SPRING JOURNAL - APRIL 2007

Dear Friends,

NEW RECORDING FINALLY IN PROGRESS
The 15th of March 2007 marks the opening day for the new Secret Garden recording.
After almost 2 years of developing the music and lyrics for the project - the new album is finally in the making.

This will be a different Secret Garden album – based on vocals and guest singers performing with Secret Garden. Ever since Barbra Streisand recorded “Heartstrings” and made it into "I’ve Dreamed of You” in 1999 – singers from all over the world have turned to Secret Garden, as a melodic source to find new songs: Josh Groban, Westlife and Il Divo to mention a few. "We thought a natural, 'meant to be' concept was waiting for us right in front of our eyes”, says Rolf Lovland. “The melodies I write are always ‘songs’, even though we use the violin to ‘tell the story’. We originally thought, that as part of our 10th Anniversary, it would be a nice idea to invite some great singers to further develop and explore the natural bonds between our music and vocal songs”.

This has been an ongoing process for almost two years. One of the co-writers who has been closely involved in this project is Brendan Graham. He is writing the vast majority of the lyrics and has been a great rock to lean on through the many challenging phases of the process. As Rolf explains, “Brendan has such a unique closeness to our music and has an understanding of what Secret Garden is all about. Ever since the amazing words he wrote to “You Raise Me Up” he has been involved on all of the albums... We can talk about the stories behind the songs that are not always articulated into words. But there is always an emotion or an experience connected with the music. Brendan would be listening really closely to capture the emotional essence of the song. For instance, one of the songs we’re working on is “Hymn to Hope” from the White Stones album... We told Brendan about the time during a concert in Denver we dedicated the song to all the victims of the Columbine High School shooting that happened only a few days prior to our concert... During the CD-signing after the concert we met a teacher from Columbine who was there in the midst of the tragedy, evacuating the students out of the building into a nearby classroom. She said, “There, we were praying and listening to “Hymn to Hope” as part of the healing”. Fionnuala and I were left completely speechless by the situation. Ever since, this story has been part of the song. When Brendan heard about it, he came up with the most beautiful and powerful words encapsulated by the title “Sometimes a Prayer Will Do”.

“Most of the songs will be new vocal versions of previously released Secret Garden instrumental material. But we’re considering doing a few new ones as well. I’ve written a number of new songs during the past two years, and hopefully a few of them will find their way onto the album. The number one challenge in this process has been to find a new way of telling the story”, Rolf continues. "There is no point in repeating what we originally did with our music. I’ve constantly searched for an element of 'the now' in finding a new platform to present the songs. The process is a struggle, because we’ve played the songs so many times – that they have grown into our sinews and bones. It’s dangerously easy to be too protective about the ‘right-way’ of arranging the songs, but I had to really challenge myself in an endeavor to rediscover and redefine the songs. If not, this would only be a meaningless waste of time in making cover versions of our own music... So, for those of you who expect to find a voice copying what the violin originally did – you’ll be surprised...”

What everybody is naturally asking about is, who the singers will be. We can’t answer this question yet. “I’ve been aware that I’ll have to go into this production with more questions than answers”, says Rolf. “I didn’t want to know too much about the performance before the song, the words, the arrangement and the new platform were there. Otherwise, it would only block the natural ‘casting’ for a song. I’ve actually applied this film metaphor into our musical process, because it’s exactly how I feel; I want to develop the songs - hopefully to their fullest potential first – and then 'listen' for the voice it suggests within.... The analogy to film is fitting because a director can’t cast a character before the story is written... Through demos with different singers on all the songs, I’ve learned more about the direction we’re going in, than who the final singer will actually be. But now the recording is physically taking place and we are beginning to make some choices”.

Lovland continues, “As much as I look forward to this production, it’s also been an uphill trek during the preparation period. It’s a different project – there are new sets of challenges and I need to think differently. Besides, there are so many unknown factors we have to deal with, for example; Who will the singers for each song be? What key and tempo will suit a singer we haven’t even chosen yet? At the beginning, some of these issues seemed pretty ridiculous. But as the process got started and as our confidence level gradually grew, it actually made perfect sense. This is a‘Secret Garden album – carried by the Secret Garden identity. So the artists we eventually choose will have to feel part of this concept. We are not producing songs for their albums rather, they are performing with Secret Garden...”

We won’t reveal any names yet, but we can say that there will be some new exciting names mixed in with some more established ones – all chosen because they are ‘the perfect cast’ for each of the songs.

As always when Secret Garden records an album, the production will travel to different parts of the world – including at least Norway, Ireland and the UK. But home base for the recording and production will be in Rolf’s hometown, Kristiansand, at Sanden Studio. It gives him a relaxed working atmosphere and in addition, a musical and social network that is unique for him. “I can do most of the recording there, but it’s natural for us to travel with the production to wherever the musicians and the right musical settings are. Ireland is a total must for us, and when we finally start recording the vocal artists, I’m sure we’ll be globetrotting.... That’s the beauty of recording in this day and age – the technology allows you to go anywhere”, Rolf says.

Most of the preparations and pre-production has taken place in Krfistiansand... Rolf with his mobile set-up.	Rolf and recording engineer Roald Raasberg in the control room in Sanden Studio in Kristiansand	Fionnuala and Rolf working out the violin arrangements in Dublin

In Sanden Studio, Rolf worked a couple of days for each of the songs included in this first stage of the recording, just to build the groundwork and set the basic arrangements. A few live overdubs took place the second week, and during April and May most of the recording for Part One of the album will happen. Fionnuala will most likely record her solo violin parts in Dublin in the beginning of May. Then, according to plan, Part Two of the album will take place from the end of May through to July. Universal Records has planned a Norwegian release this autumn, but is considering an international release date in spring of 2008. More details will follow...

Lyricist Brendan Graham and Rolf going through the lyrics before recording	Harpist Sidsel Walstad at Sanden Studio.We usually record the harp late in the process, but this time it was the first live instrument.	Our bass player for 10 years - Per Elias Drablos in action in Sanden Studio	Fionnuala working on the violin arrangements

Sound engineer in Sanden Studio - Roald Raasberg	Barry Matheson (SG manager), Petter Singsaas - (MD of Universal Music Norway) and Rolf in a production meeting at Universa'sl offices in Norway	"It's a good feeling to finally have started this album", says composer and producer Rolf Lovland.