Today, Grammy-Nominated film composer, technologist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and trance music icon BT releases his long-awaited new studio album (and first dance music-oriented album in seven years) “The Lost Art Of Longing” via Black Hole Recordings.
“The Lost Art of Longing” is BT at his finest and finds a spot next to classic material including all-time greats ‘Ima,’ ‘ESCM’, and ‘Movement In Still Life.’ The album features 14 tracks that traverse the world of electronic dance music, from the cinematic ambience of “Game Theory,” the progressive ‘Wildfire,’ ‘Walk Into The Water,’ ‘1AM in Paris’ and ‘Windows,’ the breakbeat wallop of ‘The Light Is Always On’ and ‘The War,’ the electro/synth inspired ‘Weltanschauung,’ the brooding trance of ‘No Warning Lights’ with Emma Hewitt, to the electronic lullaby “Save Me.’
“The Lost Art of Longing” is BT’s ode to the things in life that have a deep personal significance and meaning that are becoming archaic, antiquated, even extinct. The handwritten love letter, a rotary telephone, a book, early computers, vintage synthesizers, telephone wires, typewriters…all in sheds or garages, landfills, and other places…slowly decaying and being forgotten. There are love stories in there, stories of war and triumph, and courage and tragedy. People’s stories. Things that should be remembered.
“One of the things nearing extinction; is the art of longing. As in, wanting of something you cannot immediately have. If anything positive is to come from the situation the world collectively finds itself in, it is my great hope – speed, instant gratification, and over-stimulation are swapped out for longing, imagination, and relational connection. For a child or teenager to sit thoughtfully and ponder what is to come, to hope for or envision something amazing, to dream of a place or a future – is becoming obsolete. Longing has been replaced with instant gratification. My hope is that this record reacquaints my audience with the lost art of longing. That they will take pause, get quiet, daydream, and connect to their own place of longing. Because that, I believe, is where the magic is,” BT says.
Earlier this summer BT gave fans an inside look at “The Lost Art Of Longing” with the release of double single ‘1AM in Paris (with Matt Fax)’ / ‘The War (with Iraina Mancini),’ and most recently, his latest single ‘No Warning Lights’ with Emma Hewitt. The song takes the listener on a voyage, starting from a field recording taken at a train station in Amsterdam and departing through a wall of Emma Hewitt’s rich vocals and BT’s blend of trance 2.0, orchestral writing and heavy sound design. This is the peak of BT’s orchestral writing combined with the best of his dance music writing in a single composition.