Abandoned Dancehall Dreams felt like a significant shift for me, moving away from the more fragmented, experimental nature of my 2004 debut, My Hotel Year, toward a more unified and powerful band sound. The album’s origins lie in material I had originally written with No-Man in mind; however, when it became clear that Steven Wilson wouldn’t have the time to fully co-produce a new band record, he encouraged me to take the lead. In many ways, this album is my personal vision of what a No-Man record could sound like, balanced by my own growing desire to establish a distinct solo identity. I was incredibly fortunate to have a stellar group of musicians involved, from the powerhouse drumming of Pat Mastelotto to the delicate string arrangements of classical composer Andrew Keeling.

Thematically, I wanted the album to feel like a collection of snapshots connected by a shared atmosphere of nostalgia and loss. The “abandoned dancehall” of the title isn’t a strict concept, but rather an evocative backdrop for characters facing the realities of aging, most notably in the “Smiler” sequence, which looks at a single life at ages 50 and 52. From the driving rhythms of “The Warm-Up Man Forever” to the wry, eight-minute “I Fought Against the South,” the record allowed me to explore a broader emotional and musical range than I had previously attempted on my own. Complemented by Jarrod Gosling’s surreal, detailed artwork, Abandoned Dancehall Dreams set the template for the solo work that followed, blending art-pop sensibilities with a deep, melodic warmth.