Tommy Crane – Preservation 

Preservation is a collaboration between drummer/composer Tommy Crane and artist/filmmaker Tracy Maurice that immerses the viewer in the mysteries of the natural world. Crane's album is an exploration of texture and tone, analog and digital, and all the spaces in between. Lush, open, instrumental, and electronic, Preservation’s LP is the sonic embodiment of the project as a whole—the details, only heightened by this particular format in this particular place in time, are simultaneously anticipated and unexpected. Taking you from a slow, vast, cosmic introduction into a world of forward momentum and energetic tempos that cut through ambient soundscapes, the unique blend of rhythm and texture leaves one delightfully untethered. In addition to Crane, the record features performances by Colin Killalea (Ex-poets, Albert Hammond Jr.), Eliot Krimsky (Glass Ghost) and Greg Chudzik (Steve Reich). The record is mixed by Grammy award winner (Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs) Mark Lawson . 

The artist book, co-released with the album, is a collection of photography by Tracy Maurice. The book was created in collaboration with singer-songwriter/writer  Juliana Daugherty  and graphic designer  Frédérique Gagnon. Gagnon is perhaps best-known for her design work on the artists’ book for Solange’s album, A Seat at the Table. For her part, Daugherty contributes an enigmatic collection of original poetry inspired by the music and visuals, touching on themes of mortality and consciousness. Her poetry can stretch across each vignette, allowing the reader to easily and freely drift between text and image, soundscape, and the moving image—traditional boundaries dissolve. Gagnon’s graphic design compliments Maurice’s photography and is a natural extension of the project, her exploration of the liminal spaces found in nature and how they intersect with the mercurial, ethereal essence of language. Like the project as a whole, and the individual parts that constitute it, the artists’ book is an expression of the dual (seemingly contradictory) quality of nature as something simultaneously intrinsic and beyond language and something that is constructed and clearly patterned. 

Full project Here. 

Formats:  Digital Album, 12" Vinyl. Includes 11" x 22" full-color sleeve. Limited Edition Artists’ Book, 7” x 11.75”, Matte Soft Cover with black foil stamp title and black gilding

Artwork Credits: 
Photography by Tracy Maurice
Poetry by Juliana Daugherty
Book Design by Frédérique Gagnon
Design Intern: Solène Lautridou

Listen Here. 
Year: released November 8, 2019