Between the Twilights

TRACK LISTING:

What Dreams May Come?

Delirium Comes (When Eyes Close)

The Dreaming Begins

Surrealistic Visions

Sinking Into the Blue Black Oblivion

Sea of Serenity

Angels

Drifting Beyond Familiar Dreamscapes

Morning Twilight

The Waking Hour (From Dark to Dark)

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Shortly after the release of Scorpio on AlterCulture Records I received correspondence from Kevin Dunn at Middle Pillar Presents. In said correspondence Kevin had intimated that he enjoyed Scorpio and would like to see what The Unquiet Void would produce next - and possibly release it. AlterCulture was more of an industrial electronic label and, as fate would have it, my second release was more surreal and ambient. The demos I had recorded didn't excite AlterCulture. That was fine with me and I turned my attention to Middle Pillar and got in touch.

I was in an interesting place in my early twenties and I embarked upon my first concept albums - the concept being, of course, dreaming. Between the Twilights was a rather inspired bit of work. It follows the process of fading into the subconscious realm of dreaming, exploring and then returning to reality. I have nothing but love and affection for this album! In fact, at the 2004 Middle Pillar Christmas party in New York City, my first ever live performance, I played four songs from the album.

The experience I had conceiving, writing and designing Twilights was one of love, excitement and elation. It's a very different release from Scorpio and I felt, as a sophomore album, that was a good thing. Ironically, circumstances surrounding the release of the album really knocked the wind out of me. So this process began with, though later ceased to include, the two tracks that were removed from the final form of the album.

Between The Twilights was originally a 12-track album. In between What Dreams May Come? and Delirium Comes (When Eyes Close) there was originally two conjoined tracks - "Evening Twilight / The Gloaming." I was very happy with those two pieces, I still am, and have included them below. I had sent in the mixed / mastered work in its entirety and waited to hear back. There was a little back and forth about the track listing and ultimately Kevin and I came to the agreement that the two tracks slowed the pace of the album just after it had begun to gain some momentum. I, personally, loved the album with all 12 tracks but then again, I would. Listening to the album with 10 tracks, however, does not feel incomplete to me in any way. So in this instance I wouldn't say that anything had fallen apart but rather had fallen into place.

The album was released during the summer of 2000, the date of which was supposed to be in June. The CD's had to be sent back to the manufacturer as they were not cut properly - something to do with the artwork. The album was, instead, released in July after all of the college kids went home for the summer and the radio shows shut down for the summer. My personal life was in some major upheaval at the time as well. Favorable reviews were surfacing about the album though the album seemed to stagnate. The following year was 9/11 and that changed things all across the board. World Serpent Distribution had one day simply locked its doors and that was that... all the copies of the Middle Pillar releases were returned. People just didn't seem to be buying music anymore after that. I think it really broke my heart. I know it wasn't a dark and dense album like Scorpio and maybe that had something to do with it. I felt like it had missed the opportunity to make a bigger impression than it did.

Between the Twilights is a very introspective record. The album comes to life in vivid colors and strange rhythms and sighing synthesizers. The songs on the album were mostly written while I was watching my daughter, a newborn at the time, at night and soothing her to sleep. In a way you could say that some of these songs were actually lullabies. I look back at this album and am quite satisfied that I could bring something into the world that is thoughtful and loving and intricate.

For whatever the reason the album didn't explode as I had somewhat hoped it would have, I feel it is exactly what it needed to be - like my concept albums since, even the soundtracks. Twilights was a transformative work for me a person and as an artist, it was a new way of creating for me and certainly equipped me with the tools to conceptualize and design albums moving forward... especially the third album which came four years later. Why do I mention that here? Because when Poisoned Dreams was released it drew attention to Between the Twilights which has since gotten its chance to make an impression with a new audience. I'm nothing if not happy and grateful for that!