Legendary YES singer and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Jon Anderson has released “WDMCF” (“Where Does Music Come From”), the third single off of his solo album, “1000 Hands”, an effort nearly 30 years in the making. A brand new video for “WDMCF” can be viewed below.
“1000 Hands” is Anderson‘s first release via his new partnership with Blue Élan Records. The album will be available on CD and a deluxe 180-gram double vinyl package on July 31. “1000 Hands” has been only available in digital format since it debuted in March 2019, and you can read our extensive review at this location.
When speaking about the new single, Anderson says: “‘WDMCF’ originates from me singing the first ideas that come to mind each morning. I start by creating vocal rhythmic sounds, very much like the Pygmies in Bambuti and Burundi in West Africa who go foraging and hunting and sing all the time. They sing like the sounds around them…insects, birds, frogs etc..” He adds: “I always dream and think that my best work is yet to come, or there would be no point in creating at all. I just feel so energized, happily surrounded by this world of music.”
Anderson began the album (originally called “Uzlot” — “it means a lot of us”) nearly 30 years ago, working with a group of musicians that included YES drummer Alan White and bassist Chris Squire. However, due to his heavy touring commitments with YES, Anderson had to put the record on the back burner. “Before you knew it, I started getting involved in other projects and tours, and years went by,” he explains. “I would listen to the tapes from time to time and think, ‘This could have been a great album! One day I’ll finish it.'”
Grammy-nominated producer Michael T. Franklin (Bruce Hornsby, Brian Wilson, Roger McGuinn) had at one point begun working on orchestrations for the album, but once again Anderson‘s jammed schedule required the project to be put on hold. Finally, a year and a half ago, Anderson and Franklin got the album back on track and were determined to see it through. “Our ideas still matched,” Anderson says. “Michael knew everything I wanted to do and how I wanted the music to sound, so we agreed to go for it.”
“1000 Hands: Chapter One” Album Artwork
Setting up shop in Franklin‘s Solar Studios in Orlando, Florida, Anderson laid down backing vocals to his original lead tracks, and Franklin called in an astonishing array of rock and jazz luminaries to fill out the songs: fellow YES alum Steve Howe, Ian Anderson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Steve Morse, Rick Derringer, Jonathan Cain, and the TOWER OF POWER HORNS are just a few of the guests on 1000 Hands.
“That’s where the title ‘1000 Hands’ comes from, all of the brilliant musicians who played a part in making the record,” Anderson says. “Michael acted like something of a casting director, bringing so many great players. It was really exciting to hear the record open up and become what I had always envisioned.”
The sessions turned out so well, in fact, that Anderson decided to include four new songs on the album, with brand-new lead vocals.
“Jon is such a remarkable writer and singer,” raves Franklin. “His newer songs were fabulous, and they fit seamlessly with the rest of the album. Everything came together beautifully.”
Anderson‘s celestial voice — one of the most recognizable sounds in rock — is in stunning form throughout “1000 Hands”, an album that features some of his most breathtaking compositions. Book-ended by the starkly beautiful acoustic ballads “Now” and “Now and Again”, the record features electrifying new prog-rock masterpieces (“Activate”, “Come Up”), glorious poly-rhythmic wonders (“WDMCF”) and delightful reggae pop (“First Born Leaders”). Listeners will be mesmerized by the cavalcade of sumptuous vocal harmonies on the frisky “Ramalama”, and they’ll be singing along merrily to the horn-driven funk of the aptly named “Makes Me Happy”.
