Nad Sylvan new album “Spiritus Mundi”

[SRS]

The pre-order for “Spiritus Mundi” will start on February 12th 2021


Two preview songs out already - this one is really great "The Fisherman" ..and includes an appearance by (PE's own) The Winter Tree




“No one is a prophet in their own land”.

W.B Yeats, the famous Irish poet penned the poem “The Fisherman” in 1914 that this song is based on. At this point in time, he felt misunderstood by his contemporaries, just like I have done growing up in a small minded world. Yeats poems are filled with double and hidden messages. So is this video.

After concluding the Vampirate’s trilogy, Nad now changes course on his upcoming fourth album by converting poems of WB Yeats into music. The new album, “Spiritus Mundi” is due for release on April 9th, 2021.


I'm in - this sounds great!!! Haven't seen all the other performers on it, we know Mirkko DeMaio from TFK will be on it and Tony Levin. Probably Roine too but I haven't seen it confirmed. Maybe all the "Agents of Mercy" guys will make appearances.

[SRS]

This was the first preview song -

[Crawford Glissadevil]

This is new.

[AncientChord]

I love Nad's very versatile voice. The two new tracks are pleasant, both sounding like Phil Collins circa 1978. But Noisy Diners is great! Just listened to the album on You Tube. This is more my cup of tea, nice symphonic prog. Seeing that Cristiano Roversi is involved, no wonder this release is of such good quality. Roversi has been involved with many Italian prog bands, and he's honed his skills here. And Nad fits in perfectly. Thanks Crawford for the tip!

[Splicer]

Listening to Noisy Diners right now and I like it a lot. Very trad. Very melodic. Good musicianship all the way around. Enjoyable comfort prog.

[SRS]

Final preview track is up and pre-orders start today



”The Stolen Child” is one of W B Yeats’ most popular early poems first published in Irish Monthly in 1896. Like much of his early work, it is based on the myths and legends he heard from local people while growing up in County Sligo.
I feel this song is a very captivating take on the lyrical content and will place you in a colorful dreamy landscape which will take you back to your own gullible childhood.
Let the fairies come and get you.”

I'm liking this new direction a lot - I'm in and just pre-ordered from his site

Players on this album:
Nad Sylvan
Andrew Laitres
Steve Hackett
Tony Levin
Jonas Reingold
Mirkko De Maio
Neil Whitford
Steve Piggot
Kiwi Te Kanna

Only slight disappointment (for me) is no guest spot from Roine or Lalle Larsson - I always love to see even a partial reunion of the Agents of Mercy

[Top Cat]

For me personally, this is beginning to look like Nad's best album yet.
This is the Nad I've been waiting to hear musically.
Although I have two of his first solo albums, I never got the last one, which may very well be a great album, but by the 3rd one the Trilogy concept had lost it's appeal.
Also, I wanted to hear more diversity from him, rather than overlapping his time with Steve and Unifaun.

I also think his co-writing with PE's own Andrew Laitres(The Winter Tree) is a wonderful collaboration.

[aith01]

The Bride Said No is possibly my favorite by Nad so far, because it was so different from Unifaun (which was over 12 years ago, so no overlap) and Courting The Widow. His third album was also different, so I don’t see how he was doing things that were “too similar” to before.

But I’m always excited to hear more music from him, so I’m looking forward to this album.

[JKL2000]

Anyone else having trouble with his web shop? I can't add anything to the cart. Tried in Chrome and Firefox.

[Top Cat]

The Bride Said No is possibly my favorite by Nad so far, because it was so different from Unifaun (which was over 12 years ago, so no overlap) and Courting The Widow. His third album was also different, so I don’t see how he was doing things that were “too similar” to before.

But I’m always excited to hear more music from him, so I’m looking forward to this album.

What I meant by overlap, and this is just purely my own opinion was his style of singing, which for me was the gutteral style he had developed from the early days of doing Genesis influenced music with Bonamici.
To me he has a wonderful tone to his voice, but the theatrics(again MY opinion only) became tiring for me by the end of album 2. I did listen to samples of the 3rd one when it was released and like the other 2 there are always stand out songs, but overall it just seemed more of the same to me, so I passed on it.

So to address your comment "I don’t see how he was doing things that were “too similar” to before", I merely meant in his style of singing. The material itself was diverse.
Off in the distance I hear a familiar voice, and it's time to feed my ship's cat.

[Garyhead]

Anyone else having trouble with his web shop? I can't add anything to the cart. Tried in Chrome and Firefox.

Ordered from Ken at LE. Shipping is considerably cheaper!

[JKL2000]

Ordered from Ken at LE. Shipping is considerably cheaper!

I kind of expected to be put off by the shipping, but I needed to get it into the cart in order to see how much it is. I guess NOW I have some kind of idea.

[aith01]

What I meant by overlap, and this is just purely my own opinion was his style of singing, which for me was the gutteral style he had developed from the early days of doing Genesis influenced music with Bonamici.
To me he has a wonderful tone to his voice, but the theatrics(again MY opinion only) became tiring for me by the end of album 2. I did listen to samples of the 3rd one when it was released and like the other 2 there are always stand out songs, but overall it just seemed more of the same to me, so I passed on it.

So to address your comment "I don’t see how he was doing things that were “too similar” to before", I merely meant in his style of singing. The material itself was diverse.
Off in the distance I hear a familiar voice, and it's time to feed my ship's cat.

Ah okay, I understand what you meant now. I guess I just didn't mind more of the same.

I hope he hasn't completely abandoned the bombast and musical theatre aspects in his music, but I love his voice and writing so whatever style he's going with on the new one I will be buying it.

[the winter tree]

The first 300 vinyl LPs will be brick red colored.

[the winter tree]

Final preview track is up and pre-orders start today



”The Stolen Child” is one of W B Yeats’ most popular early poems first published in Irish Monthly in 1896. Like much of his early work, it is based on the myths and legends he heard from local people while growing up in County Sligo.
I feel this song is a very captivating take on the lyrical content and will place you in a colorful dreamy landscape which will take you back to your own gullible childhood.
Let the fairies come and get you.”

I'm liking this new direction a lot - I'm in and just pre-ordered from his site

Players on this album:
Nad Sylvan
Andrew Laitres
Steve Hackett
Tony Levin
Jonas Reingold
Mirkko De Maio
Neil Whitford
Steve Piggot
Kiwi Te Kanna

Only slight disappointment (for me) is no guest spot from Roine or Lalle Larsson - I always love to see even a partial reunion of the Agents of Mercy

Tony Levin plays bass on 4 songs and Jonas one. Mirkko plays drums on 4 songs. Steve Hackett played 12 string on one of the bonus tracks. Canadian guitarist/producer Neil Whitford played electric guitar on two songs and former 10cc keyboardist Steve Piggot added additional guitar sounds to one song. The rest is all Nad and I.

[the winter tree]

Song titles:

The Second Coming
Sailing To Byzantium
The Cap and Bells
The Realist
The Stolen Child
To an Isle in the Water
The Hawk
The Witch/The Mermaid
The Fisherman
Bonus :
You've Got to Find a Way
To a Child Dancing in the Wind

[PCMusic]

Is it me or does he really sound like Dave Cousins / Strawbs on these songs, especially in The Fisherman?

[the winter tree]

^ Nad has that kind of voice like Cousins, Cat Stevens, and Peter Gabriel.

[ThomasKDye]

Song titles:

The Second Coming
Sailing To Byzantium
The Cap and Bells
The Realist
The Stolen Child
To an Isle in the Water
The Hawk
The Witch/The Mermaid
The Fisherman
Bonus :
You've Got to Find a Way
To a Child Dancing in the Wind

Are they all Yeats poems set to music? Except "You've Got to Find a Way," I guess.

And I never thought about it, but he DOES kinda sound like Dave Cousins.

[the winter tree]

Are they all Yeats poems set to music? Except "You've Got to Find a Way," I guess.

And I never thought about it, but he DOES kinda sound like Dave Cousins.

Yes, all songs are adapted from Yeats except for "You've Got to Find a Way" which Nad wrote.

[ThomasKDye]

Yes, all songs are adapted from Yeats except for "You've Got to Find a Way" which Nad wrote. I wrote all of the initial musical adaptions of the Yeats poems and Nad then expanded on them. I started with simple demos with acoustic guitar and my voice.

Great!

Incidentally, "The Fisherman" has been on constant rotation with me. The part after the verse you sing where the drums intensify gives me goosebumps, and when Nad launches into the final verse ("And cried, before I am old") I'm practically emotionally swept up in it like a tornado. Just fantastic. Probably the best Nad performance I've heard and the instrumentation is terrific. I can't wait to get the rest of the album.

[Scott Bails]

I'm kinda lukewarm on Nad, as his voice to me is an acquired taste, and I haven't yet seemed to acquire it. But these songs are really nice, and fit his voice very well. I think Top Cat said it very well, above. I like his work with Steve Hackett, but the Unifaun stuff and his solo work haven't hit me yet. I feel like this album will finally bring me on-board. Andrew Laitres work on the songs I've heard (the ones posted here) is just sublime.

[the winter tree]

^Thank you for your kind words! Nad is a brilliant arranger of both music and vocals. Like Todd Rundgren, he has the ability to craft interesting harmonies and very creative layering of voices and backing vocals.
This is a headphone album - many small details.
And guaranteed no filler ;-)

[PCMusic]

^ Nad has that kind of voice like Cousins, Cat Stevens, and Peter Gabriel.

Did not mean only the voice, the whole song (arrangements, theme etc) has trademarks of Cousins/Strawbs sound ... and by no means (IMO) it is a negative thing, on the contrary.

Btw Andrew, I have enjoyed your previous artistic incarnation (Magus) quite a lot, to the point that I have (at least I think I have) all of your albums from that period. Somehow though I lost track after the switch of the name. Just recently acquired The Winter Tree (S/T) album but still need to give it a spin as it waits its turn, looking forward to it. Seems that there are quite a few more titles that I am missing, so I am hoping to get these and the new Nad Sylvan album as well. Listened to some clips from you/The Winter Tree on Soundcloud, enjoyed all of them. Btw, has Nad been singing on any of the tracks from your recent albums?
Good to be back on track

[the winter tree]

Did not mean only the voice, the whole song (arrangements, theme etc) has trademarks of Cousins/Strawbs sound ... and by no means (IMO) it is a negative thing, on the contrary.

Btw Andrew, I have enjoyed your previous artistic incarnation (Magus) quite a lot, to the point that I have (at least I think I have) all of your albums from that period. Somehow though I lost track after the switch of the name. Just recently acquired The Winter Tree (S/T) album but still need to give it a spin as it waits its turn, looking forward to it. Seems that there are quite a few more titles that I am missing, so I am hoping to get these and the new Nad Sylvan album as well. Listened to some clips from you/The Winter Tree on Soundcloud, enjoyed all of them. Btw, has Nad been singing on any of the tracks from your recent albums?
Good to be back on track

I'm glad you enjoy my music! I have spent the lockdown revising my whole catalog - replacing drum machine with a real drummer, remixing, remastering - for digital downloads. I have three albums to finish. 9 are up already. Many of the albums have new artwork and all albums are now under the Winter Tree name. Nad sang 2 songs on my last album "Topaz Islands Dreaming".
" Grave New World" is one of my favorite albums so its influence has probably seeped into me.