Mr. Knee “The Watcher Of Traces” LP, Brown Vinyl, Limited

“The Watcher Of Traces” – Album Description

The title of my second album, “The Watcher Of Traces”, holds a deeply personal meaning for me. This year marks the end of my fifth decade on the Blue Planet. My eyes, also blue, have finally found peace, and I’ve gained a great deal of perspective on what I see. I believe this insight will give listeners a unique understanding of the music. The album is a conceptual journey, driven by the themes of passing and returning.

The title track, which opens the album, is a three-part piece that tells a story of what was, what is, and what is yet to come. The central part, “Surrounded By Time And Place”, is based on a live improvisation where I used the guitar neck as the genesis for sounds that then developed into multi-layered textures across several guitar synthesisers. For the third part, “Leaving The Earth”, I was searching for one of my favourite guitar solo sounds, which I’ve long admired in the work of Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, Steve Hackett, and Pat Metheny.

“Angel’s Doubts” is a continuation of the story from “Angel’s Flight Prelude,” which began on my first album. The instrumental “Angel’s Flight” told the story from the perspective of a musician: a good angel flew down to Earth to guide his fingers on the guitar neck and help him create a prelude. The finale saw musical notes rising from Earth, turning into stars and forming constellations in the sky. “Angel’s Doubts” continues this narrative from the angel’s perspective. This track, featuring a choir and two-part vocal harmonies, has a completely different feel despite having the same melodic line. The lyrics address the angel’s initial motivation, followed by their doubts about whether their work on Earth had any meaning and if it would ever be noticed or appreciated. Despite the sadness of the lyrics, the song’s message is ultimately positive, as the answers to the angel’s questions hint at a hopeful future for humanity. Fragments of these lyrics appear as titles for other tracks on the album.

“The Mysterious World Of Daniel Z” came about through my collaboration with the avant-garde artist, Daniel Zagórski. The track was originally created as the soundtrack for Daniel’s film, “The Vibrancy Of Imagination.” Now, thanks to the excellent remastering by Adam Drath, who was responsible for the sound of the entire album, the situation has been reversed: Daniel Zagórski has created a new film set to the music, showcasing his own mysterious world. The track features the lyric “This is not your imagination, you are in the eternal memory of water,” which speaks to the idea that we are an inseparable part of the Blue Planet.

“Blue Hope In Yellow Sand” was sadly inspired by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The title, which contains the colours of the Ukrainian flag, is a reference to the Hope Diamond, the world’s most famous blue diamond, which here is tainted in the sand. I enriched the sound of a nylon-string guitar with a delicate synthesiser background, including a perhaps-vintage Roland JV-1080, an instrument heard on many of Vangelis’s albums. With the guitars and synthesisers I’ve collected over the years, I was able to record all the tracks for this song live.

“The Storm” was originally conceived as a nearly 20-minute progressive rock suite. I recorded the final part, “The Lightnings,” a few years ago in 7/4 time and used it as a backing track to practice improvising in the style of my favourite guitarist, Robert Fripp. Ultimately, “The Storm” took on a more “condensed” form, though it remains a three-part piece. The first part, “Lazy Afternoon,” is an ambient, somewhat oriental-flavoured story. The whispered line “I need to hide” reappears on the album’s closing track. The second part, “Pregnant Silence Before The Storm,” is played on a nylon-string guitar and is inspired by the compositions of Steve Hackett. Both of these sections were also recorded without overdubs, meaning I can perform them exactly as they sound on the album. “The Lightnings” is a nod to the sounds of King Crimson from the 1970s. I should also mention that the Mellotron sound here also originates from the guitar neck.

In “Leaving Deep Traces,” I address the impact of social media on our lives and communication. The sociotechnical mechanisms that exploit the human mind change our psyche, leading to addiction and a warped way of communicating. More and more aspects of our lives are moving into the virtual world, where we retreat from real people, deepening the problems of loneliness and frustration. The idea behind the track is that as avatars feeding on likes and comments, we lose control and unleash aggression, forgetting about the real world. The lyrics refer to the traces that every one of our behaviours leaves on our own and other people’s minds. The music is a fusion of a calm, ambient rock ballad with classical music and smooth jazz. The track features the uniquely styled classical pianist, Tomasz Kowalczyk, and the trumpet player for the band Raz Dwa Trzy, Tadeusz Kulas.

The album closer, “Out Of Dimensions,” is a dark summary of the entire work. It features spoken and whispered lyrics that appear in other tracks. For the foundational layer of this song, I tried to recreate the sound of “Frippertronics,” a technique that has fascinated me for many years.

Mr. Knee

Mr Knee “The Watcher Of Traces” 1 LP vinyl.

Limited edition 12″ pressed on coloured, hand numbered vinyl. 16 page booklet inside.

Side A

The Watcher Of Traces including Traces Of Superconsciousness, Surrounded By Time And Place (Otus E-bow Improvisation) and Leaving The Earth

Angel’s Doubts

The Mysterious World Of Daniel Z

Side B

Blue Hope In Yellow Sand

The Storm

Leaving Deep Traces

Out Of Dimensions