Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*, Arena), release their much-anticipated second studio album 'The Big Dream' today! To celebrate, a stunning new video for the most recent single 'Sigma' has been launched here:
John comments: "Hey folks! Here's my super duper brand new video for 'Sigma' which sees me marching around a post-apocalyptic wasteland! The way things are going, I might not have to do it in CGI before too long."
He also recently sat down to discuss each track on the album in detail, and you can find the first of these chats here: https://youtu.be/vEAKKGWNj48
The album has been receiving a great response, and you can find some of the reviews below:
"heavy on drama, big on hooks...quite literally out of this world." - Prog Magazine
"John won't be restricted by formula, convention and normalcy. Not with his abundant imagination." - Powerplay
'The Big Dream' is available as a special edition digipak CD (including 3 bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP + CD & digital download and can be purchased here:
An official video for the album's first single 'Everglow' was also recently launched and you can watch that here: https://youtu.be/onTjlbuKZxo
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 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), and last night they launched the album with a special show at Sub89 in Reading. The following dates are currently confirmed:
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".
