‘Friends of Mine’ as told by the writer Michael Sele, also the frontman and mastermind behind The Beauty of Gemina, is “a kind of a swan song. At the end I ask a fictional audience. Who will be at my side at the end? What will be remembered? What will be left?”
In Spring 2019 Michael unexpectedly had to undergo major and complex heart surgery. As a result, his world was turned upside down for months and things would never be quite the same again. Following this, Sele needed to recover, process what had happened and regain his strength. This time turned out to be a highly productive period, full of creativity, with the result – ‘Skeleton Dreams’ that has been produced by Sele alongside longtime friend Philipp Küng.
The album was recorded, mixed and produced by Sele in his studio buried beneath the “Altes Kino Mels”. This small-scale theatre is situated in the pretty village of Mels, overshadowed by the imposing Pizol mountain and a place that the musician has long made his home and creative base.
The new music fully reflects the fascinating and unmistakable mix of warm, hypnotic blues, ambient melancholia, earthy and indie-influenced folk that their fans have come to know and love over the years. The songs are full of vitality and intensity, are sometimes energetic, sometimes celestial, sometimes pure, innocent and reduced to their bare essentials, but are always full of power and poetic.
Last Autumn, for his achievements as a musician, composer and singer, Sele was awarded the Gonzen Cultural Prize. Earlier that year, he had collaborated with renowned German actress Katharina Thalbach on the highly acclaimed theatrical event “Schatten überdem Nichts” [“Shadows Over The Void”], which was premiered at a number of Switzerland’s leading theatres.
Over the last 15 years and 9 album releases, the band have performed over 250 gigs in 25 countries! The soundscapes have evolved and changed with each new album, challenging and surprising the band’s loyal and ever-growing community of worldwide fans again and again.
Video: https://youtu.be/v6Eo16fDdzI
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