About the new album

We've had a few questions e-mailed to us about the new album so I thought I'd post some information here.

As with Gathering Speed, The Difference Machine is a concept album. There is an overarching concept which links the songs. Within the concept we explore a number of different themes including communication, loss and the connectedness of things. The overall idea is influenced by the butterfly effect which is used to illustrate chaos theory. All the songs take place in a moment of time where seemingly small events can have monumental effects. However, all of the songs are rooted in personal experiences and we hope that they connect with the audience on a personal level.

With regard to the additional players on the album, we’ve always wanted to work with other musicians. The profile of the band is now high enough to attract players of a high calibre such as Nick D’Virgilio, Pete Trewavas and Dave Meros. We know that Nick, Pete and Dave enjoy our music and we’re really excited to get such fantastic performances from them. We hope to work with them, and other musicians, on future releases.

Concerning the sound of the album, we were influenced by the classic progressive rock of Genesis, King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator and also the post rock and alternative sounds of Sigur Ros, Oceansize and Mew. I think we have a sound that is all our own, however.

Lyrics and credits for the album are available on the main site at: www.bigbigtrain.com

Greg