Blood for Ghosts Vinyl
‘Blood for Ghosts’ is Duke Special’s most recent studio album. The title is a play on Ezra Pound’s phrase ‘Blood brought to ghosts’, referring to the new life brought through translations of Chinese poetry. In Duke’s case, the new life is brought to old songs discovered in an archive of sheet music in the Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco; songs that may have been forgotten or lost through time. The collection was bought by Princess Grace in 1977 from a Michael E. O’Donnell from Philadelphia and comprises of over 1000 song sheets dated between 1840-1970.
‘I was interested in discovering whether some of these songs could survive being brought into the present day; if they still felt relevant or were still able to move us in some way. Of the ten songs, six are recognisable from the original song sheets, one was adapted from another version, for two I have written new music, and for one, new words.’
Made on heavyweight black vinyl, each copy comes with a free download code.
‘Blood for Ghosts’ is Duke Special’s most recent studio album. The title is a play on Ezra Pound’s phrase ‘Blood brought to ghosts’, referring to the new life brought through translations of Chinese poetry. In Duke’s case, the new life is brought to old songs discovered in an archive of sheet music in the Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco; songs that may have been forgotten or lost through time. The collection was bought by Princess Grace in 1977 from a Michael E. O’Donnell from Philadelphia and comprises of over 1000 song sheets dated between 1840-1970.
‘I was interested in discovering whether some of these songs could survive being brought into the present day; if they still felt relevant or were still able to move us in some way. Of the ten songs, six are recognisable from the original song sheets, one was adapted from another version, for two I have written new music, and for one, new words.’
Made on heavyweight black vinyl, each copy comes with a free download code.
‘Blood for Ghosts’ is Duke Special’s most recent studio album. The title is a play on Ezra Pound’s phrase ‘Blood brought to ghosts’, referring to the new life brought through translations of Chinese poetry. In Duke’s case, the new life is brought to old songs discovered in an archive of sheet music in the Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco; songs that may have been forgotten or lost through time. The collection was bought by Princess Grace in 1977 from a Michael E. O’Donnell from Philadelphia and comprises of over 1000 song sheets dated between 1840-1970.
‘I was interested in discovering whether some of these songs could survive being brought into the present day; if they still felt relevant or were still able to move us in some way. Of the ten songs, six are recognisable from the original song sheets, one was adapted from another version, for two I have written new music, and for one, new words.’
Made on heavyweight black vinyl, each copy comes with a free download code.
Songs:
1. The Foggy Dew
2. The Minstrel Boy
3. By the Light of the Silvery Moon
4. Retaliation
5. A Lover's Soliloquy
6. Hushing Song
7. Canadian Boat Song
8. The Bird of Christ
9. If I Were A Blackbird
10. It Was Only A Dream
Producer: Duke Special
Label: Words & Pictures
Release Date: November 2023