Asia & Yes
Downes remains busy in Yes (see
main page for their activity). He continues to lead Asia,
although he describes the band as currently "parked" (details are on the
Asia page). In a Jun
2023 interview, Downes said, "I still keep in close touch
with Trevor Horn, with Carl Palmer, with YES and with Steve
[Howe]. Those three bands [The Buggles, Asia and Yes] have really
never got away far from my career. I'm still able to go out and
still involved with those three bands." In a Mar 2021
podcast, asked what was next for him, Downes talked about The
Quest (then unnamed) and finishing off the last Asia tracks
written with John Wetton, before saying, "I've still got my solo
career that I, er, fish out from time to time". In a May
2021 interview (conducted Apr), he talked about currently
working on The Quest, but also how, "I have been quite
occupied, doing other smaller projects here and there." As for the
future, he talked about the 2021 Yes tour, then added, "And if
there are any opportunities for the DBA, ASIA, or even The
Buggles, I would be up for it."
Downes Braide Association
The Downes Braide Association (DBA; Facebook,
Twitter)
is Downes and Chris
Braide (ex-Producers,
This Oceanic
Feeling, written for Trevor Horn, Sia, Paloma Faith, Lana Del Rey, David Guetta, Cheryl Tweedy, Clay
Aiken, Will Young, Kylie Minogue, S Club 7). Their fifth
studio album, Celestial Songs was released 8 Sep 2023 on
Cherry Red, with art by Roger Dean.
The title continues the band's love of alliteration. On 6 Apr
2023, the band's Facebook account shared a short
clip. Formats include a limited
edition box set with CD, vinyl and exclusive signed art
print (DBABOX06); a gatefold Digipak
CD (DBACD06); a gatefold
2LP (DBALP06); and digital. Downes is credited with piano,
keys and programming, while Braide is credited with vocals, piano,
keys and programming. The album was produced by Braide and Downes,
and mixed by Braide. It was mastered by Jason Mitchell. The album
is dedicated to Alan White and David Longdon. Tracks (67:40 total
duration), all tracks by Braide/Downes except where indicated
otherwise (spoken word segments by Ashton-Bullock):
"Look What You Do" (6:17), third single
(video);
opens with a short spoken word by Ashton-Bullock
"Keep on Moving" [Braide/Dunnery/Downes] (6:36), second single
(video),
also on a digital sampler album available through Prog issue
#142 (Aug 2023)
"Darker Side of Fame" (3:56), announced as a subsequent single
instead of "Keep on Moving" in the original online trailer to go
up, that was soon replaced by the current trailer; side B begins
on vinyl edition
"Hey Kid" (3:28), opens with a short spoken word by
Ashton-Bullock
"Will to Power" (6:23)
"Heart Shaped Hole" (9:06); side C begins
"Dear Petra" (3:56), opens with a short spoken word by
Ashton-Bullock
"On the Run" (5:09), described by Braide as influenced by the
band Talk Talk
"Goodbye to You (Sister Shame)" [Braide/Partridge/Downes]
(7:30), the song is "about trying to find love before you die",
Braide said in an Aug 2023
band interview, with Downes on Hammond at the end; side D
begins
"Beyond the Stars" (10:19), with spoken word by
Ashton-Bullock, Braide said in another Aug 2023
band interview that "it's about how everything must pass
[...] but it's not maudlin"
The albummade #7 in the UK rock
& metal albums chart, #10 in the indie breakers album chart
(albums by artists who have not yet made the top 40), #27 in the
indie album chart, #63 in the album sales chart, and #60 in the
physical albums chart.
The band on the album are Downes, Braide, Ash Soan (ex-Trevor
Horn Band/Producers, Rick Wakeman,
worked with Dua Lipa, Adele, Will Young, Seal; drums on
all tracks with drums, except 1), Andy Hodge (worked
with Gary Husband; fretted and fretless bass) and Dave
Bainbridge (Iona; electric & acoustic
guitars, madonlin, bouzouki). Tim Weller also plays drums on "Look
What You Do" and additional drums on "Goodbye to You" and "On the
Run". Marc Almond (Soft Cell, worked with Chris
Braide, Trevor Horn) guests singing on "Darker Side of
Fame"; he appeared on the band's previous studio album, Halcyon
Hymns. Also returning is Barney Ashton-Bullock (worked with Andy Bell, Giorgio Moroder, Dusty
Springfield). Francis Dunnery (It Bites,
ex-The Syn, worked with ABWH) guests with additional
vocals and guitar on "Keep on Moving", which also features a
keyboard solo from Bainbridge. In an
interview with Prog magazine, Braide explained that
Dunnery had come in to work on another project of Braide's, but
his guitar contributions didn't fit. However, Braide said, "I
thought they were great. So Geoff and I wrote the song around
that lick, and it really makes the song." There are also
songwriting credits for Andy Partridge (ex-XTC),
who guested with DBA previously. Partridge helped finish the
lyrics for "Goodbye to You (Sister Shame)". In an Aug
2023 interview with Yes Music Podcast, Downes said Celestial
Songs is not a concept album, but that there is "a
continuity" to the lyrics. Downes described "Darker Side of Fame":
"It tells a story, a theme that a lot of people, and a lot of
musicians, can relate to – certainly musicians that have had any
kind of success. The lyric is very poignant, whilst you have all
the glory, the accolades and the adulation, it can go away and
you're left with nothing. It reflects life in general, I think, as
people go through all kinds of ups and downs throughout their
careers and throughout their lives." About the album generally, he
said, "There's a lot of variety on the album [...] We were aiming
to get quite a bit more dynamics into this album because there
were some very quiet pastoral moments." Braide described the
album: "As we were writing the songs for the album, they started
to become thematic in emotion and feeling[.] More classic rock
than the predecessor Halcyon Hymns. The songs were about
life and death, time, love, nostalgia, spirituality." He said
about "Beyond the Stars" that it "was a tune that began in 2015
and really shaped the way the artwork was to develop. Something
bigger than us, something astral and heavenly, it grew from a
3-minute ditty to an 11-minute epic." He also said they came up
with the album title in 2020.
On Facebook,
Braide said he had the verse melody for "Clear Light" and nearly
all of the lyric in 2015, but no chorus. Downes then came up with
a chord progression in a "weird" time signature. The lyric is
about "ego and how it can blind you to the beauty of things".
"Beyond the Stars" is another song begun in 2015. In a later Facebook
post, Braide talked about "Will to Power", saying the
verses and more were written during the writing of Skyscraper
Souls, but they felt the song didn't fit on Skyscraper
Souls or Halcyon Hymns. He also said the middle
section of "Heart Shaped Hole" was by Downes, while the rest of
the song, he said in another
interview, he wrote some years ago. "Dear Petra" is based
on a piano melody from Downes; Braide's lyrics were originally
about child abuse, but were then re-written to be about the war
in Ukraine.
The band finished making the album in Apr 2022. The band's
Twitter account said 31 Mar 2022, "We have just had the mix and
master back from our engineer." Reports
had had the album possibly coming out in Mar 2023, but it was
delayed. In Jan 2023, the band shared pictures of test pressings
of the vinyl album. On
22 Feb 2023, they announced:
Thank you all for being so patient for updates
on the next DBA album.
We have moved the release date towards the end of the year,
but pre-orders will be available in a few months time.
We will also be releasing some extra special products for you
all.
Downes said in a May
2022 interview with Yes Music Podcast that the release would
be around Sep/Oct 2022. He also said there would be less spoken
word than on Halcyon Hymns. In a late
Jun 2022 tweet, he said they were looking at Oct 2022 for a
release, with no live dates yet planned. Bainbridge said in a 2022
new year's update that he is "continuing to record guitar parts on
a whole host of great new tracks with Chris Braide and Geoff
Downes, which will become the fifth Downes Braide Association
studio album." He said to Doug Curran in Jul 2022 that the release
would be Oct/Nov and that 2 music videos are planned. He explained
vinyl manufacturing backlogs were causing a delay. Curran later
reported that the release has been delayed to Mar 2023, because of
vinyl manufacturing delays.
The band's Twitter account wrote on 31 Jan 2022 that, "Chris and
Geoff are back in the studio adding the finishing touches to some
amazing DBA tracks. Roger Dean is being kept busy too." Hodge said
on Facebook on 12 Apr 2022:
The latest DBA album is nearly ready!
The title and release dates will be announced soon so please
watch this space.
I’m overjoyed to be playing bass on yet another fabulous
collection of songs [...] this time deploying even more basses
including: Fender Precision, Warwick Thumb V, Musicman Stingray
4-string fretted and 5-string fretless, and Squier Jazz fretless
all make appearances; Rotosound strings, EBS MicroBass 3,
various Boss pedals, and a smattering of Avid plug-ins all
engineered by my good self in the comfort of my home studio.
Dean did live sessions painting the cover on
Facebook, from 1 Feb 2022; he finished the cover on 15 Mar
2022. His design is on his 2023 calendar.
Asked in an Aug 2023 band
interview about touring, Braide said, "The live thing is
always [...] the elephant in the room" for the band with both
himself and Downes busy with other projects. He continued: "We
just wait for our time in the [...] limelight [...] it will
happen, y'know. It's just a case of when and how we do it." The
Prog interview has that Downes "promises to fit in
some new gigs around his commitments to Yes." It then quotes
Downes: "Until now we haven't really had the opportunity,
but next year [2024] we hope to travel around the country
[presumably the UK] and take our music out there".
In a Sep
2023 interview, Braide says touring "depends on schedules"
and that Yes "comes first" in terms of live work, but that they
would "love to do it". He continued, "I only want to do it if we
can do it properly". He also said that he and Marc Almond will
perform "Darker Side of Fame" at a joint live
show in Nov 2023, and possibly further material from the
album. In another Sep 2023
interview, he said they would also do "Warm Summer Sun".
In the Aug 2023 YMP interview, Downes also said, "We've already
started looking at the 6th album", while in the latter Sep 2023
interview, Braide said, "DBA 6 is actually written". Braide
described the album, "there's definitely more progressive". He
talked about one song, "Lake of Memories", saying, "that's really
a big, long, like a "Skyscraper Souls" type [...] whole side [...]
So far, but who knows? It could change."
On their fourth studio album, Halcyon Hymns
(Cherry Red), they were joined by Bainbridge (guitar, mandolin),
Hodge (bass) and Ash Soan (drums), with Ashton-Bullock providing 4
spoken word segments. Braide played some acoustic guitar and a bit
of electric guitar, while Bainbridge played all the guitar solos
and more. The musicians recorded their parts seperately during the
pandemic. Backing vocals were by Joe Catcheside and Braide's
children, Elijah and Sascha, while guesting were Almond and the
late David Longdon (Big Big Train)
on 1 track each. Roger Dean
live-streamed his painting of the cover artwork. The songs are
intended to reflect a bucolic, halcyon summer. Braide was the main
lyricist. The album is organised around its 4 LP sides; tracks:
"Love Among the Ruins" (6:23), first single, with a video
directed by Paolo Marchetti; Downes in one interview said this
was the original planned title for the album; in another interview,
Braide said this was his favourite on the album
"King of the Sunset" (6:36)
"Your Heart will Find the Way" (5:19), second single; began
with a verse pattern and riff from Downes, Braide added the
chords in the chorus; lyric
video
"Holding the Heavens" (7:53), Downes in another
interview and another
said this was the original planned title for the album, while in
the former interview, he said this was another title considered;
side 2 begins
"Beachcombers" (3:30)
"Warm Summer Sun" (4:33); Downes identified this as one of his
favourites; began with some chords from Downes
"Today" (6:58), third single, lyric
video; side 3 begins
"Hymn to Darkness" (2:58), which began with an idea by Downes
he played on piano
"She'll be Riding Horses" (4:34)
"Late Summer" (2:23), side 4 begins
"Remembrance" (11:43)
"Epilogue" (0:35)
In Dec
2020 comments, Braide explained how, as the pandemic struck:
"Marc Almond suggested I 'get stuck into another DBA record' to lift
the malaise[.] Somehow [i]t was hard to muster any enthusiasm for
it. We had all been so upbeat at the recent [live] shows and now
here we were in a collective, creative void. [...] I opened up a
folder of new DBA ideas Geoff had sent to me a while back and which
I'd listened to briefly [...] I can't say why it happened but one
day in the studio as I listened to the bits and pieces of ideas
suddenly the songs started tumbling out as if by magic. I'm not
exaggerating [...] These new songs sounded like personal
reflections, they just wrote themselves." Downes commented, "It was
so great to witness Chris's creativity making my fundamental ideas
come alive. He took the bare bones of melodies, harmonies and
textures I sent him, and somehow crafted these into something way
beyond my expectations or imagination." Downes had sent his initial
ideas towards the end of 2019, he said in Better Way of Life Jan 2021 interview.
In another Jan
2021 interview, Braide said, "with the virtual shutdown of the
industry and tours being cancelled etc. it was very much a case of
'right what can I do now then?'. This album came out of that period,
Geoff had sent me some ideas and I got to work on them. I chose to
look at the world as it was when I was younger, the endless summer
days, cycling around everywhere, pure rose tinted nostalgia for a
world that had been but suddenly was not available to us now."
Although Downes said in another Jan
2021 interview that the album would probably have been made
and in a similar way without the pandemic. He also described how he
talked to Braide about wanting to draw more on classical and English
church music influences, and the album as "more acoustic". In the
former Jan 2021 interview, Downes said of the album, "I think it's
[...] got quite a lot of influences. It's got classical undertones
[...] there's a lot of pathos in the album. There's optimism in a
lot of the titles [...] even though there's an air of nostalgia
[...] there's a lot of depth of influence from, say, English church
music [...] and the classical music I was trained at music college
for [...] It's progressive pop, for want of a better term". In a Feb 2021
interview, Braide talked about the album having specifically
northern English roots, not just English roots. In another Feb
2021 interview, Downes talked of "Love Among the Ruins"
beginning with a "classical part" from him; and of "Holding the
Heavens" being the first song Braide worked on and sent back to him.
In a joint Feb
2021 interview, Braide said "Your Heart will Find the Way" was
the first song he finished writing on, followed by "Love Among the
Ruins". More generally, Downes said in a May
2021 interview: "Chris is really the lyricist. I feed him the
musical ideas and I even hint at the melodies. That's where he
creatively puts the words to the music. But he also contributes a
lot musically and production-wise as well. So this is only one side
of him." He also discussed working with Barney Ashton-Bullock: "He
has freedom. He is a poet. Sometimes when you work with people you
are better off letting them be themselves rather than saying this is
what you should be doing. I am not the one to tell him to make
poetry. That is not my gig. So if you bring someone in, you have to
let them roll with the ball. In the case of Barney, we said here are
the songs titles, some of the mood and the music, see what it says
to you."
On 26 Jun 2020, DBA tweeted that they were working on their fourth
studio album, Hodge tweeted
the same day in response, "DBA 4th album is being recorded
right now". Ashton-Bullock replied
the next day, "Some of lockdown has been spent shaping poetic
verse & dramatic speeches for our all new @TheRealDBAMusic album
[...] A fusion of pop, prog & poetry." In an Oct 2020
interview, Downes said the album is "pretty well finished
now". In a Nov
2019 interview, asked about a new studio album, Downes had
said, "Yes, although we mainly work remotely as Chris is in LA and
I'm in sunny Wales, but we will be working on ideas and putting
something new together before too long I hope." In another Nov
2019 interview, Downes had said, "We're talking about it [...]
It's really down to scheduling [...] I imagine [...] over the next
year or two, there should be another collaboration in the works."
Braide said of "Your Heart will Find the Way" that it "has an almost
Yes like quality [...] It's also a great example of how Geoff and I
will sometimes write. Geoff sent me the verse chord progression and
the riff and then I added the chorus chord progression and the
melody just fell out on top of those two elements. The brooding
verse and majestic riff coupled with the uplift of the chorus
dictated the lyric which is about listening to your inner voice and
trusting your gut instinct to navigate you out of adversity…It's a
positive self-affirmation of a song." Downes said of it, "It has
become something of a feature of mine and Chris's songwriting where
the verse (in the minor key) sets the mood of the piece only to
climax into an upbeat chorus (in the major)."
"Love Among the Ruins" made #1 on the United DJ Radio's Heritage
chart in the UK for 2 weeks running in Jan/Feb 2021. The album made
#23 in the UK Indie album chart and #7 in the Indie album Breakers
chart for artists who have not yet made the full top 40 (12 Feb). It
was #83 on the physical sales chart and #84 on the sales chart, but
did weaker on streaming, thus not making the overall top 100 in the
UK, although it did make #96 in Scotland. It was as high as #10 on
Amazon UK's Hot New Releases chart.
In a Nov
2019 interview, on the topic of more live dates, Downes said
they would like to do them, but it's "down to timing". He said,
"it's not on the backburner" and that they would definitely try to
do something if the opportunity arises. Asked Mar 2017 about the
possibility of DBA touring, Downes had replied, "Not yet, but
certainly not out of the equation." On Nickey Radio in
Nov 2017, asked about touring, Downes said, "I think at the moment
it's very much an album album", but that "I'm looking forward to it
[touring], if it's going to be possible". He noted that a tour is
"not an easy concept", citing a poor appetite from promoters, but
said that "if we were offered some nice dates somewhere", they would
consider it. In one of the previously mentioned Nov
2017 interview, asked about touring, Downes replied, "We have
discussed it, it's not something that has been discounted.
Initially, when we only had one album, it would have been a struggle
to have a tour but we decided it might be nice potentially now that
we have more material. It would take some careful planning because
we both have a lot of things going but certainly something we would
consider." Braide also replied: "In [or]der to really make it work
we would have to devote a lot of time to it and my schedule and
Geoff's are pretty hectic at the moment. I haven't taken one week
off this year [2017] which I'm certainly not complaining about.
[...] Having said all that, no one would like to hear the DBA songs
played live more than me. [...] It may happen." Braide also
confirmed a desire to go on making albums together. In Downes' Dec
2017 interview, he said, "We've discussed [touring]. Chris is
very-very busy with all of his projects [...] I'm also touring quite
extensively [...] But when a little time comes up, I think we'd
certainly be looking at maybe doing a few gigs, but not a full-blown
tour." To the Feb 2018 issue of Prog, Downes demurred,
pointing to a busy 2018 touring schedule with Yes and possible Asia
and The Buggles, as well as Braide being busy, but he ended, saying,
"But we've built up a nice catalogue of music and it would be great
to take it out live." He made similar comments in a Mar
2018 interview: "We've talked about doing a couple of live
shows. We wouldn't discount the idea. It's just getting a run of
dates that you can do as just doing one or two dates would be
impractical so it's just getting the time to be able to do it. If
someone offered us a nice run of dates we'd look seriously at doing
it."
Barney Ashton-Bullock's narration for DBA was released in a book, "Bucolicism
– Alt-Lite Lyric Verse for a Post-Pastoral England". The books
re-sets his contributions to DBA albums in their original longer
form works and includes further writings that "plough the same
idioms of nostalgia, misplaced or otherwise, that seek to express
the illusive golden age 'bucolics' of a nation going through rapid
change and, seemingly, often ill-at-ease with itself." The limited
edition book is available
through Cherry Red. Marc Almond's 2022 Things
We Lost includes Braide, Hodge and Soan, with liner
notes by Ashton-Bullock. It includes Almond's version of the DBA
song, "Skin Deep" (which he also sang on).
With
Trevor Horn The Buggles news is under Horn. The
pair have been working together on new material, and there was
talk of a possible tour and musical. Horn toured as The Buggles
without Downes in 2023, as support on a tour by Seal. Latest news
here.
Zorbonauts Downes has guested on many projects by Jersualem and their side
projects, based around Lynden Williams (vocals) and Ollie
Hannifan (guitars), and produced/engineered by Rob Aubrey (worked with Wetton/Downes). Zorbonauts
was a somewhat more serious bands, while Deckchair Poets was a
humorous project, and Zebras Don't Smoke was for covers albums.
However, in summer 2022, they decided to just use the Zorbonauts name going
forwards, with the band given as Williams, Hannifan, Downes (keys),
Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train, ex-Spock's Beard,
works with Dave
Kerzner, worked with Genesis, Mystery; drums,
percussion), Dave Meros (Spock's Beard, ex-Iron
Butterfly; bass) and Rachael Hawnt (vocals).
The last release was Inflatable Noise under the Zebras Don't
Smoke label, out digitally Mar 2022. There are 4 Zorbonauts albums
known to be finished, but release dates are unknown. Finished by Sep
2023 was Pink Curlers with Downes (keys), Williams (vocals),
Hannifan (guitar, mandolin), D'Virgilio (drums, percussion), Meros
(bass), Hawnt (vocals), Aubrey (effects) and Bob Cooke (keys on 14).
The album was produced, engineered and mastered by Aubrey, and
executive produced by Williams. Artwork, graphic and design by
Cooke. Tracks:
"Pretty Women" [Hannifan/Williams]
"You Can Die" [Hannifan/Williams]
"We are Stardust" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Ulcers" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Andromeda's Coming" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Everyday" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Play the Twat" [Hannifan/Williams]
"I Don't Need" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Hoodie Craw" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Sundays with the Kid" [Cooke/Williams]
"Slime Devine" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Hey Mister!" [Neil Innes], cover
"Milk Cow Blues" [Kokomo Arnold], cover
"Fangs for the Mammary" [Cooke/Williams], instrumental
Finished by Dec 2022 was also Ringo Ate My Flying Saucer
with Downes (keys), Williams (vocals, kazoo), Hannifan (guitar),
Meros (bass), D'Virgilio (drums, percussion), Hawnt (vocals), Will
Wilde (harmonica on 20), Rachel Hall (violin on 20), Ash Cutler
(backing vocals) and Aubrey (credited as UFO pilot). The album was
produced, engineered and mastered by Aubrey, and executive produced
by Williams. Artwork, graphic and design by Cooke. Tracks:
"Toilet" [Williams]
"Brown Trousers" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Washing Machine" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Human Pie" [Hannifan/Williams]
"One Ugly Child" [Larry Bright], cover
"Buddha in the Nude" [Hannifan/Williams]
"You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" [Leiber/Stoller], cover
"Sunshine" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Silverfish" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Walking in a Crocodile" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Whipsnade Escapees" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Elephants, Not Ivory" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Crem'" [Hannifan/Williams]
"You'll Never Catch This Boy" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Wicked Annabella" [Ray Davies], cover
"Refrigerator" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Sunset Strip" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Pink Foam Shrimps" [Hannifan/Williams]
"A Legal Matter" [Pete Townsend], cover
"Hobgoblins and Fiends" [Cooke/Williams]
Also due is One Flew Outta the Cuckoo's Nest with Downes
(keys), Williams (vocals), Hannifan (guitar, mandolin), Meros
(bass), D'Virgilio (drums, percussion), Hawnt (vocals, dog
whistling), Wilde (harmonica on 11), Ray Drury (keys on 11), Hall
(violin on 6), Cutler (backing vocals on 6), Sarah-Jane Szikora
(credited with aliens) and Aubrey (credited with elephants). The
album was produced, engineered and mastered by Aubrey, and executive
produced by Williams. Artwork, graphic and design by Cooke. This was
finished by Nov 2022.
Cannibals on a Health Kick Only Eat Vegetarians was finished
by Aug 2022. The album again has Downes (keys on 1, 2, 5, 6, 8-10,
12, 14, 16-19), Williams (vocals), Hannifan (guitars), Meros (bass),
D'Virgilio (drums, percussion), Hawnt (vocals), Drury (keys on 1, 3,
4, 6-8, 11, 14, 15, 17), Hall (violin on 10, 19), Aubrey, Ash Cutler
(backing vocals on 6, 10, 13), Dave Desmond (trombone on 19), Neil
Penny (trumpet on 19), Jason Tobias (saxes on 19) and Aubrey
(additional percussion on all, theremin on 19). The album was
produced, engineered and mastered by Aubrey, and executive produced
by Williams, with artwork, graphics and design by Cooke. Tracks:
"You've Got Your Monkey" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Ripples" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Keeler Pose" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Hoover" [Hannifan/Williams]
"We Dream Our Dreams" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Bucketloads of Steam" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Hug Your Pig" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Elongate This Voodoo" [Hannifan/Williams]
"The Moving Mellow" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Meltdown" [Cooke/Williams]
"Beaver" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Humility" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Tart/Yum-Yum Pig's Bum" [Williams]
"Power" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Kariba" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Swordsman/Rider" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Noddy and Big Ears" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Tumbleweed" [Hannifan/Williams]
"Kinky Stuff"
"All Day and All of the Night" [Davies], cover
"I Need You" [Davies], cover
"Tired of Waiting for You" [Davies], cover
"You Really Got Me" [Davies], cover
Also expected is The Smartypants Variations (Singsong Music) with Downes,
Williams, Hannifan, Meros, D'Virgilio, Hawnt, Cooke and Aubrey. This
appears to have alternate versions of earlier Zorbonauts songs, or
is it just a compilation? The album was produced, engineered and
mastered by Aubrey, executive produced by Williams and mixed by
Aubrey/Williams. Tracks:
"A Passage to Avalon" [Cooke/Paul Dean/Bill Hinde/Ray
Sparrow/Williams]
"Into Another Dawn" [Cooke/Dean/Hinde/Sparrow/Williams]
Other news
In a Sep
2021 interview with Prog Radar, when asked about the
possibility of a new solo album, Downes replied, "I have been
thinking about doing something, although quite what that will be
is very open. I think I'd like to do something in a similar vein
to 'The Light Program' from 1987, a sort of 'stream of
consciousness' album of its time". Asked in the Oct 2020
interview about the possibility of doing another New Dance
Orchestra album, Downes replied, "I'm always open to doing another
one".
In a May
2022 interview, Downes said, "during lockdown John [Lodge]
and I wrote a couple of songs together; remotely of course
(laughter). After that, John sent me a song a couple of months ago
and I was going to put some keyboards on it, so I did that, and
John really liked what I did on it." Lodge (ex-The
Moody Blues) has been working with Jon Davison, who is
also his son-in-law. See more under
Davison.
Downes produced The Cold Light of Day
(Cherry Red Records) from rock band The
Cold Blooded Hearts, featuring Gareth Ainsworth,
released 21 Jul 2023 digitally, on CD
(CDBRED885SGND) and vinyl
(BRED885SGND). Details
in Yescography. Ainsworth is currently
the head coach of the football club Queens Park Rangers; he
played with various clubs, including Wimbledon and Queens
Park Rangers, before focusing on management. He has also
sung since childhood and been in various bands. He sings
lead vocals in The Cold Blooded Hearts (YouTube),
with Lee-Van Sargeant (guitar, vocals) and Luke "Chalky"
Sargeant (drums). Ainsworth and L-V Sargeant have worked
together for 20 years. They formed Dog Chewed the Handle in
2004, the band subsequently changing its name to The Cold
Blooded Hearts. Tracks:
"High"
"Love's Lost"
"Hollow"
"Eastern Sunrise"
"Worth Waiting"
"Cold Road"
"Tell Me!"
"She Ain't in Love with Me"
"Grey"
"Broken Sky"
"Conspiracy of Silence", CD-only bonus track
Downes also plays keys on 8 tracks. On 14 Feb 2022, Downes tweeted,
"Great few days working in my studio with footballer/manager
legend Gareth Ainsworth and his band the Cold Blooded
Hearts." Downes tweeted
4 Sep, "Back working in my studio for a few days on a
project with good friend and producer/engineer, Steve
Rispin." This was followed by a 6
Sep tweet that described a "Great couple of days
working on an album project at my studio with this legend of
a footballer and Wycombe Wanderers manager, Gareth
Ainsworth." DBA label Cherry Red Records are also a kit
sponsor for Wycombe Wanderers (where Ainsworth previously
played and then managed) and released a previous single by
Ainsworth & the Cold Blooded Hearts.
Hawkestrel is a project from former Hawkwind/Hawklords bassist Alan
Davey. On 11 Oct 2022, Hawkestrel released a cover of "Now I'm
Feeling Zombified", originally by Alien Sex Fiend, as a
digital single on Purple Pyramid (Cleopatra Records). The track is
with Davey, Downes (keys), Nik Turner (ex-Hawkwind),
Wayne Kramer (MC5; guitar) and Adam Hamilton (LA Guns).
Aaron Emerson
& Friends performed ELP's "Lucky Man" on YouTube to pay
tribute to Keith Emerson and to promote the release of the 20CD Variations
(although this recording is not included on the release).
Performing are Aaron Emerson (Keith's son; Moog), Downes (keys),
Nathan James (vocals), Marc Bonilla (worked with
Keith Emerson, sort
of in Asia; electric guitars), Chuck Wright
(basses), Matt Fuller (acoustic guitars), Zak St.John (drums) and
Rick Sailon (mandolin).
Out 10 Nov 2023 was a limited edition, 7CD,
91-track Greg Lake compilation, Magical (Manticore
Records, distributed by Spirit Of Unicorn Records; trailer),
organised
in collaboration with Lake's family. This compiles Lake's two solo
albums, Greg Lake (1981) and Manoeuvres (1983),
the two archival compilations From the Underground
(including "Heat of the Moment" with Asia, with Downes and Howe)
and From
the Underground Vol. II - Deeper Into the Mine (with 3
tracks with Ride the Tiger, with Downes), with three live sets, Songs
of a Lifetime, Live in Piacenza, and Live from
Manticore Hall by Emerson & Lake. The set comes in a
10"×10" box, with a 64-page book by Jerry Ewing.
Downes appeared on John Wetton's solo album Rock of Faith,
which is included in the forthcoming An Extraordinary Life
box: see
details on main page.
In the Nov
2017 radio interview, Downes said he had recently returned to
doing film and library music as well.
In a May
2023 interview, he talked about writing a memoir at some
point.