The First Chapter Concludes

This morning, finally, the project came together.

After months of waiting — and many hours shaping, formatting, designing, and submitting — the first complete series of my sound/word art is now live across Spotify and all major platforms.

Drawing tales with words and using AI-generated music as the delivery vehicle, the aim was simple: to bring my word art — poetry to some, lyrics to others, tales to me — into a space where it could exist freely and be encountered naturally.

Publishing as a book never sat comfortably with me.

Reading them aloud as “the author” sat even less comfortably.

The focus was never meant to be on me.

It was always about the stories — and how they are received, interpreted, transformed by those who listen.

For decades, I’ve searched for ways to deliver work outside what I sometimes see as an elitist, overly intellectualised art environment. I have always wanted to move away from art that feels sealed within its own language — art that elevates ego rather than invites connection.

Instead, I wanted accessibility.

A public arena.

Something you can simply listen to — maybe enjoy — without needing permission, explanation, or theoretical framing.

The labels — poet, lyricist, author — never felt right.

I was once told to forget pursuing the arts because I hadn’t passed my English O’levels. I was told I couldn’t opt for English Literature. The implication was clear: certain doors weren’t open.

Yet I entered art college.

I completed my honours degree.

I studied within a pioneering interactive/telematics fine art course rooted in cybernetics — rejecting traditional forms and exploring public art, installation, video, sound, and word.

My level of formal English qualification turned out to be irrelevant.

Life moved on. I became a journalist — now a sports reporter — having also worked in news and even launched my own local online news service.

But the storytelling never stopped.

Over the past six months, in whatever spare time I could find, I brought these written works together — formatting, designing covers, organising collections — and submitting them through RouteNote for distribution.

This morning, seeing the final five releases appear online marked the end of this first phase.

Five collections.

Grouped intentionally.

Each with its own internal logic.

I won’t over-explain them. That would defeat the purpose.

Across everything I’ve created — on paper, on screen, in installation, in public events, in video, in sound — there has always been one constant:

I am a storyteller.

Art, at its core, is communication.

And communication carries narrative.

This feels less like a launch — and more like a conclusion to a long search for the right format.

Now the stories are out there.

If you choose to listen, I hope you find something in them.

Telling you stories – https://open.spotify.com/album/0UyQ8nH552dG4XiERvXZsb?si=nTwzqmhRTziBn5PFUOwvgw

The window – https://open.spotify.com/album/1s7uCYEpDDiYQUvK1Jx2O2?si=Ik_ZJTOrT-G1N1eCtSsb1g

Numb to life (the window) – https://open.spotify.com/album/0ruiYAyUFLM9Ayi3kfoAOT?si=V6hdhqo4Q–9xmWpb-2Zsg

Just five – https://open.spotify.com/album/5dtObQ1ErDrKXKHmCKrmDu?si=JbnQhMG3TBurk9RTQTi_dw

Tempest in the mind – https://open.spotify.com/album/2TqLTL2gVLinJUBqXV2sGg?si=_Ue4NcwUTY-O2YJiZ0ZOSg