about

“a serious achievement in contemporary classical”

— Hïdrō



“...there is one thing that separates A Lonely Gust Toward the Heavens from the majority of the new music I’ve listened to this year: this album feels gigantic. It’s not often that you come across an artist who can so beautifully express what they want to say with their music, especially when it comes to instrumental music.”

— Love Across Lightyears



This second Make-Believe Machines full-length album comes eleven years after our debut. We've grown and changed a lot since then. Rob left the project, which makes this a first solo record for me.



I wrote this album as a way of processing a great deal of grief and loss that piled up over a couple years of my life. My friend and musical collaborator Jim DuRocher (The Twelve Canons) passed away in 2014, tragically concluding a long struggle with addiction. In the following years, my grandfather, Jim Key, slowly deteriorated and died from Alzheimer's, and my grandmother, Betty, passed after a long struggle with dementia.



In times like this, I've found some comfort in music which both acknowledges life's darkest moments and offers some amount of optimism and comfort. This album is my own attempt to contribute.



I've always connected with instrumental music, because without the specificity of lyrics, the listener is free to insert their own circumstances into the world of the song. It's my hope that the new pieces of music on this record can be some comfort to others in trying times.

credits

released December 10, 2019



Composition, programming, bass, keys - Justin Norman

Co-composition on track 4 - Rob Ogden

Cello - Anna Kucera

Violin - Elaina Steenson



Recorded at various locations in Iowa

Mixed by Justin Norman at home in Des Moines, Iowa

Mastered by Elliot James at Blossöm Records in Los Angeles



Cover photographs by Lazurite (runner) and Neil DeMaster (forest)

Designed and edited by Justin Norman

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