400 Lonely Things - Children of Eidolon (2025)

A Note from Craig

So, what to say about Children of Eidolon?

I'll start with the aspect of it that stands out to me the most.

The curation...
These songs were selected by Lawrence English - taken from a large playlist I compiled for him of random unreleased songs from across the years. I've never done anything like that before. [Gasps]

I gasp because I'm used to having 400% control over what I do within this tiny little 400 World of Mine. It's why I made it.

I'm so thankful that my maiden voyage into curation was done by a person whose exceptional music is crafted from his own exquisite talent for listening - to really and truly hear with clarity and care. Lawrence could find the heartbeat within a single blade of grass. I would never have put these songs together on my own because I can't HEAR the way Lawrence can. But now that he has heard it, so have I. And what he heard makes sense to me in a way that feels like a gift. There's a thread here, and he found it. Thank you for that, Dr. English.

The cover...
The playlist I sent was called "A Sandbox For Lawrence" and it was accompanied by a photo I stumbled across of a Depression-era trio of post-toddlerettes, sitting in a sandbox and staring at our collective future through the camera in a way that is hard to describe. They seem both old and worn but still innocent and a little mischievous - Dust Bowl children smiling into the hard times that eventually come calling for all of us.

When Lawrence came back to me with the songs and track order he had compiled, he also suggested that we use that temporary image for the cover. I agreed, and because I can't help myself, I found a bunch of other photos - many from this same shoot - and made a little booklet for them, because apparently, that's something I do.

The title...
At this same time, I kept running into this word "Eidolon" that I'd never heard before. It sounds like a name on some fearsome tombstone or some hide-bound ancient manuscript of forbidden knowledge. But, when I looked it up and read "In ancient Greek literature, an eidolon is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form." I understood why I was so drawn to it. I saw that connection with these weathered, leathery children from the imagery - long gone, but their spirits still here, looking directly at us from our dusty, monochrome past.

The facts...
These songs were all recorded between 2008 and 2024. They were recorded by various means - analog tapes and gear and digital files and software. A few of them were slated for different albums that were either finished, or nearly-finished works in progress. There's a lot of samples here. Some field recordings and some other stuff, but mostly samples. I hope you enjoy them.

All thanks are due to William Basinski for introducing me to Lawrence English and to the music of Room40 and for ultimately making this album happen. It is to him that this album is warmly dedicated.