A mini-album based on Willis George Emerson's 'The Smoky God'
Most of the music of 'The Smoky God' originated at the end of my work with Joey Zeb, Andy Maslivec and Marty Snape in the band Bulbs around 2013. Pre-production of this recording recommenced in around 2016 in collaboration with Marty Snape, who contributed electronics and assisted with the album's pre-production. After moving the project across to Liverpool's Crosstown Studios, Roger Gardiner (bass) and Viktor Nordberg (drums) and I pulled together all the additional tracking, which involved a great deal of overdubbing on my part. A continuation of my work with engineer/co-producer Jon Lawton, we've brought to this album many production and arrangement techniques developed across recordings made together over the last five years, culminating in an album that melds progressive rock with systems (minimalist) music in equal measure.
The book upon which the album is based, 'The Smoky God, or a Voyage Journey to the Inner Earth', written by WIllis George Emerson and published in 1908, is a story presented as a true account describing the adventures of Olaf Jansen, a Norwegian sailor, who sailed with his father through an entrance to the Earth's interior at the North Pole. In the story, for two years Jansen and his father lived with the inhabitants of an underground network of colonies who, Emerson writes, were 12 feet tall and whose world was lit by a "smoky" central sun - the Smoky God. At the end of the story our protagonist Jansen returns, via a South Pole passage, to the surface world. Nobody believes his fanciful tale and he is institutionalised for many years in an asylum. Only on his deathbed is his personal testimony transcribed by Emerson in the book.
I would like to express thanks to all the above-mentioned musicians for their help in the 'voyage' of this piece of music, culminating in this recording. I would also like to extend thanks to a.P.A.t.T. member, producer and electronic musician Stephen Cole who contributed electronics on a section of the title track, to Úna Quinn who created her own uniquely different version of this album’s final track 'Recollection' as her track 'Sin é', ahead of this release (the final track on her 2019 album 'Inside Out') and who has been greatly encouraging throughout the ongoing development of the album, to Martin Atherton, who has also lent his ears and his encouragement to the work in progress, and to Colin Maddocks, Adrian Wharton and Paul Hunt for the visual contributions they have made.
Neil Campbell, December 2023
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"The Smoky God is an inspiring, fiercely stimulating, and above all moving record, a piece of music history that straddles both the Progressive nature of humanity, and one that understands the natural homage to a classical nurturing, outstanding in every way." - Ian D. Hall, Liverpool Sound and Vision
"... possibly the most progressive rock direction I’ve heard from this musician as he expands his instrumental armoury to include all manner of synths and keyboards along with ‘electronics’... 'The Smoky God' maybe stands tall as the best thing I’ve heard from this incredibly talented musician." 4.5/5 stars - Steven Reid, Sea of Tranquility
"Listening to The Smoky God is like playing a Choose Your Adventure story. This is music from the very realm it describes. Fabulous in the OLD sense, insistent, demanding to be heard, taking us deeper and deeper into its narrative, musical web. This is EPIC stuff... Listening to Neil cracks open your heart and does all that alchemical stuff that music is capable of. He turns your mettle into gold, basically." - Tom Calderbank, Nerve Magazine
"As with most concept albums, a greater appreciation is gained by listening from start to finish, however rest assured each and every track delivers its own charm. Another fantastic release from Neil Campbell and for those ‘still’ unfamiliar with his music then The Smoky God is an excellent place to correct this oversight." - Bob Mulvey, The Progressive Aspect
" The album has a sense of adventure about it, captured by track titles Setting Sail, Anthem Of The Giants and Returning. With so many guitar riffs, synths, keyboards, drums and more, there’s so much going on and it certainly takes you on a journey that takes your imagination into overdrive." - Justin Hopper, La Vida Liverpool
"As with all albums I have encountered by this fine UK artist so far, this is a high quality creation through and through. The acoustic guitar is arguably still the most striking singular element, but we get some fine examples of mesmerizing songs without the acoustic guitar present as a dominant instrument too, and many fine and brilliant moments where the acoustic guitar combines with additional dominant instruments in a brilliantly transfixing manner." 6/6* - Olav Bjornsen,
Progressor.net