Aerial Objects Simon Goff & Katie Melua

• 1Tbilisi Airport04:42
• 2It Happened04:57
• 3Hotel Stamba05:16
• 4Textures of Memories04:39
• 5Aerial Objects05:06
• 6Millions of Things06:49
• Total Runtime31:29

Info for Aerial Objects

Violinist, composer, and Grammy Award-winning sound engineer, Simon Goff, has teamed up with acclaimed, multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, Katie Melua, and announced their forthcoming collaborative album, "Aerial Objects".

"Aerial Objects" is a new body of work from Simon Goff and Katie Melua, which started as an exploration of landscapes, both man-made and natural, and turned into experimental compositions that move, moment-by-moment between the song spaces of Melua and the immersive melodies of Goff. With Goff on the violin, analogue processing and synths and Melua's imagination and lyrical freedom addressing how environments shape her thinking and state, this six-track collaboration record is an exploratory project of two artists searching beyond their usual musical boundaries into places unknown.

Simon Goff and Katie Melua were two musicians who moved in very different musical circles. Simon being more closely aligned to a bloodline of artists who inhabit an area between electronic, classical and post-rock, with his unique approach to sound seeing him work with some of the world’s most acclaimed musicians, including Academy Award-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir on the scores for Joker and Chernobyl – both of which earned him Grammy Awards. Katie, meanwhile, has released 8 Top 10 UK albums across a 20 year career littered with modern standards including ‘Closest Thing To Crazy’ and ‘Nine Million Bicycles’.

“The process of making this album has been one of discovery and giving space to each other. The sensitivity needed for this kind of process has allowed many things to surface, from us discovering the differences in how we listen to and hear music and lyrics, to our own deeply personal life experiences. The record for me is a representation of us exploring the space that exists between us and discovering a common voice from within it.” (Simon Goff)

Katie says “I was fortunate enough to work with Simon when he appeared as a guest on an acoustic album I released late last year. During those sessions, and as a maker of immersive musical landscapes, Simon talked to me about creating records that make the listener feel like they are inside the orchestra. We agreed that we needed to create something new together - with a focus on how different environments affect the human condition.

She continues, “On Aerial Objects, our two artists’ worlds have merged to create a new space: Simon on the violin, analogue processing and synths, coming together with my world of traditional records rooted around the pop song. Lyrically this work has allowed me the freedom of imagination to address how environments shape my thinking and state; how the use of language and story-telling influence me; as well as the opportunity to finally reflect on a time in my life when I was recovering from a very challenging psychiatric illness.”

Simon Goff & Katie Melua

Simon Goff
is a British violinist, musician and composer based in Berlin. He has worked all over Europe performing and collaborating with a wide variety of artists. He specialises in contemporary and experimental music performance and in his own work, creates experiential performances that explore how compositional and technical devices can enhance the relationship and interaction between musicians and audiences.

His recent collaboration with artist Anna Kubelik Well Tempered Hygrometer Part II was part of the Schlossmediale Festival in Switzerland and in 2013 he was invited to Montreal, Canada, to perform eLLipSe, a collaboration with the Quebecois artists, choreographer Lisanne Goodhue and visual artist Louise Viger. As a performer he has recently worked with the likes of New York bands And The Wiremen and Bee and Flower, as well as choreographer Sebastian Matthias in his piece Danserye which was presented at Tanzplatform 2014. He has featured on records with members of Swans, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr and Canadian artist Aidan Baker of Nadja. In 2013 he also worked with composer Lynn Wright on a piece for the John Cage Foundation. He has performed extensively throughout the world including Canada, America, Europe and the Middle East.

Katie Melua
was born in Georgia (former USSR) in 1984, growing up under the communist regime in the capital, Tbilisi. The family left Georgia when Katie was eight and moved to Belfast where her father got a job as a heart surgeon. Katie didn't always want to be a singer or songwriter. Her ambition when she was thirteen was to be a politician or a historian "I honestly thought I'd be able to bring peace to the world…if I ruled it!" The family lived in Belfast for five years before moving to South East London. After her GCSEs, Katie joined the Brit School for Performing Arts where she undertook a BTEC and Music A-level.

Composer/producer Mike Batt paid a visit to the school. Katie signed to Batt's record label Dramatico, but stayed at the Brit School to complete her studies where she graduated with distinction in July 2003.

Unable to secure a contract with a Major record company, Katie and Mike decided to put her album "Call Off The Search" (containing the song "The Closest Thing To Crazy") out on Batt's own, small record label. After an initial struggle, followed by an appearance on The Royal Variety Show, 19 year old Katie shot to the top of the UK album charts and became the biggest selling female artist for the next two years. Her two albums, (the second of which contained the hit "Nine Million Bicycles") have sold nearly 9 million copies to date. She is currently Europe's biggest selling female solo artist. She and her family took British nationality in 2005.

The past years have been quite extraordinary for Katie. She has had a Dutch tulip named in her honour, toured America coast to coast, met and played for Nelson Mandela in South Africa visiting his Aids charity, has become a hard working Ambassador for Save The Children, raced at 160mph around Grand Prix circuit Silverstone, flown a plane, learned to dive and parachute freefall, descended 303 metres into the depths of the leg of a gas rig in North Sea (achieving a Guinness World Record), and picked up various prestigious awards within Europe, including a World Music Award, a Golden Camera Award, and two German Echo Awards. In December 2007, Katie had her first number one single with a duet with her idol, the late Eva Cassidy, entitled "What A Wonderful World", with proceeds from the single going to support the UK work of the British Red Cross.

October 2007 saw the internationally successful release of Katie's third album "Pictures" – a record which has delighted her legions of fans, confirmed Katie's status as a unique and remarkable vocalist, and revealed the third chapter in what is destined to be a long musical career.

Katie's fourth album, "The Katie Melua Collection", is a musical summary of the 24 year old's journey so far and was released in October 2008.

This album contains no booklet.