Pre-order of I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot. The moment the album is released you’ll get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
releases May 1, 2020
£7GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD)
the CD version comes shrink-wrapped in a foldout heavy matte card sleeve with added ranting text on the inner. Privately pressed, one time only thing, when they are gone, there will be no more.
Includes digital pre-order of I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot.
The moment the album is released you’ll get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
digital album releases May 1, 2020
item ships out on or around April 30, 2020
£10GBPor more
about
English singer-songwriter Mr. Alec Bowman plays sad songs that sound like the feelings old pictures evoke. A photographer & videographer by day, his music captures the blurred backgrounds and soft edges of nostalgia. They’re personal narratives hued with the golden light of magic hour and stories told through a lens he’s experienced, but through which all can see.
I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot is his most honest work yet. Produced by Josienne Clarke (Rough Trade Records), the 10-track LP represents both sonic and emotional growth since years performing in the electronic industrial duo Formication and the rootsy outfit The Wild Man of Europe. Says Alec, “Everything I’ve done before has been categorised by being able to hide behind a character.” Here, though, “Every word of it is me. It’s pretty raw and that’s what I intended.”
Musically inspired by Ruston Kelly & Bruce Springsteen’s storytelling, Will Oldham & Alastair Roberts’ alt-folk aesthetic, the authentic, unique song-craft of Richard Dawson & The Mountain Goats and his grandfather’s church organ playing, the songs on I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot mirror the straightforward messages within them. Yet, the record doesn’t just tell you about struggle, patience, and acceptance; it shows you — without pretence or proselytising — both directly and through metaphor. And like its cover suggests, I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot offers hope for sunnier days ahead. “I found that it’s possible to survive difficult situations,” says Alec. “You can adapt to change and you can come out the other end.”
Vocals, acoustic, electric & bass guitar, bowed cymbal & Hammond by Alec Bowman
Vocals, electric guitar, harmonium, piano, saxophone, recorders & clarinet by Josienne Clarke
Rhodes, Wurlizter, Hammond & harmonium by Paul Mosley
Engineered by Andy Banfield at Superfly Studios
Mastered by Mike Hiller at Metropois
Cover Photography by Trevor Hamilton
Sleeve Design by <redacted>
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