The songs which I have recently composed rely heavily on my string arrangements, and as I began listening, I found myself considering the possibility of recording them without the vocals because what I heard, closely resembles the kind of music I enjoy - film soundtracks, composers, i.e., Gustav Santaolalla and Michael Nyman.

With the absence of the voice and the lyrics, the music still expresses what I was communicating with the songs, but it has a certain subtle freedom, and is for me, a completely fresh listening experience.

Some of the songs existed as string arrangements long before I accompanied them with lyrics and a top line, so in some ways it’s natural to hear them in this form.

The other reason I decided to release Restrung as an album is to shine a light on the individual performances of the musicians who play on all my albums. They are the ones who help me decide what to leave in and what to take out and there is as much of their personality in my music as there is of mine. For me, listening to the album is very similar to my days composing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre when I was actually able to experience my music as a spectator.

This is the closest I’ve come to enjoying listening to my own music, I hope others may have the same experience.

Thanks to Jonathan Hill, Nick Holland, Jo Richards, Andy Lewis, Willie Dowling, Diego Laverde Rojas and Anna Phoebe.

Tim Arnold, December 2008

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