This is the definitive 2022 Bandcamp release of our re-mastered 1997 album.

Against initial expectations, Departures made the re-master shortlist, and with room to spare. This is no deliberate dramatisation of events but simply a reflection on what happens when you let your ears do the talking, without the implied technical prejudice against material created in another audio universe.

Once those original masters started playing I was also reminded of how much “high-tech” gear already existed in our studio back then. Yes, audio was indeed – and for the last time – recorded to 4-track tape. But all synths and a recently upgraded sampler were of course Midi-driven and live-mixed to the final DAT master. This still imposed certain limitations, but like they say, constraints often inspire.
As does travel. It’s fair to say that the nineties were a more carefree epoch in that regard, so that quite a few long-haul trips were allowed to help shape the mood of this album, and ultimately its title. But other world events did their bit too, perhaps most memorably expressed by the final track, Primitive Life.
There is also much evidence of Eastern culture to be found, as well as some early orchestral arrangements. Both were facilitated by our then substantially expanded sample library. Yet despite these flashy new toys it seems fair to say that the trusty old guitar still played a lead role in the making of this album.

Some songs willingly surrendered a few uneventful bars, others gained a supporting instrument, but in neither case with an aim to modify the album’s original scope. Except for the graphics, which again showed their under-pixelated age and so needed some serious assistance. And while the cover images largely remain true to their original concept, all ten track graphics (click on each song to view them) were newly created for this release.

Departures remains what it always was: a hand-crafted instrumental album. Hence by definition more subtle than its successor, yet musically ambitious, and bold enough to occasionally pass comment on its contemporaries. Probably because the 90s were quite eventful in their own way: slightly less scripted, more optimistic maybe, but often blustery all the same. Even if some storms turned out to merely rage inside a teacup. All taken in one’s stride, not least because admitting as much had yet to be criminalised.