Port Almond Little Ships Hand-Numbered Limited Edition One-Step Import LP

The birth of Port Almond's second album Little Ships was a difficult one. After the success of his self-titled debut album in 2018, a recording session was scheduled for April 2020 to record its follow up. Back then, the idea that the world would find itself in a state of pandemic sounded like the plot of a bad sci-fi film but of course the session was postponed, first to early 2021 and yet again to June 5, 2021. Then, as the musicians prepared for the recording session, disaster struck again: On June 4, LowSwing Recording Studio, the home of LowSwing Records, was destroyed in a devastating fire.

Although many already thought this fire signified the end of both the record and label's life, the Norwegian singer/songwriter Rune Simonsen (aka Port Almond) and LowSwing Records owner and producer Guy Sternberg were not ready to give up. In two days during September 2021, the record was finally recorded to analogue tape and marked the first LowSwing records LP recorded out of LowSwing Studio. The record was done at Emil Berliner Studios and mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios.

Recorded live with minimum overdubs, the album is completely computer-free. Port Almond came out with a haunting series of dreamy and melancholic songs, an extraordinary mixture of soft guitar picking and whispering vocals backed up by a free-improvising 6-piece band which includes woodwinds and vibraphone.

As with his debut record, Little Ships features the British avant-guard trumpet player Tom Arthurs, outstanding Norwegian Bassist Dan Peter Sundland and Tom Krimi who is also known as lead musician of the German band Prag among other credits. Simonsen's surrealist world is portrayed here again with 10 new songs, each of which creates a universe at once so familiar and yet so extremely otherworldly.

The artwork for Little Ships was created by Israeli artist Nir Evron. Each album includes one of four exclusive, highly collectible art prints made by the artist.

Little Ships is available exclusively on 140g vinyl. This Deluxe and Limited Edition features an original art print in a beautiful gatefold cover. Pressed using a unique "one step plating" process at Optimal Media, the record was made in co-operation with high-end manufacturer Brinkmann Audio.

The LowSwing Records label is dedicated to the love of music on the analogue format. LowSwing recordings are recorded and mixed to analogue tape and then cut directly to vinyl. The heart of the label is LowSwing Recording Studio in Berlin, where owner Guy Sternberg records, mixes and produces exciting new artists with the production values of yesteryear.