The Optimist

Description

ANATHEMA RETURNS WITH THEIR NEW STUDIO ALBUM: THE MOST CHALLENGING AND UNEXPECTED YET. Recording for 'The Optimist' began in winter 2016 at Attica Audio in Donegal, Ireland, and concluded at Castle Of Doom studios in Glasgow with producer Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian, Super Furry Animals). Vincent speaks of Doogan's influence on the recording process: "Tony suggested we record live as a band; he wanted to capture the energy you can only get when you're facing each other." Daniel Cavanagh explains the idea behind 'The Optimist': "This album is partially autobiographical because we used a surrogate," he says of the character who is the optimist. "We focused on the sound, the feelings, and we put our own hopes and fears into a character who became the subject of each track. So I took 'A Fine Day To Exit' as a starting point. The guy who disappears – we never knew what happened to him; did he start a new life? Did he succumb to his fate? It remains a mystery. The title of the first track on 'The Optimist' represents the exact coordinates of 'Silver Strand Beach' in San Diego – the Optimist's last known location (from the 'A Fine Day To Exit' album cover). With the character's unresolved fate, the three composers meticulously completed the unfinished story, in the most remarkable way possible: one that is decided by the listener! To enhance the theme, the band asked illustrator Travis Smith to create the artwork for 'The Optimist'.