Tāmaki-based musician Age Pryor has today released Invisible Lines, a stunning collection of original songs composed and produced over the past two years.
The multi-layered record is articulate, visceral and deeply thought-provoking - taking the listener on a sonic journey that speaks to the human experience.
For Age, Invisible Lines represents an intersection of songwriting craft, live performance and electronic production, something he’s been “enjoying exploring”.
“A lot of time has passed since I released work under my own name, so there’s some relief mixed in there. It feels like drawing a new mark in the sand from which I can jump in new directions,” he says of the record.
”I’m excited to be releasing new solo work, and always enjoy the contrast between working on my own and the collaborative process of bigger groups.”
The significance of the invisible connections that exist between people and places can be seen in Sam O’Leary’s spellbinding album artwork (pictured below). O’Leary – a Kiwi designer based in Portland, Oregon – put those subtleties to paper, with the artwork embodying everything Invisible Lines is – an album that uses nuanced songwriting, crisp production and rich sounds to tell stories that every person can hear a piece of themselves in.
The record also forms an invisible line with his 2003 debut solo album, City Chorus, for the similarities in process and having the space to do what really, truly felt right.
”The process of making those two albums has been similar – allowing myself the time to carve out musical spaces that feel good, following threads, making discoveries that might not have come if I’d been in a hurry,” Age says.
The release of Invisible Lines is also accompanied by the album’s third single, ‘Jump Rope’.
Put simply, ‘Jump Rope’ is a song about wanting to break out, or even break everything down, in order to start anew.
Penned during Aotearoa’s first Covid-19 lockdown, the pacy and impatient track has a sense of urgency about it, something that Age says was influenced both by the desire many had to “get out and be free again”, and the energy and anger of the global Black Lives Matter protests that were happening alongside the lockdown. It’s a track that inspires you to create something better – whatever that something may be.
The song features live drums performed by Chris O’Connor, was mixed by Neil Baldock and was mastered by Chris Chetland.
In the years between City Chorus and Invisible Lines Age has spent time as key player in a number of much-loved collaborative music projects (Fly My Pretties, Congress of Animals and The Woolshed Sessions, among others), composed for film and television, toured the world as musical director and executive producer of The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra and helped develop the next generation of contemporary musicians at Auckland tertiary institute Unitec.