A work of art

Up at 7 yet again, and straight to Janie Rainger's house in Hove, where we ate croissants whilst looking through the beautiful images she's done for the album cover of the Requiem. Wonderful, detailed, strong eye-catching drawings with surprises in every corner. I feel genuinely thrilled to have been able to commission an artist of such high quality. I love spending time with Janie as well. She gets the project; in fact, she's a graveyard freak, and we always cascade into such interesting conversations when we're together. 

I drove along the coast and then through a string of winding country lanes up towards Crawley, where Alan Wilder (from Depeche Mode) has a country estate with a recording studio which we're using to do final mixes on the requiem. 

I pulled into the estate, and got out of the car to hear In Paradisum drifting through an upstairs window. I followed the sound to find PK sitting between two enormous speakers, talking to himself excitedly and gesticulating wildly at the computer screen in front of him. It was a delight to see someone so engrossed in my music. The attention to detail which that man puts into his work is almost remarkable. He will take a single four bar phrase, loop it, and work on it for minutes - hours if needs be - until he feels it sounds as good as it can. 

I've been sitting in an arm chair all day, with a soft summer's breeze cooling my shoulders, the smell of freshly cut grass and hay filling my lungs. 

The light is fading which means I'll shortly be heading back to Hove to put my feet up before the process begins again tomorrow. 

 350 years ago, and Pepys' diary entry was all about the act of uniformity, which meant, I think, that Presbyterian preachers had to give up their ministries. It was a muggy, rainy Sunday, and Pepys, like many others, crowded into sweaty churches across London to hear a series of farewell sermons.