What The Mind Thinks, The Heart Transmits – Out Now!

Finally, my new album, What The Mind Thinks, The Heart Transmits, is out.

You can download it here, paying whatever you think it’s worth, from Bandcamp:

music.stevelawson.net/album/what-the-mind-thinks-the-heart-transmits

How It Came To Be:

The album was recorded live as part of a guided meditation on a retreat led by Jo Sumner – Lobelia and I had played a house concert for Jo a while back, and she mooted the idea of me providing live music for a meditation on one of her retreats last year. I loved the idea, especially given how many people already seem to use my music as an accompaniment to yoga/meditation/massage/therapy/etc.

There seems to be a certain kind of person who goes for my music in that setting – people who are REALLY annoyed by shitty 80s keyboard sounds and panpipes, who want music that the like, first and foremost, and THEN music that fits the setting.

But for years I’ve had emails from those people expressing some frustration that my music so often has weird spikey, dissonant, freaky bits that properly break the moment… Those bits of music aren’t about to stop happening within my usual ‘story telling’ approach to music creation, as they’re a vital part of the bigger story, but having the chance to make music in context meant that this piece ended up fitting that role perfectly, without any of the freakiness.

It’s a SLOW journey. 45 minutes of it. A single live track, with the only editing being post-processing (adding some spatial effects to the ambient layers, to make it sound amazing on headphones!)

The Title?

The title is the English translation of the Japanese idiom, Ishin Denshin. From the wikipedia entry ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishin-denshin ) ::

Ishin-denshin (以心伝心?) originally comes from a Chinese proverb and is a Japanese idiom which denotes the traditional concept of interpersonal communication through unspoken mutual understanding. This four-character compound, known as a yojijukugo, literally translates as “what the mind thinks, the heart transmits.” Sometimes explained in English in terms of “telepathy” or “sympathy”, ishin-denshin is also commonly rendered as “heart-to-heart communication” or “tacit understanding.”

The reaction so far has suggested that for many, it’s just what they were looking for. It’s very obviously my music, but in a format that fits a new context. I hope you enjoy it too!

(photos taken by Neil Sumner, at the retreat where the album was recorded.)