iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

I’m not the sort of person to do one of those unboxing videos where you scream with excitement…but this arriving in the post today has made me very happy… There’s only 1 copy in the world so far… It's a test pressing from Elastic Stage, who are offering lathe-cut vinyl on demand…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

My debut album as a solo artist, The Changing Of The Seasons, is out tomorrow! I'll be on Cambridge Radio (UK) tonight at 9pm to celebrate; in conversation about the album with Davey Hammond - join us if you can!

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

So the album is out on Friday - May 30th - my debut as a solo artist…! Here’s the back cover artwork showing the track list, framed by another beautiful drawing by Maree Choie

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

The last singe release before my album comes out at the end of next week... This is 'Late Blooms'... #musicsky #musiciansky #originalmusic #indiemusic youtu.be/n3o5Yafk4Y0?...

youtu.be

Raphael Mann - 'Late Blooms'

YouTube video by FRiZZ RECORDS

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Mika volunteered to mime the melodica part in the ‘Late Blooms’ video… #musicsky #musiciansky #originalmusic #videostills

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

As with all the artwork for this album, Maree Choie did the wonderful drawings for this one (as well as lending her voice and woodwind playing to the tracks themselves)... #musicsky #musiciansky #originalmusic #indiemusic #coverartwork

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

This Friday's single is the last one before my album is out...   It's called 'Late Blooms', and it's a song in defiance of the fetishisation in our culture (and especially in the music business) of youth... In celebration of the fact that people of any age can create potent, relevant artwork...

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

New single out today, called 'When We Have The Time'... Probably my personal favourite track on the album... #musicsky #musiciansky #originalmusic #indiemusic youtu.be/tA_Us1xqa38

youtu.be

Raphael Mann - 'When We Have The Time'

YouTube video by FRiZZ RECORDS

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

‘When We Have The Time’… A love song of sorts… Certainly the closest I get to one on this album… A song about how there’s never enough time, and how we get caught up in being busy and neglect the things that really matter… Most of it is in 5/4 time; which is an addictive signature to write in…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Maree Choie is all over this next one… ‘When We Have The Time’ that is, the single that comes out this Friday… winding her astral woodwinds in and out of the words, and uplifting the chorus-bridge-whatever-you-want-to-call-it-part with her vocal harmony… #musicsky #musiciansky #originalmusic

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

I’ve put 4 singles out in the last few weeks. If you’ve taken the time to listen to any of them I very much appreciate it! The next one, out this Friday, is probably my personal favourite. It’s called ‘When We Have The Time’, and it’s about not losing sight of the things that really matter…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Another post in appreciation of the inestimable contribution of Maree Choie to the new music I’m releasing… On Darkness & Light I recorded multiple layers of her clarinet, flute & voice for what’s probably the most richly textured arrangement on the album. It wouldn't sound 1/2 as good without her!

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Some stills here from the ‘Darkness & Light’ video… Experimenting with light and shadow… (The single is out of Friday!)

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

And the hits just keep on comin'... Thanks to anyone that's listened to my singles over the last few weeks... The next one is out on Friday... If you've enjoying them & you'd like to pre-save the album you can do it here, & I'll love you for it... raphaelmann.ffm.to/thechangingo... #musicsky

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Should have tagged @mariannedissard.com ...still getting used to this blueskying... Should probably also have tagged #musicsky #musiciansky #indiemusic #originalmusic ...never enough characters!

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

My last release before these recent solo recordings was a collaboration with Marianne Dissard on the soundtrack album to her theatre piece Souvenir Of England, and you can listen to us in conversation about it with Neil Saint of Retropopic Radio on his latest podcast...I'll put a link in a comment!

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

New single out tomorrow! This one is the title track of my upcoming debut solo album, called ‘The Changing Of The Seasons’.. Featuring Maree Choie on clarinet, flute and vocals, and releasing on Frizz Records #musicsky #musiciansky #indiemusic #originalmusic

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Here’s the artwork for this Friday’s single… The drawings for all these cover designs were done by the multi-talented Maree Choie The song is called ‘The Changing Of The Seasons’; it’s the title track of my forthcoming album (which is out on May 30th on Frizz Records) #musicsky #musiciansky

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

This week’s single, out on Friday May 2nd, is the title track from the upcoming album, ’The Changing Of The Seasons’… This one is about as energetic as I get on this album (i.e. not very…but at least it’s in 4/4…!) #musicsky #musiciansky #indiemusic #originalmusic

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Song number 6 from my upcoming album is out tomorrow! The opening track on Side 2, it’s called ‘My Imagination Of A Swan’, and it’s about realising that things were not they way they seemed… #musicsky #musiciansky #newmusic #indiemusician

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Bought this the day it came out. Which makes me feel old, but cool...

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I asked Mika to be in the video being swan-like, because I thought she’d be better at it that I would…at least the graceful version of the swan that we imagine… #musicsky #musiciansky

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

This week’s single, ‘My Imagination Of A Swan’ was inspired by a conversation with my daughter, Mika, about how different swans are in real life from the way they’re usually depicted in artwork… Which made me reflect on how people can often be that way too…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Thanks to everyone that’s listened to ‘Out Of Love With The City’! The next single, out this coming Friday, April 25th, skips us forward to the start of the second side of the album, and a song about swans, and people… #musicsky #musiciansky #skyoriginalmusictracks #IndieMusic

Raphael Mann - 'My Imagination Of A Swan' (single artwork)

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Me and the kid went to have a look at the Japanese carpentry exhibition at Japan House in Kensington the other day (thanks to Danny Decourtelle for the tip-off!)… Made me want to get back into making things out of wood…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

I can’t emphasise enough the contribution of Maree Choie to this album that I’m about to release… I didn’t collaborate with anyone else on it at all. All the sounds you hear, and all the visual elements as well - videos and cover artwork - are the work of just the two of us… #musicsky #musiciansky

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Just started reading this... I get a tiny a mention, courtesy of my homie Art Terry, who was interviewed by Michel Faber for the book... So far, intriguing stuff... #musicsky

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Four of the songs from my album have been out as singles already, released as they were recorded... Over the next six weeks I'll be releasing six more, beginning with 'Out Of Love With The City' on Friday... Stay tuned... #musicsky #musiciansky #SkyOriginalMusicTracks #independentmusic

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

A swan’s nest… This is a strange sort of echo of my previous post about my ‘Out Of Love With The City’ song & the mating habits of adult humans… How we had to leave town to find a place to build a nest… Why do these two always pick this busy spot right by the towpath, of all places, to build theirs?

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

'Out Of Love With The City', which is out next Friday, April 18th, tells the story of how starting a family meant I could no longer afford to live in the city I grew up in... An angry song, softly sung...

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Who knows what this is? A cross between a lap steel guitar and a typewriter? Pretty much... It's a Japanese creation called a taishogoto ('taisho' for the early 20th century Taisho era; 'goto' as in 'koto', the traditional instrument)... My latest obsession is playing it with a violin bow!

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

...and...breathe... My brand new single, called 'Out Of Love With The City' is out two weeks from today on April 18th... It'll be the first of six singles over six weeks, leading up to the release of my debut album...

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Getting organ-ised... This beautiful creature was in need of a new home... And it's been sitting in my garage for a couple of weeks waiting for a sunny day for me to give it a good clean up before I bring it upstairs... Very interesting to take a look inside...

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

This album really felt like a spring sort of record… I didn’t quite have it ready to release last spring, and rather than put it out in autumn or winter I waited til spring came around again…

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Raphael Mann @raphaelmann.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

I've been lusting after this particular piece of vinyl treasure for ages... One of those rare albums where an artist has nothing left to prove & it leads to creative indulgence of the healthiest kind...which for Jorge was retro-futurist samba soul about the sex lives of medieval alchemists...

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