Beautiful Ugly by Captain of the Lost Waves .

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Damian Clark – Co producer, keyboards, synthesizers & sound design

This extraordinary album has received a string of five star reviews and is the fifth album by the highly acclaimed award winning artist Captain of the Lost Waves, who is undoubtedly one of the UK’s finest singer songwriters.

I was given absolute free reign to create all keyboards and synthesizer parts for the album. The initial songs arrived to me fully formed, with guide vocals, acoustic guitar or bouzouki for backing, and from there I was left to create the rest. The brief for the album was to be radically different from the previous releases, most significantly there was to be no drums or usual rhythm section and would only feature three musicians; the Captain (vocals, acoustic guitar and bouzouki), myself (keyboards and synthesisers) and Wendy Ross (violin).

The initial concept for this album was for it to be a late night album, one in which could sat back and relaxed to. On first listening to the guide songs I was immediately struck by the intimate and introspective quality to them. It was clear that we should approach this album differently, as though it was a contemporary classical piece of music, one that fused folk songs with ambient, cinematic electronica.

Each song was treated on its own merit and we brought out their unique individual quality and feel. This was done by first creating a palette of complementary sounds and tonal colours tailored to each song. My approach to writing was that all the keyboard parts were to be written intuitively, as an emotive response to the song, respecting fully the sensitivity of the music. On many of the songs I used soft tones, pads and gentle counter melodies to underpin the vocal throughout the verses, and only during the choruses and end sections would I introduce more dramatic keyboard parts. By the time the album was completed most of the songs contained multiple keyboard parts creating a rich tapestry of sound.

For me working on this collection album required the highest level of attention and skill in order to to meet the demands of the music and bring out the very best of each of them. . Most importantly it was extremely rewarding creatively and very satisfying being part of a highly talented and dedicated team of artists, knowing that together we made an exceptional piece of work.

‘Beautiful Ugly ‘: Sheer bloody poetry… A resounding triumph over adversity, a masterpiece.’
5/5 stars J.B. Bass – Author

*‘Mysterious, melodious and mesmerising, Beautiful Ugly is yet another beautiful opus from this unique artist.’ * 5/5 stars Collin Bailey, Rock N Reel Magazine

*‘A remarkable album, and the only reason I give this 10/10 is that mathematically I can’t give it any more. Incredible.’ * Kev Rowland, Power of Prog

Beautiful Ugly by Captain of the Lost Waves ## (Released Sept. 2024)

Damian Clark – Co producer, keyboards, synthesizers & sound design

This extraordinary album has received a string of five star reviews and is the fifth album by the highly acclaimed award winning artist Captain of the Lost Waves, who is undoubtedly one of the UK’s finest singer songwriters.

I was given absolute free reign to create all keyboards and synthesizer parts for the album. The initial songs arrived to me fully formed, with guide vocals, acoustic guitar or bouzouki for backing, and from there I was left to create the rest. The brief for the album was to be radically different from the previous releases, most significantly there was to be no drums or usual rhythm section and would only feature three musicians; the Captain (vocals, acoustic guitar and bouzouki), myself (keyboards and synthesisers) and Wendy Ross (violin).

The initial concept for this album was for it to be a late night album, one in which could sat back and relaxed to. On first listening to the guide songs I was immediately struck by the intimate and introspective quality to them. It was clear that we should approach this album differently, as though it was a contemporary classical piece of music, one that fused folk songs with ambient, cinematic electronica.

Each song was treated on its own merit and we brought out their unique individual quality and feel. This was done by first creating a palette of complementary sounds and tonal colours tailored to each song. My approach to writing was that all the keyboard parts were to be written intuitively, as an emotive response to the song, respecting fully the sensitivity of the music. On many of the songs I used soft tones, pads and gentle counter melodies to underpin the vocal throughout the verses, and only during the choruses and end sections would I introduce more dramatic keyboard parts. By the time the album was completed most of the songs contained multiple keyboard parts creating a rich tapestry of sound.

For me working on this collection album required the highest level of attention and skill in order to to meet the demands of the music and bring out the very best of each of them. They were exercise in how to make something complex and intricate appear simple. Most importantly it was extremely rewarding creatively and very satisfying being part of a highly talented and dedicated team of artists, knowing that together we made an exceptional piece of work.

‘Beautiful Ugly ‘: Sheer bloody poetry… A resounding triumph over adversity, a masterpiece.’
5/5 stars J.B. Bass – Author
*‘Mysterious, melodious and mesmerising, Beautiful Ugly is yet another beautiful opus from this unique artist.’ * 5/5 stars Collin Bailey, Rock N Reel Magazine
*‘A remarkable album, and the only reason I give this 10/10 is that mathematically I can’t give it any more. Incredible.’ * Kev Rowland, Power of Prog