Ian Rae On the Making Of ‘Sleeping Angel’
Can you talk about any specific themes or motifs that run throughout 'Sleeping Angel?'
‘Sleeping Angel’ is basically a follow up to my album ‘Goodbye Little Friend’ which was created in memory of my little dog Tallulah who crossed the Rainbow Bridge in April 2024. Once again, no doubt as a result of the Scottish music I heard in my youth, most of the tracks have a feeling of sadness and nostalgia. Tallulah is buried at the top of the garden, edging on some woods, so "Sleeping Angel" and "Sleepy Forest" are self evident. "Where the Cold Wind Blows" is a cover of a song I wrote about Orpheus Going down the the Underworld and "Don't Forget to Blow a Kiss (Before You Go To Sleep)" is a pretty little song (which has lyrics) about sleeping, "Round and Around" is actually about the changing seasons and how a year has slipped by. The final song "Not Another Song" will be talked about later in the interview.
Were there any moments in the recording process where you knew you had something special?
Much of the music I write tends to be emotional - I know that from feedback from followers and listeners who use it as a form of relaxation and release from the pressures and problems of the world. I instinctively know how my music will affect listeners. If I have a few tears in my eyes when I'm creating my music I know that the sadness in the music will relate to many of my listeners!
Can you talk about any standout tracks on 'Sleeping Angel' and what makes them special to you?
I am absolutely hopeless at predicting standout tracks. In my first album I made the composition "Beyond the Clouds" the 12th tracks on the album. It has gone on to reach 378K streams on Spotify! On ‘Sleeping Angel’ after a week the most popular track is "Not Another Song" which has an interesting pedigree. It is the third composition where I have used exactly the same chord sequence to prove I can write different songs based on the same structure. The first one was called "How to Write a Song." It was followed by "How to Write Yet Another Song" and now "Not Another Song" is streaming very well.
How has your favorite genre influenced your own music and style?
I came very late to the world of anime and Studio Ghibli - at the age of 74! I was playing covers on TikTok "live" and was asked to play the music of "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle" I started to write music with the feel of the music anime and I now have a playlist on both Spotify and Apple Music which has over 80 tracks - it's called "Sounds Like Ghibli" and it is all music written by me.
Are there any upcoming projects or releases that you're particularly excited about?
When you are 78 you are very aware of your own mortality. About 35 years ago Richard Stilgoe who wrote lyrics for some of the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber heard some of my music and wrote "Not many people can write good tunes - you can!" I am still writing music, I am approaching 200 tracks and 3.3 million streams on Spotify and have a new album "No Time For Tears" with another 10 tracks coming out on 28th June - and a few more already written and ready to record. So life continues to be very exciting.
