Thanks
Glass Knight could only happen thanks to these people. Thank you to Ed Simpson, for teaching me how to record and mix properly and for belief and encouragement. Thank you to Nathan Greaves, Oliver Whitehouse, Ed (again!) and all the musicians who played on the album and helped me achieve my musical ambitions. Thank you to Fe for constant support and backing vocals à la Street Legal de Dylan.
Thank you to Tina Clarke and Fishergate Primary School the use of the hall to create the reverb to end all reverbs.
Thank you to all my supporters on Patreon - your funding enabled me to work with a a 6-piece string section for the first time. They are:
Christian Globisch, Guy Naamati, Norman & Mildred Burnell, John Kanes, Mark Webb, Juan Pablo Estrada Ruiz, Caroline Dallimore, Womba Legacy, Philip John Birtwistle, Richard Canham, Christine Schramm, Ross Clark, Simon Eddowes, Gretel Hallett, Elaine O'Brien, Rob Budworth, Andre Mook, Rolf Postma, Nick Dashwood Brown, Trevor Sharples, Andre Marc, Tim Chapman, David Meadows, Bruce Jackrussellterrier, Andy Morton, Antoine Marc Christian and Ross Clark. Thank you to Annie Hickson, Brian Barker and Kallan Buchanan for contributing towards the album.
Thank you to everyone who has listened to the album.
Josh x
Credits
All songs written, arranged, recorded, produced and mixed by Joshua Burnell. Mastered by Jon Astley.
Album artwork by Elly Lucas.
WHERE PLANETS COLLIDE
The song has two separate roles: it serves as an exposition for the album’s central character, and also acts as a commentary on our relationship with technology. In both cases, someone has gone down a rabbit hole they can’t get back from. It is accompanied by a piece of watercolour artwork painted entirely by artificial intelligence.
Credits:
Vocals, acoustic guitars, Hammond organ, percussion, string arrangement - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitar - Nathan Greaves
Bass guitar - Oliver Whitehouse
Drums - Ed Simpson
Violins - Kathleen Ord, Elizabeth Heyes-Lundie Violas - Ellen Brookes, Rhiannon Fallows Cellos - Greg Morton, Ele Leckie
OUT OF THESE WORLDS
Our character meets his maker in ‘the space between’. My favourite version of heaven is the ‘the wood between the worlds’ from C.S.Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew, so I imagine it’s something like that.
Credits:
Vocals, pianos, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, synthesized glass - Joshua Burnell
LAST RAIN
In Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince, the different planets act almost like a series of vignettes, each with its own lesson or moral. I like to think of the album in a similar way. This is the first vignette: a young couple, abandoned on their planet in the midst of an apocalypse who decide to dance in the destruction. I wanted to answer the uncomfortable question, what would you do in the last moment before your destruction?
Credits:
Vocals, acoustic guitars, Hammond organ, synthesizers, drum programming - Joshua Burnell Electric guitars, backing vocals - Nathan Greaves
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Bass guitars - Oliver Whitehouse
PLAYED MY PART
A reflection on the legacy of our generation with a view to climate change. A sort of prequel to Look At Us Now from Flowers Where The Horses Sleep.
Credits:
Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, mellotron bass, string machine, drum programming, string arrangement - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitars - Nathan Greaves
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Violins - Kathleen Ord, Elizabeth Heyes-Lundie Violas - Ellen Brookes, Rhiannon Fallows Cellos - Greg Morton, Ele Leckie
GLASS KNIGHT
A retelling of an old folk tale from Saffron Walden with a new ending, serving to hold a mirror up to modern society.
Credits:
Vocals, synthesiser solo, acoustic guitars, bass guitar, piano, Hammond organ, glass percussion, drum programming - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitars - Nathan Greaves
LOOKING GLASS
Snow White but from the mirror’s perspective.
Credits:
Vocals, piano, acoustic guitars, string machine, music box - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitars, backing vocals - Nathan Greaves Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Bass guitar - Oliver Whitehouse
Drums, backing vocals - Ed Simpson
DON’T LOSE YOUR FAITH
Sometimes, loneliness isn’t isolation, but feeling misunderstood or struggling with something people can’t help you with. This is about making the realisation that so many people are all feeling the same thing. The hard bit is making that connection.
Credits:
Vocals, piano, Hammond organ, bass guitar, drum programming, percussion, string arrangement - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitar, backing vocals - Nathan Greaves
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Violins - Kathleen Ord, Elizabeth Heyes-Lundie Violas - Ellen Brookes, Rhiannon Fallows Cellos - Greg Morton, Ele Leckie
LUCY
The biography of a rock star.
Credits:
Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, Hammond organ, mellotron, synthesized glass - Joshua Burnell
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Electric guitar - Nathan Greaves
Bass guitar - Oliver Whitehouse
Drums - Ed Simpson
WHY THE RAVEN CRIES
When you want to help but you don’t know how.
Credits:
Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, Hammond organ, string machine, string arrangement - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitars, backing vocals - Nathan Greaves
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Bass guitar - Oliver Whitehouse
Drums - Ed Simpson
Violins - Kathleen Ord, Elizabeth Heyes-Lundie
Violas - Ellen Brookes, Rhiannon Fallows
Cellos - Greg Morton, Ele Leckie
MOONLIGHTER’S CHILD
Our character comes to the end of their journey, reflects and must make choice. The easy option is always to give up; the hard option is always to struggle on into the unknown.
Credits:
Vocals, autoharp, acoustic guitars, bass guitar, piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers, string arrangement - Joshua Burnell
Electric guitars, backing vocals - Nathan Greaves
Backing vocals - Frances Sladen
Violins - Kathleen Ord, Elizabeth Heyes-Lundie Violas - Ellen Brookes, Rhiannon Fallows Cellos - Greg Morton, Ele Leckie
