Dave Lancaster releases new ambient album DRONE ALONE – Hits the Fan blog

Ambient musician Dave Lancaster has released his debut album Drone Alone.

Citing influence from the likes of Klaus Schulze, Brian Eno, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter and Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross, Drone Alone is an album of longform ambient instrumentals intended for contemplation.

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GET THE ALBUM ON YOUR STREAMING SERVICE HERE

The two slowly evolving minimalist tracks, both exactly 20 minutes long, were completed over Christmas 2019 just prior to the new decade 2020.

As the album title Drone Alone suggests, all elements were created in isolation.

This includes all writing, instrumentation, recording and production of the album’s music by Dave Lancaster. The 40 minute album was finalised on Christmas Day in his home studio in the Colne Valley in the English county of West Yorkshire.

Lancaster was also responsible for the cover photography (shot in Isafjordur, Iceland) as well as the design concept and layout.

Of the album’s conception, Lancaster states: “After far too much dreaming, too many excuses and with an end of a decade fast approaching, I decided that 2019 would be the year that I would finish my first album for wide release.”

While Drone Alone in its finished form is two sets of 20 minute soundscapes, it started its life as much shorter pieces. Of the music’s evolution, Lancaster stated: “I liked the idea that a piece of music could evolve organically and go on breathing like a tide coming back and forth.”

The album’s two tracks combine layers of processed keyboards and software instruments while avoiding drums and vocals to create an ocean of sound for the listener to explore themselves.

“My favourite ambient tracks wash over me and are almost hypnotic, occupying a strange place whereby it can function as both background and foreground music.”

The first track To Sleep Through Dreams is a contemplative piece that begins with foreboding Blade Runner-esque synth before decaying into darker territory.

The album’s closer Decades uses an underlying rotary speaker throughout to create a swirling, hypnotic soundscape for the listener to lose themselves in. For Lancaster, the track is one of reflection as years and decades roll back and forth in memory and anticipation.

Lancaster is already working on a follow up solo album but his “dream would be to combine my love of film and music and become a composer for the screen but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Drone Alone is available now across all major streaming platforms.

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM ON YOUR STREAMING SERVICE: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/davelancaster/drone-alone

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Album details:

Title: Drone Alone

Artist: Dave Lancaster

Track 1: To Sleep Through Dreams (20:00)

Track 2: Decades (20:00)

Credits: All tracks written, produced, mixed and mastered by Dave Lancaster in 2019.

UPC: 195036758657

Press, record label and touring enquiries: [email protected]

Album cover (front)



Album cover (rear / tracklisting)

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Artist profile:

Dave Lancaster (born August 30 1986) is an English musician. With a dual Arts degree in Film and Writing for Stage, Screen and Radio, Lancaster initially forged a career in writing.

A lifelong follower of cinema, he quickly turned to reviewing cinema and his extensive film criticism has been championed by the likes of Oscar nominated Monty Python legend Terry Gilliam.

As a concert photographer, he has captured celebrated shots of artists as diverse as The Rolling Stones, William Basinski, Anna Calvi, Gary Numan, Ólafur Arnalds, John Carpenter, Nine Inch Nails, Roxy Music, Kanye West, Eric Clapton, Elbow and John Grant.

By the late 2010s, Lancaster developed a love for electronic music and became determined to craft his own contributions to the genre.

Lancaster combines his keyboards, synth and guitar with software instrumentation, field recordings and loops to create slow-burning landscapes.

His music interweaves genres such as ambient, drone, minimalist, neo-classical, dark ambient, industrial, soundtrack, new age, downtempo, ambient techno and IDM.

While always open to discover new music, Lancaster cites his core influences as: Brian Eno, Vangelis, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Edgar Froese, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nils Frahm, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Max Richter, Roger Eno, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Marconi Union, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Robert Rich, Arvo Pärt, Ólafur Arnalds, Steve Reich, John Foxx, David Sylvian, Boards of Canada, Steve Hauschildt, Christopher Willits, Harold Budd, Rival Consoles, Jon Hopkins, Philip Glass, Tim Hecker, Mark Hollis and “anyone else who can transport listeners to somewhere magical and unspoken.“

Artist headshot (Dave Lancaster self portrait in Iceland, 2019)