In The Kingdom of Dreams, the debut solo album by Ian Felice of The Felice Brothers, is out today on Hall of Realms Records (and through Loose in the UK). Hailed as a "solo masterpiece of cosmic simplicity," by No Depression, it features 10 new songs written by Felice in 2016 and recorded over the course of four days in February of 2017. The album was produced by Ian's brother Simone Felice (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes), and recorded with fellow Felice Brothers James Felice on keyboards and Josh Rawson on bass, as well as Simone Felice on drums. It is available now in CD format through ianfelice.com and digitally through iTunes and Spotify.
"When I began writing the songs that would become In The
Kingdom Of My Dreams many were based on memories of my past but not necessarily all literal or in a logical sequence," said Felice. "I became interested in the pull between reality and unreality and also in how time affects memory. By the end of 2016 I was run down from touring America, riding out the storm of political mania and juggling a few personal dilemmas (including the revelation that I would soon be a father). In The
Kingdom Of Dreams became a place where I could escape from the numbing flood of data that permeates modern life and try to unravel pieces of my past, rearrange memories with dreams or lines from my imagination and construct something that functioned outside the limits of reality."
"Many of the songs deal with childhood memories of Palenville (NY, where Felice grew up) and its people, like the song "In Memoriam" which is partly about the death of my stepfather when I was 8, "Water Street" that confronts my fears of becoming a father, or "21st Century" that deals with mental illness and politics ona more universal level. It only seemed right that I should make the album there, along the green banks of the Katterskill Creek and with my brother Simone as producer. The result is a pretty reflective record that hopefully blows some cobwebs from the window of my psyche."
Hotel Swampland, a companion book of poems written by Felice at the same time as the album, is available now through
Ianfelice.com.
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