Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*, Arena), are set to release their much-anticipated second studio album 'The Big Dream' on April 28th, 2017. Today they launch a stream of the second single taken from the album, 'Sigma', which you can listen to here: https://youtu.be/y3rolatG5sE
John had this to say about the track: 'Sigma is the very last track I recorded for The Big Dream, the nature of which can be summed up with a sadly age old proverb which resonates now more than ever; "History will teach us nothing".'
The track will be available on all good streaming services from tomorrow (14th April), and will also be included as an instant grat on iTunes & Amazon MP3. Pre-order the album on all formats, including special edition digipak CD (including 3 bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP + CD, and digital download here: http://smarturl.it/LonelyRobotTBD
An official video for the album's first single 'Everglow' was also recently launched and you can watch that here: https://youtu.be/onTjlbuKZxo
Watch John Mitchell discuss how Lonely Robot came together, as well as the new album, in a series of interview clips here: https://youtu.be/1IZTy0l1CRw
Following 2015's acclaimed debut 'Please Come Home', 'The Big Dream' has a core theme running through it - one that sees The Astronaut, the central character in the Lonely Robot adventure, emerging from a long period in stasis.
Mitchell explains: "The Astronaut wakes up from a cryogenic sleep but finds he's no longer in space, and is instead in a woodland area surrounded by a group of strange people with animal heads! It's a little surreal, a little 'Midsummer Night's Dream' to some extent. This is something of a solipsistic haze, for want of a better description!"
Mitchell explains more about his Lonely Robot concept: "I have always envisaged the storyline of The Astronaut's journey evolving over the course of three albums. And I always knew where I wanted to go with the second album - taking The Astronaut away from space and into a strange and unfamiliar environment. Right now, I have no thoughts of what will happen for the third one but I'd better start thinking about it now!"
"The key inspiration for Lonely Robot comes from my love of science fiction films, and the atmospheric soundtracks that often accompany them - such as Alan Silvestri's compositions for 'Contact' and Clint Mansell's work for 'Moon'."
The album once again features drums by Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson), with all other instrumentation on the album delivered by Mitchell himself.
'The Big Dream' will be available as a special edition digipak CD (including 3 bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP + CD & digital download.
Pre-order the album from here:
The track-listing is as follows:
1. Prologue (Deep Sleep)
2. Awakenings
3. Sigma
4. In Floral Green
5. Everglow
6. False Lights
7. Symbolic
8. The Divine Art Of Being
9. The Big Dream
10. Hello World Goodbye
11. Epilogue (Sea Beams)
Bonus Tracks:
12. In Floral Green (Acoustic Version)
13. The Divine Art Of Being (Acoustic Version)
14. Why Do We Stay? (feat. Kim Seviour)
At the end of 2015, Lonely Robot played a triumphant show at The Scala in London, and Mitchell wants to play further live dates in 2017, with a few already confirmed. "The only condition is that I want them all to be special; and now we have two albums of material from which to choose the set."
Lonely Robot will be brought to life on stage with Craig Blundell on drums, Steve Vantsis on bass & Liam Holmes on keyboards (pictured above). The following dates are currently confirmed:
Thu, April 27 - Sub89, Reading, UK (album launch show)
Fri, April 28 - Marillion Convention, Leicester, UK
Sat, May 27- Trinity Live, Assembly Rooms, Leamington Spa, UK
Lonely Robot's debut album Please Come Home received fantastic reviews upon release, with Prog calling it "one mighty statement of intent" and Fireworks stating it's "one of the finest pieces of Prog Pop".
Look out for more information in the coming weeks at John Mitchell's brand new website:
LONELY ROBOT online:
INSIDEOUTMUSIC online:
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
