Recorded between 2005 and 2017 on a 1904 Steinway baby grand in the French village of Cogny, an 1899 Blüthner at Studio Slaughterback in London and an unknown, earthquake-tuned piano at the Ice Cream Studio in Tokyo, this album is a dark and disturbing trip through the decaying and decadent last days of human civilisation, in an overpopulated world where nothing works, nobody is content, and the masses are controlled by a handful of billionaires intent solely on not sharing their dubiously acquired wealth, along with a smaller handful of high-tech megacorps intent solely on owning, tracking, watching and manipulating everything we do - The Dream Extortionists. 

Some tracks feature the piano as a simple solo instrument, but often it is heavily processed and accompanied by electronic and orchestral textures, voices, and, at one point, even a spaghetti-western guitar to alter the musical landscape. Melody is key, however, albeit as the melancholic soundtrack the Ballard-esque titles would suggest. In any case, it's about time that 'gothic chill-out' became a genre...