After working on the Skin for a Canvas project for a number of years the paring of Ian Mortimer and Dani Burnett went their separate ways, having released their debut album Burnett would produce stripped down acoustic numbers whilst Mortimer continued with the Skin for a Canvas name crafting the ambient music that had brought the two together.
When performing live Ian Mortimer likes to keep things basic, just his magical voice and a rather nice acoustic guitar with songs entwined by anecdotes and a little bit of crowd banter, whereas on record Skin for a Canvas is more complex with particular attention put on how his vision comes together in the production.
It’s this element that makes “Long Distance Call” work nicely, released ahead of the forthcoming album it’s a step away from the live environment whilst on stage it can still be played in its more basic form.
Mortimer’s voice on the recorded version of the track is of an ambient soundscape, it’s a song that’s relatively simplistic yet balanced against a backdrop of keyboards to create a Pink Floyd feel to the piece, which again is far removed from the Skin for a Canvas live experience (although check out “Long Journey Home” on Mortimer’s Soundcloud if you want to hear what to expect in concert).
Skin for a Canvas will easily give other solo acoustic artists a good run for their money, but in a world flooded by singer songwriters it’s a pleasure to hear it take a different direction when listening from the comfort of your own home, so as we await a release date for the album for now we just have to dial in to a “Long Distance Call” and enjoy what’s on the other end of the receiver.
https://soundcloud.com/skin-for-a-canvas
