colleen

Yesterday Captain of None turned 10 years old.
My 5th album. 
My 1st for Thrill Jockey @thrilljockey , a label led by an incredible woman who single-handedly restored my faith in the record industry side of the music business (Bettina Richards, we owe you sooo much!!!), a label made up of people I deeply appreciate professionally and humanly (special shout out to Mike Boyd @stander_chicago , Matthew Fidler @mass_projection_ miss you!) 
My last love letter to baroque and acoustic instruments. 
My first foray into analogue and Moog gear with the @moogsynthesizers MF104-M Analog delay. 
The 2nd of 3 albums recorded in San Sebastián, my home from 2010 to 2019.
A midlife crisis album, yes – glad it came early somehow, glad I had music-making to help me get through it. 
Thank you so much for listening to it over the past 10 years, what a blessing 🙏🙏🙏
Hard at work to make you move (or not if you’re on the rigid side) on LP9 – planned release date: Spring 2026. CANNOT. WAIT. Seriously. 
With much love as always, 
Cécile

SPECIAL VERSIONS – LIVE AT ACCA, BRIGHTON, FUNDRAISER #2 FOR THE LEBANESE RED CROSS @lebaneseredcross
+ FOR ANIMAL SHELTERS RECORDINGS, FUNDRAISER #12 FOR FIEL COMPAÑERO, PERU @fiel_companero_of
Dear everyone, I hope this message finds you well.
I am currently concentrating on making LP9, but Bandcamp Fridays are back today and I now have enough energy to do this Bandcamp exclusive double fundraiser. Please remember that BC Fridays last 24 hours, starting at 9am Central European Time/midnight Pacific Time. You can still give afterwards, but Bandcamp will take its usual 15% commission.
Thanks to your incredible generosity on the first round, we have already raised 1806.21$ with the “special versions” of my last album Le jour et la nuit du réel, recorded at @attenboroughctr in Brighton last year, by @kanearis . Your new donations will be added to the 294.00$ already collected in the past 3 months and will go to The Lebanese Red Cross @lebaneseredcross who provide ambulance response, search and rescue, blood transfusion services, primary health care and disaster relief in Lebanon.

Since I started the original fundraiser for animal shelters and rescues in July 2023, we have raised 2093.28$. This time I will be sending your donations to Fiel Compañero @fiel_companero_of , an organization based in Callao, Peru, that impressed me with the dedication and love they put into rescuing animals found in really heartwrenching conditions. There are 4 releases available: 2 recordings commissioned by @moogsynthesizers, “Conditional” made for betatesting the Moogerfooger plugins in 2022 and A Flame Variations – Live in the Moog Soundlab, recorded in Asheville in 2017 to mark the end of production of the Moogerfoogers, and 2 archival recordings, the Mort aux vaches radio session from 2004 as I was transitioning from sampling to real instruments right before my second album, and my first ever experimental recording that paved the way for all the rest, “Organ song 1995”.

Thank you so much for making this possible!!!

Dear everyone, a few words to close 2024 and express my gratitude, 22 years after the beginning of this adventure.
I have often said it but it bears repeating, I don’t take your time or support for granted, so I am very happy to tell you that this year has been without a doubt the most fulfilling I’ve ever lived, with long-term positive consequences for my ability to keep making music. At last I have found the right balance between my personal needs and my professional life, the two now blending in a mutually beneficial way.
I also feel I’m exactly “where I need to be”: I don’t want or need more, this is perfect. Thank you for coming to see me play Le jour et la nuit du réel live, buying or even just listening to my recordings both old and new, and getting on board with my new humanitarian fundraising with the Special versions – Live at ACCA, Brighton recording (honestly this literally LIT UP my December month, as did your support for the animal shelter fundraising earlier).
This year I did a lot of new things for the first time (one that has been life-changing and which will give its title to the next album), and professionally I also did some things “I don’t normally do”: gave a workshop at l’ @esmuccat for the synthesis and sonology students (🙏 Perfecto Herrera!), opened for another band (@interpol in Barcelona – 🙏 Daniel Kessler!) or played in a space which is not a regular venue (@l_automatica in Barcelona). In the past I was way more rigid about what I do and don’t do, and while I still believe in the power of giving oneself guidelines, it’s also been liberating and empowering to realize how much autonomy I do have and give myself permission to just live those experiences.
Now’s the time to truly concentrate on making LP9, which should be released later in 2025 🤞🤞🤞 
The show at L’Automatica encapsulated everything I love about playing live, I am super grateful to Ana @anabananadj and Renata @ninja.papel for making it happen, the togetherness felt really special and a symbol of the amazing people I have met over here.

If you would like a copy of the fanzine coedited by Ana and Renata, you can do so by getting in touch with Ana via the Amuletos Instagram. My section is in the 4th volume of the fanzine, and you can listen to my episode of the radio programme here.
🙏🙏🙏📷 1, 2 @rodrigo_notari 3-4, 7-10 @guiyerblues

Here is the message I posted to my Bandcamp followers, and which I would like to share with you too here.

Dear everyone

I hope this message finds all of you as well as possible. 

I actually don’t “do” Christmas, for a mixture of family reasons and personal beliefs on so-called “celebrations” and “special days”. What I did do today – and I guess that somehow it *is* connected to Christmas – is send the money that slowly accumulated over the months I put aside the animal shelter initiative to an organization I have long wanted to support, Las Almas de Tara, in Ubeda, Andalucia, Spain. 

Earlier this month, the amount of support you gave to the “Special versions – Live at ACCA, Brighton”‘s fundraising for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (for those new here: more than 1500$ collected in 24 hours!!!) helped me muster the willpower to look at the small donations I occasionally receive for the FOR ANIMAL SHELTERS songs here on the platform.

Again, if you’re new here, this is how I started fundraising, in July 2023: just deciding I would give 100% of what you pay to animal shelters for certain songs that belong to me fully. I did it non-stop every month for nearly a year, then kind of burnt out and put it to the side, even though this is in perpetuity, so at any point in time, what you give I give.

Long story short: there was a total of 81$, and – I am very happy to tell you – this means that in total, thanks to your generosity, we have together fundraised a grand total of 2067.28 $ which I have sent to 12 different animal shelters.

Last night I chanced upon a reel by Las Almas de Tara, of 6 newly-born pups that were born early in the morning from a dog that they had rescued 2 days earlier. Spain has one of the worst European records when it comes to animal abandonment and ill treatment, with Andalucia being a particular hotspot, and most of the work is done by very small private organizations. Temperatures go down to – 3º Celsius at night right now, so keeping those puppies alive is no small feat for organizations like these, so today I sent your money and added a little extra to round it to 100 €. Isa, the lady who runs the shelter, wrote back immediately to say thanks (and apparently she loved my music too!).

Here is a portrait of her hugging one of the dogs of the shelter, taken by the mindblowingly-talented photographer Andrés López, through whom I have discovered many shelters here in Spain.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Andrés López (@andreslopezphoto)

As she so eloquently says in the video (reel below): “Ayer os pedía sensibilidad y humanidad. Os decía que los 15 euros que podeis gastar en una caja de gambas, lo invirtiesen realmente en estos ángeles que necesitan ayuda. Ese realmente debería ser el espíritu navideño: compartir lo que todos tenemos con los más desprotegidos.”
Rough translation: “Yesterday, I asked for your sensitivity and humanity. I was telling you that the 15 euros you can spend on a packet of prawns, you could truly invest in those angels who need help. This is what the true spirit of Christmas should be: sharing what we all have with the most defenceless.”

I am an atheist, but I strongly suscribe to this thought and feeling.

So I will close this message by telling you that fundraising here has been a highlight of my year – as it was last year too, but even more so this year with the human aspect of this year’s fundraising. I am sincerely grateful to all of you who have contributed, not least because through your own giving here, you are helping me get better at giving more, and more often. The fact that this is happening through my music makes it even more special for me on both a professional and personal level.

I will also add that you are very welcome to keep giving to both the animal shelter songs *and* the Special versions recording (next round will go to Lebanon), since Bandcamp have not indicated if or when there will be a new Bandcamp Friday. I personally think it does make a great “Christmas present”.You can also donate money directly to any of those organizations we have helped here in the past – if you live in Spain, a super simple and fast way to donate to Las Almas de Tara is through Bizum, as they are a registered charity (código de donación 02968), and they also have various Teaming projects where you can give 1 € every month.

And that’s it from me

Cécile (hard at work on LP9 too!!!), Sol and Klee (who are both sleeping next to me as I write these lines)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ALMAS DE TARA (@lasalmasdetara)

Dear everyone

Absolutely overjoyed to let you know the final results of this first fundraiser for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund’s Urgent Gaza Relief Fund: 1512.21$ which I will send early this week!!!!

This is way above all my expectations, although perhaps it would be more accurate to say I actually really didn’t know what to expect… THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

– any money sent from now on will be kept to contribute to the next fundraiser, FUNDRAISER #2 FOR LEBANON, which of course will be more difficult, since those of you who have donated to this first fundraiser most likely fall in my “hardcore fan category” and/ or are naturally enclined to give, and so the next fundraiser will have to draw in additional people.

– no indication has been given from Bandcamp as to whether or not they will hold another Bandcamp Friday, I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will, in order to maximize “your contribution to my donation” ratio (Bandcamp takes a 15% commission).

I’ll keep an eye out and when I do hear, will let you know over here.

If BC Friday doesn’t happen soon, I’ll just choose a day and campaign anyway.

I also don’t want to disencourage people from donating outside of Bandcamp Friday if they want to, as I know that sometimes, we may feel enclined to give now on the spur of the moment, and not in a few weeks time… and also maybe you want to have the music already (that’s also my hope, as I love this release very very much!!!)

Thanks as always for reading these messages, listening to the music and supporting in any capacity you can.