LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On April 1, Virgin/UMe will release Mike Oldfield's Man On The Rocks, the GRAMMY® winner’s 25th studio album and his first new release since 2008. Available in a 2CD package and digitally, Man On The Rocks is a deeply personal album that reflects Oldfield’s various musical influences. The album features 10 new originals and one cover which are included both with vocals, on disc one, and as instrumentals, on disc two. Recorded in the Bahamas, the album was produced by Oldfield, in collaboration with legendary British producer Stephen Lipson (Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox).
Man On The Rocks features players such as legendary bassist Leland Sklar (Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, James Taylor) and drummer John Robinson (Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Daft Punk). In the past, Oldfield has worked with some of the world's most famous vocalists, and for his new album he has found an incredible young talent to interpret his words, Luke Spiller from the Struts.
Mike Oldfield is an artist like no other. For 37 years, he has produced timeless, unique and inspirational music that has enthralled listeners the world over. Oldfield is known as one of the UK’s most innovative musical talents, last seen performing to a global audience of 900 million at the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony at the personal request of Danny Boyle.
“It has been a pleasure making Man On The Rocks with such a dedicated team of performers,” says Oldfield. “For a long period, I felt that I wasn’t going to record any new music again. But, after the elation of the Olympics and the explorations of my catalog, I felt the time was right to return with this, one of my favorite albums to date.”
Always drawn to new technological developments, Oldfield used Skype when recording Man On The Rocks, in conjunction with a number of cameras, to create an audio and video link between studios in London and Los Angeles with his home studio in Nassau. As would be expected from the man who gave the world Tubular Bells and so much more to move popular music forward, Man On The Rocks flows with great variance and contrast. “Sailing” is direct and accessible, the guitar-driven “Irene” was inspired by the Category 3 hurricane that hit the Bahamas in 2011, “Dreaming In The Wind” is folk influenced, and Oldfield dives into the emotional gravitas of William McDowell’s gospel song, “I Give Myself Away.”
By the age of 16, Oldfield was playing bass for Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers' group alongside experimental classical arranger David Bedford and avant-garde jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill. Oldfield was taken under the guiding wing of young visionary Richard Branson, and in May 1983, Tubular Bells, Oldfield’s thrillingly enigmatic masterwork that sounds like nothing before or since, launched Virgin Records as the label’s first album release. A critical and commercial success, Tubular Bells hit No. 1 on the UK charts and has sold more than 17 million copies around the world. A piece from the album became the theme for The Exorcist and Oldfield was awarded a GRAMMY® for Best Instrumental Composition.
Not bound by rule or convention, Mike Oldfield is an intuitive, confident and creative composer and multi-instrumentalist who has always forged his own path: “All I want to express with my music is my feelings. I think it's the purpose. To show images, landscapes, love, hate, fury.”
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Mike Oldfield: Man On The Rocks |
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Disc 1 |
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| 1. | Sailing | |
| 2. | Moonshine | |
| 3. | Man On The Rocks | |
| 4. | Castaway | |
| 5. | Minutes | |
| 6. | Dreaming In The Wind | |
| 7. | Nuclear | |
| 8. | Chariots | |
| 9. | Following The Angels | |
| 10. | Irene | |
| 11. | I Give Myself Away | |
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Disc 2 (instrumentals) |
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| 1. | Sailing | |
| 2. | Moonshine | |
| 3. | Man On The Rocks | |
| 4. | Castaway | |
| 5. | Minutes | |
| 6. | Dreaming In The Wind | |
| 7. | Nuclear | |
| 8. | Chariots | |
| 9. | Following The Angels | |
| 10. | Irene | |
| 11. | I Give Myself Away | |
