California, Norfolk represents one of the strongest chapters in my long-running partnership with musician and software designer Peter Chilvers. Our goal was to create a coherent suite of “musical short stories” that married traditional songwriting with an expansive, cinematic ambition. The result is an album of deep atmospheric contrasts, ranging from the slow-building intensity of “Days Turn Into Years” and the orchestral sweep of “Hostage” to the immersive, ten-minute centerpiece “Winter With You.”

Peter’s background as a pioneer in generative music and a close collaborator of Brian Eno brought a distinctive technical edge to the sessions, allowing us to combine electronic textures and “found sounds” with more traditional, emotive arrangements. The record’s sound has often been compared to the work of Laurie Anderson and the minimal beauty of early 4AD releases, earning it critical acclaim and a spot in the Toronto Sun’s Top 5 Anti-Hit List upon its release. Long a sought-after item in my discography, California, Norfolk remains a definitive statement of our shared aesthetic, a bridge between the human and the digital that remains as evocative today as it was over two decades ago.