The 20th anniversary re-issue of Fennesz’s best-selling ‘Venice’, originally released in 2004, is now on pre-sale as a deluxe version remastered by Denis Blackham, with new and extra tracks not on the previous CD or vinyl versions.

Pre-order at fenneszreleases.bandcamp.com – releasing 23 August 2024.

Included in the DVD-format edition is a booklet with texts by Fennesz himself, Denis Blackham and Jon Wozencroft, with unseen photographs from the original 2004 sessions. The booklet also reproduces David Sylvian’s original handwritten lyrics for ‘Transit’.

Denis Blackham: “Fast forward to 2024 and here I am again with the same original master mixes I used in 2003 to make a new and expanded version of the album – ‘Venice 20’. A little over twenty years later, technology in audio production, recording and mastering has improved substantially, so I was excited to return to this album and give my 2024 treatment.”

Jon Wozencroft: “The whole work has a stillness and a stature that is essentially timeless. This is of course exemplified by the collaboration with David Sylvian on ‘Transit’, which, now 20 years on, has all come true. I hoped the cover art to be on the level of a painting, to endure, like the music. It’s mad because I’d never claim to be able to paint, or assume that photographs can endure as long as paintings can. The work with Christian, which continues, always moves me and above all it’s a chemistry, a feeling you can’t quite put your finger on.”

Christian Fennesz: “Over months, I collected material for the album: short recordings of acoustic and electric guitars, experiments with newly introduced soft synths and samplers, and field recordings, sometimes done on the go and directly in ‘Venice’, where I stayed for several weeks. The sound and acoustics of the city fascinated me. From my room, you could clearly hear conversations at night with the window open, but it was uncertain whether they came from the neighbouring house or several blocks away, as if the sound waves in Venice followed their own rules. It was during this time that the idea for Venice as an album title came to me, as a suggestive description of a dignified decline, decay, death, and rebirth. David Sylvian’s lyrics and vocal performance for ‘Transit’ perfectly encapsulated this idea for me. The piece remains a highlight of a wonderful, ongoing collaboration.”

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