Nefelibata

I came across this term on Facebook, posted in a group dedicated to discussing and celebrating mythology in artwork, particularly in literature, particularly in the works of Canadian author Charles de Lint. The post was a JPEG of this Portuguese word with the above definition in a very plain font, black type against white. It seemed very random, but I was immediately drawn to the word and identified with it very much. I knew pretty much the moment I read it that it would be the title for a record, if not the very next one.

While I had projects revolving around Pentacental on the brain with a few new songs leaking out, I pretty much ruined any plans for an EP of new material with the release of Reprise. Whereas I should have saved my new songs for a future release and moved forward with the idea of a deluxe version of Pentacental, I had instead been in a rush to release new songs and combined the desire to do so with the idea of Pentacental Overdrive. If I had held out, then this release would probably be an EP. However, Reprise does exist, but it didn't satisfy my desire to create an alternate release of Pentacental, just as creating Instrumentality hadn't sated the muse calling itself Era. Keeping my momentum is necessary to ensure that my creative juices don't cease to flow, and what better excuse to follow through on these semi-redundant projects than to have rewards to offer patrons who make pledges on my Patreon? What better excuse to announce my use of a crowdfunding platform to the public than to have these projects as rewards to offer those who would pledge?

So the month of May resulted in two very similar records stemming from the idea for a deluxe version of Pentacental, a Patreon page, a compilation album distributed to major media outlets, and a compilation album on offer as a patron reward. And somewhere in the mess of playlists that I had been constructing as outlines for possible records, trying to decide what would come next, I decided to make a list of songs I had released post-Instrumental, as I knew that a follow-up compilation album of the material that had come after that first one was in the cards for the future. Both Instrumentality and Era weren't it: Instrumentality was more of an Instrumental 2.0 to try out yet another tactic to reach potential audiences, and Era was more of a way to give my most faithful followers - my patrons - an improved version of Instrumentality. Kind of an Instrumental 3.0. Both of those records still recycled material from Instrumental.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that I had more than enough material to justify crafting Instrumental's follow up; that, indeed, the time was ripe. I already had a name picked out. I was in the middle of crafting new songs. I had already made the decision to publicly release Pentacental Overdrive, and by the time I finished promoting it, I would have new material to include on this new compilation and flexibility in deciding what would or wouldn't make it onto the record. It could have been even longer without being repetitive. There was really only one decision to wrestle with: to put out another EP before its release.

If it hadn't been for Reprise, an EP of original tracks from The Hypnotic Jamboree along with all-new tracks (tracks that had been on Reprise and tracks that you'll find included on this record) would have been justified. A seven-track EP consisting of, say, "Trip-Hop Thing," "The Replicant," "I, Supplicant," "Pentadactyl," "They Delving 2.0," and "Insults" and "Slowly Scooting Closer," which you'll find on this record. Maybe it would have been longer and included a "finished" version of "Hell Is For Reels" and a new song that I just released to patrons (and will remain a secret from the public for the time being). But dwelling on "what ifs" does nothing except for make a somewhat interesting story behind the development of what is: the follow-up to Instrumental and my second "official" Snail Tunes compilation, which I am extremely happy with and have been very anxious to unveil to you all: Nefelibata.

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I have been. I am very pleased and proud. My apologies for the preceding redundancies. Hopefully this makes up for it. Along with the new original songs, you'll also find that some of the others have been edited in minor ways, while others, such as "Pentadactyl" and "They Delving," have changes large enough to justify calling them new versions. Many of these songs have been remastered. And the artwork... There is some gorgeous artwork in the little PDF booklet, with credit going to some fantastic artists. It's worth the download for those names and images alone, in my opinion.

Anyway, here's the fruit of another quarter-year of my labors. Between this and Instrumental, you can succinctly sum up half a year's worth of work. I'm happy that it looks and sounds like half a year well spent.

In closing, I'd like to express specific and enormous gratitude to my Patreon patrons, without whom I can guarantee I would never have continued persevering in this line of work. Thanks for making my efforts feel appreciated and even loved, because I am loving doing this for you.