Independent
Release: 3 December 2021
This is an unusual piece of music to review as it is classical but as it is performed by an Industrial act I felt it had to be done.
David Lawrie has has shown his talent here by the pano piece that is pure joy to listen too. The piano melody flows so perfectly and if you close your eyes and let your brain and the melody create a story for you.
This s absolutely beautifully presenting piece of piano music that I could listen to over and over and I hope that The Royal Ritual expand on this maybe with an album of piano music performed with the same grace as this piece.
An absolute joy to listen to.
-VK Mike
UK Industrial act THE ROYAL RITUAL (David Lawrie) returns with a modern take on Erik Satie’s haunting solo piano composition, “Gnossienne No. 1.”
Officially forming the B-Side of “Empires”, this interpretation of Satie’s seminal work is in-keeping with the dissonance, space, and expressiveness of the A-Side.
The production was built around a live piano performance by Lawrie, showcasing his classical training.
About the decision to explore Satie:
“Erik Satie has been a staple in my pool of influences since I was a teenager. Whilst he was a paragon of parody and contrary, he was clearly a mad man. Even though much of his work was, indeed, nonsensical in its conception, there is such a strong sense of haunting loneliness – but also hope and irony – written through it, like a stick of Whitby Rock.
“I have always felt like I am on the fringes, looking in. As an Englishman in the USA, this sense of being “the outsider” was compounded further. My own feelings of affinity with artists like Satie has grown stronger over the years, and I wanted to see if I could inject some of my own expressiveness into the space between the notes, and
About the video:
The accompanying video is simply a documentation of the live piano performance, as it was recorded in late 2020, with no splices or editing.
ABOUT DAVID LAWRIE
David Lawrie is an internationally renowned music producer and sound designer. Classically trained on the piano from the age of 7, he began exploring the tech side of music in his teenage years.
After gaining a distinction award upon completing his Master’s degree in Music Production from Leeds Conservatoire, he went on to produce for independent artists in the UK, Europe, and the USA. His experimental nature has seen him working in genres spanning from folk and pop, all the way to goth and industrial. This is genre-spanning career is reflected in the blending of strong ear-worm hooks with abstract, heavy arrangements, and traditional instrumentation in The Royal Ritual.
Notable associated artists include London After Midnight, CocoRosie, Phildel, and many others.
As a multi-instrumentalist, with a fascination with unusual world instruments, synthesizers, and sound design, his unique arrangements and production style have attracted the imagination of artists and filmmakers alike. His compositions have been used in nature documentaries (notably the award-winning “Of Shark and Man”), horror shorts, and art installations, as well as television shows around the world. As an award winning sound designer, he has lead and executed audio post production for a wide variety of films – feature length and short.
Official Links
https://theroyalritual.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theroyalritualmusic
