In the past period, Lan Li, who has always been under the media radar, seems to be refreshed and comfortable, obviously, the noise and noise here in North America have not affected Lan Li's good mood on vacation in the slightest. Even with it, the smile on the corner of Matthew's mouth rose slightly.

"Haven't you opened this box yet?" Matthew glanced at the boxes on the coffee table in the hall, and then walked in the direction of the kitchen, every time Lan Li started to tidy things up, or started to clean the house, the whole space looked like a tornado passing by, miserable, and today was no exception. He really couldn't stand it anymore.

"What's that?" Lan Li then asked, but looking at Matthew who came over to take over, his attention immediately shifted back, and he complained depressedly, "I finally want to do it myself, what do you mean?"

Matthew rolled his eyes and didn't say much, but one look was enough: Are you sure?

This made Lan Li choke, but there was no way to refute it, so in the end he could only put the coffee beans in his hand heavily on the stove, picked up the cherries next to him, and threw them into his mouth one by one, as if he was venting. Unfortunately, Matthew was unmoved, but began to get busy neatly, and Lan Li made a fuss, and walked towards the hall with cherries.

Matthew heard Lan Li's footsteps and explained in a loud voice, "It was sent by Nathan last week, saying it was your album. ”

Album?

Lan Li reacted for half a second, and then he reacted, his first album was recorded before the official start of "Detachment", and the signing was also completed, and the relevant contract was still for Matthew himself, and Studio 11 officially became Lan Li's record company and distribution company. It's just that he completely forgot about it.

"The album was released so quickly?" Lan Li was a little surprised, but when you think about it, the music market is extremely mature now, and after the studio work is completed, it can be quickly launched in just a week, both physical and digital. It's been more than two months now, and it's not unusual for the album to be released.

"Well, it was officially released on August 29. "Nathan is not there, but Matthew knows everything," after the listing, Studio Eleven gave you a box as a gift that you can give to your friends. ”

Lan Li put the cherries next to her and began to unpack them, "I thought this box was used for publicity. "I've never eaten pork, at least I've seen a pig run.

After the singers start to publicize, whether it is a TV show, a radio show, including some work-related parties, they need to continue to distribute their albums, hoping that more music critics, more music hosts, more magazine editors, more music journalists will hear their albums, only in this way can the publicity be spread.

These free albums naturally have to calculate the cost, which is part of the publicity cost.

"Studio Eleven was originally a small workshop, and the publicity cost was not much, as it was said in the contract at the beginning. Matthew knows the contracts he handles well and remembers them vividly, "I guess the album used for free promotion will be distributed by themselves." Although I was skeptical. The release of your album this time is simply silent. ”

"Huh. Lan Li laughed and said nonchalantly, "Isn't that good? It was originally a very experimental album, and I didn't plan to go on the radio, nor did I plan to make a music video." If it is released quietly, those who like it will naturally buy the album back through various channels, and those who don't like it, then there is no need to hype it up. ”

The release of a new album by a singer from a major record company is bound to be vigorous, first by releasing a clip of the music video, then by a 30-second audition of the music source, then by announcing the cover or inside page with TV and radio promotions, and finally by the official release, with fan meetings, album signing sessions and other activities.

Under such a publicity offensive, the album's sales exploded into hundreds of thousands or even millions in the first week, pushing word-of-mouth and popularity to the peak in one go. Even in the overall market downturn, there are still a few singers who can achieve good results.

However, this time, Lan Li's album did not move at all.

Studio Eleven officially put the album on August 29 through its own sales channels, on the shelves of major record chains, supermarkets like Walmart, online platforms like Amazon, and finally online digital music platforms like Spotify and iTunes, and that's all.

There was no publicity, no announcements, no prompts, and even an official press release, which completely brought the style of independent singers and independent music to the extreme.

Looking at the hustle and bustle of the past half month, even though the media has really focused on Lan Li, so far, no media has reported on this matter.

Matthew strongly doubted: Does anyone know about this?

However, judging from Lan Li's reaction, it seems that this is their original intention in the first place: this is an album that is out of the mainstream of the market, this is an album that concentrates on making music, this is an album with a unique style, this is an album that insists on self-refusal to compromise, this is an album that deviates from the needs of the market, and this is an experimental album that music lovers have poured countless efforts into.

Is Studio Eleven looking forward to making a profit? Expecting but not hoping for, Is George Strand looking forward to being recognized? Expecting is expecting but not holding out any hope, Is Lanley Hall expecting to be a big hit? No, he doesn't.

For Studio Eleven and George, they both hope that such pure, sincere, and excellent music can be more recognized, listened to by more people, appreciated by more professional fans, and injected a breath of fresh air into the dead music market, but the wish is beautiful, and the reality is cruel.

So, instead of shouting loudly, it is better to calm down and spend every penny of the already small publicity budget on the blade, so that the real die-hard fans can access the album. As a result, Studio Eleven chose such a low-key, so silent, and such a simple way of distribution.

In the era when the aroma of wine was also afraid of deep alleys, they chose to focus on their profession in the deep alleys in obscurity. Is this stupid, or is it brave?

Open the box, Lan Li saw the neat other party's album, spread out one by one, not the current mainstream plastic smooth surface packaging, but the choice of vinyl record when the retro paper packaging, thick dark paper, starting with a sense of vicissitudes of the times and a sense of simplicity, easy to dirty, easy to tear, inconvenient to preserve, but really like people, but will be carefully kept, after the passage of time, the memories precipitated on the dark paper, distinct and profound imprint, recording every moment in life.

The cover is black and contains a Bulgari photograph that takes up most of the space on the cover. Above the photograph is a stage, the stage after the performance, lonely and lonely.

There was a small bench in the center, a beam of creamy yellow lights spilled down, the microphone fell to the ground, leaning against an acoustic guitar, the dark red curtain behind it was already a little white, the brick-yellow wooden floor on the ground was also mottled, and there were intricate and messy cables on the side of the stage, and even some miscellaneous objects on the other side.

It doesn't look formal at all, and it also exudes a sense of downfall and dilapidation.

This is a pioneer village under the lens of Lan Li. The stage that has undergone half a century of washing and precipitation, the stage that lags behind the times but has never died, the stage that can hardly find living space in the huge New York, the stage that still exudes loneliness and loneliness under the singing and dancing.

Finally, in the diagonal corner of the bench, a black handwritten font reads, "Don Quixote." It seems that this is the name of the performer, and the name of the stage, or the name of this era.

No singer's name, no extra embellishments, no explanations attached, it's just such a vintage photo full of historical flavor, that's all there is to the album. But if you look closely, you can see a small blackboard at the back of the photo curtain that reads "Nine-thirty-nine, Ranley-Hall, Nine-Thirty-Nine, Ran-Hall, Ten-Thirty-Ten, Anonymous." ”

The singers of the album are not nameless, but like the decadent stage, they are drowned in the dust, and they are also drowned in the eagerness and irritability of the fast food era.

Flipping over the back, you can see two columns of handwritten song lists, eight on the left and eight on the right, all written by him.

On the left, all the left sides are "Cleopatra", "Ophelia", "Budapest", "My Hands", "Convinced", "Courage", "Time", and "The Beast".

All right-to-right sides are "Your Bones", "Charlie Boy", "Los Angeles", "Collide", "Old Pines", "Old Friends", "Simple-Life", and "Nothingness".

The back cover is a pitch-black night sky, which is in the same vein as the night on the cover, but the Big Dipper can be faintly seen diagonally above the track. It's not a photo, it's painted with a moon-white brush. It was as if in the boundless darkness of the night, where nothing could be seen or touched, so the unrealistic dreamer painted the starlight above the night sky, expecting to guide him forward.

This was the case with Don Quixote.

Lan Li originally thought that he would not be excited, nor would he sigh, and all his emotions had been vented in the recording studio. But when I actually saw the album, the words fell silent, replaced by a slightly heaving mood in my chest. Not because his music creation was condensed into an album, but because George's dream, the persistence of Studio Eleven, and his mind and soul were all recorded in the notes and lyrics of the staff.

This is what dreams look like. It is light and fluttering, as if it cannot carry the weight of the heart at all, and heavy, which seems to break the law of gravity.

Note: Simple-Life (Young-Rising-Sons), Time (Mikky-Ekko), Collide (Hoie-Day).