Composer Erland Cooper is guiding fans on a treasure hunt to find his latest album, the release of which he is not expecting until 2024.
Erland Cooper, a Scottish born multi-instrumental and contemporary composer from Stromness, Orkney, has put together a rather unconventional strategy upon releasing his latest album.
Instead, of the more conventional tactics in unveiling new music to the world, he has decided to buried it in an obscure location on the Orkney Islands.
He says, “Each year for 3 years I’ve written and released an album every spring and autumn. This year, to break that cycle, I’ve planted one in the earth for 3 years.”
The piece of work, evocatively titled Carve the Runes then be Content with Silence, comprised of solo violin and string ensemble was composed by Cooper in celebration of Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown and has been mastered onto a quarter-inch tape. This magnetic tape containing his new material has been buried with the hope it’ll be ‘recomposed’ by the time of its release in 2024.
Along with this, the digital file has been permanently deleted, with Cooper driving the only copy of the album from London to the Islands and plunging it into the ground. Instead of releasing new music this year, Cooper will release a map with clues to the whereabouts of his work in the hopes that maybe one day a fan may track it down.
He says, “With this, you are welcome to travel, search and attempt to find the recording and dig it up yourself. I only ask that if you do find it, please bring it back to me where we will play and listen together.”
Cooper has also put together a rather eerie countdown to the album’s release that you can find on his website, along with the ability to sign up for the clues, map and updates regarding this interesting scavenger hunt at large.
Check out the project here.
