. It's still the sign of the times. I'm not trying to preach or getting nostalgic, I'm just a musician, trying to be creative. I say YES to that.

So here are the frontcovers and backcover and I liked two of them. There's a release with- for example on Bandcamp- and one- on Spotify and the like- without alias, which is required by AMAdea. I've used (as usual) the latest holiday pictures, this time from sunny Sicily, Italy.

 Walking in Palermo, Sicily. Frontcover- distribution AMAdea without alias

On the one without the alias "The Vanished Dutchman" you can see me walking into the darkness (?) of original mob city Palermo, Sicily. It also became part of the backcover as you can see.

Backcover: songlist, credits, notice that mirror word "WONK"

Frontcover with alias (The Vanished Dutchman)

I liked our sleezy appartment/ hotelroom so much that a picture had to be taken. So that became the official frontcover. In reality It's not all that glamourous though, but just enough to give the stereotyped fame and starstrucked artist some due.

Back and Frontcover

Next: Let us hear a new tune!

Show us your new work!

Voila!
It has just been confirmed that the album is in the distribution process. It takes approximately 4 weeks to appear online, but keep a close watch, some online services are very quick. now i'm gonna take a breeeeeaaak.
 

Proof! Distribution date confirmed

No pressure. Fingers crossed, legs spread. In the meantime I'll keep you updated if there's any change and as I'm working on some visuals, that tasty promo is on its way too. So now you know.
Now let's see where you have to look at this year and the rest of your life.


The artwork.

The original "selfie" pictures have been chosen from some amateurish mobile phone footage, filmed in the bathroom by yours truly. No. 3 became my ultimate frontcover as I liked the welcome sign in my sort of "I invite you all" atitude and the mirrored spotlight above the "starstrucked" me.

1.Here

2.Here!

 3.Here....

Here's the original for the back cover with mirror reflection:

Spotlights!

On the net you can find all kind of photo design editors.
I especially liked the paint department from Lunapic. All kind of echoes of Van Gogh and Kadinsky art that fitted well. Here are a few choices, eyes open or eyes closed:

Close my eyes...

(Starry starry night......) Sagitario!

The title. 

I know it's a bit pretentious...to say Sagittarius, so it became

                                                       Sagitario

It's spanish- which sounds so cool- for  (english), boogschutter (dutch). It happens to be my sign. I guess you'll hear a few characteristics of those on the new album. Playful sounding and with the extra bonus of the word siguitario in it. I'll explain in a later blog all bout it.

The final result (or insult).

Well, we've got that title, the art, so here's the design. I was switching between black or white for the background, both choices eventually made it.

Final frontcover result

for disribution purposes only (only one name prohibited)

We've got the frontcover, for the backcover I've chosen the same design but as a whole in contrast.

A few choices

Kadinskish smile

A white background with all the information you need. Now, what does it sound like? Soon...

Final backcover result with songtitles and credits

Next: promo video/song

Show us your new work!

Just heard from the disribution company AMAdea that the album is approved: ready to take off. Expect to hear it around 4 april 2016 on almost any online service (see picture for proof)! Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, Amazon, Google music, to name a few.
Fingers crossed, legs necked.

Lot of services!

The artwork.
 
So sure, I'll show you my new work! Here are the Covers, title & the songlist for the new 2016 album. Which pictures did I choose?
The following steps will make it clear:

1.The original which I boosted a bit in colour?

2.The sober variation?

Yeah, that's me "full" in the face. The narcistic pose. Growing grey, but not bald yet, haha. At first not really in the mood for a selfie from the wife sitting next to me, after an endless bicycle tour. But what the heck, we were on holidays and I was looking for a bit of deserved peace and happiness..... 

3.Mr. sepia with brown coloured accents?

The original picture was in colour I kinda liked, though I wanted to put my own stamp on it. I tried B&W first, which I also liked, but eventually I chose the old fashionated sepia, which I really liked! Colour? A little accent in the lettertype.

Who cares about a title?
                                                                                                                  

Me of course. Identity! As for the title, the word "parachute"- also featured in two songs- gave me positive vibes. I never ever did jump literally, but I often opened up to a few things, both positive and negative. Dare.
So with this album, I just seem to say: "let's jump, hear/ see what happens..."
Don't pull my hair please...

                                                                                                                                                                                               
                             Open Up My Parachute

The original frontcover

Unfortunately, as I uploaded the picture to the distribution department, I had to remove the familiar "The Vanished Dutchman" name as most online stores only allow the artistname. Yeah, vanished!

Frontcover without "The Vanished Dutchman" name

Remember?

For the backcover I chose another picture- made by the wife during our holidays- that I liked. It contrasts with the cover of my previous album, where I ascend the stairs. This time I descend the stairs, walking into the unknown.Well, sort of.

                                                                

1.The original boosted colour

                                                                       

2.B&W: more mystery

                           

3.Sepia coloured with black framework

                                              
 

Back Cover (notice "The Vanished Dutchman" name present)

 (Next: promo video)