CONSTELLATE EP

Dear Backers,

Wishing you a good New Year, hopefully filled with good things.

I wanted to quickly update you on rewards and events!

1. EPs went out a long time ago. If you never got your download link (or lost it) just let me know and I will send you a fresh link :) If something doesn’t work, I can send you the files directly - just let me know!

2. By now, everyone who got the Postcard reward should have received a paper postcard. (These also went out some time ago, but sometimes things get lost in the mail…) If you have not, please let me know and I will re-post you one!

3. For those on Bending Time and above rewards - I am going to be sending these out pretty soon, Jan-Feb depending on the reward! If you want to know more about the timeline of your particular reward, please ping me. It’s been taking a bit of time to create meaningful arrangements and tales for you, but they’re almost constellated.

4. I am playing a live show with the Constellate songs - including an upcoming remix (!) very soon in Vienna - Feb2! I will have a few special guests among my artist friends, so it should be a really fun night. Stay tuned for details!

Much love,

Clio

Dear Backers,

On September 15, I was lucky enough to premiere Constellate live in the rose garden of a castle (!) in Linz, hosted by Sofar Sounds. It was a secret show and tremendously beautiful - what a venue, with a view of the Linz skyline at dusk, which turned into night for the two acts following me, the talented Joey May and Ameliy.

Postcards have arrived at my apartment (with much ado - my apologies for the delay!) and some of you will already receive yours this weekend! International mail will take a bit longer.

Meanwhile, I am working on the other rewards and will be in touch about each one soon for those of you that haven’t gotten concrete info yet. I have worked out some arrangements that are sounding really, really good so far. One of my backers even has me writing for toy piano! :-)

Thank you all again for your support, trust, and love,

Clio

Dear backers,

Constellate launches tomorrow across digital platforms! On Spotify, each track has an artistic looping canvas (mini-video) by Hali Rey, so make sure to check those out if you are streaming on your phone.

Preparations are also underway for the livestream tomorrow (Friday, 8pm Vienna time- CET - 2PM Canada and co - EST)! Hali Rey’s visuals will create a beautiful overlay, and I’ve prepared some lovely arrangements of the songs for my live set. Three are very close to the originals, and two are different interpretations that lean heavily into singer-songwriter aesthetics. On the EP, Daniel Llano Cano played the guitar for Ghost Heart, but for the stream I am going to go for it myself :)

I will be streaming from TWITCH (https://twitch.tv/clioem)! Just go to the link below and give me a follow. No twitch account? No problem: you can watch without signing in! (You may still want to make an account and follow me if you want to be updated whenever I am live, and to be able to use the live chat.)

Just a quick note that postcard printing became a little more involved than I expected: these are finally going out next week; thanks for your patience! You will receive your digital downloads of the entire EP by code to your email. (If you haven’t received this by the middle of next week, please write to me.)

Some nice news regarding the single, Vanishing (which you should all have received a download code for by now): this was featured on several blogs and playlists, including IndieTapes in Berlin!

Thank you all for your support, love, and enthusiasm throughout this creative process! I hope to see many of you online tomorrow :)

Dear Backers,

Vanishing is floating out into the universe…

Follow me on Spotify and listen to it there as soon as midnight hits in your timezone and the clock flips to August 8! Very soon you will also have a download code in your inbox <3

https://open.spotify.com/track/79kSEVSkFk3shEtlO8Km9h?si=9e3ab227b6ab403e

Cover image and canvas (short animation on Spotify) were made by Hali Rey.

Special thanks to Becki Whitton for mastering the track.

Dear Backers,

I’m thrilled to finally give you some more concrete dates with regard to Constellate!

First up: I have made a couple of (necessary) scheduling changes - I decided to split the release into a single you can enjoy earlier (August 8), and the full EP in late August (the 25th: FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/835528178129870/), with live performance starting in September - we will have a sweet living room concert <3

The offer of early listening for all backers stands - if you wants to listen before the release date, please contact me and we’ll set something up <3

• I’m releasing a single from the album, VANISHING, on August 8. It was so hard to choose a single, as all the tracks are so different and express so many facets of the creative universe I created. I ended up going with Vanishing because it’s a very calm and serene entrance into the album. August 8th is the night the moon and Jupiter are incredibly close in the sky (called a conjunction). All backers will be sent a download link to this track when it comes out, so that you can already have it offline on your devices.

• I will be releasing the EP on August 25, the weekend when Saturn moves to opposition (becoming brightest in the night sky on the 27th). The livestream is now scheduled for August 25th. It will be a wonderful space to listen to the music, catch up, and enjoy the EP together. (I have a scheduling conflict on the 19th, and switching to the 25th affords me time to be able to submit the EP for playlisting, as well as for Hali Rey to work on creating some beautiful art.)

Postcards are going to printing this week, and I am very excited! They will go out within the next couple of weeks.

I have started storyboarding the Constellation tales and laying out the musical arrangements. I will keep you updated.

While you wait, you can follow my Spotify, check out my recent space collab there (Lost To Time’s Embrace with Abomnium), and wait for the nebula to shine: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2sPXOJJZgn7WIhgP4IREzp?si=TKmsKYlZT8aslh5iW5dYJA

Hello All,

I have news - CONSTELLATE is recorded, mixed, and mastered. Next up: the digital release process. Thank you all for your help in getting here!

SUMMARY

• My masters are completed and the EP is coming together
• Digital release is now set to mid-August (read on for details/reasoning + early listening session is available for backers!)
• Livestream concert with video art: August 19
• Live music from mid-August onwards

DETAILS

I finished recording and mixing the album, and I am so very proud of how it sounds! And while I am fiercely independent, doing almost all the production myself, I had the opportunity to work with amazing mastering engineer Becki Whitton, who wrought her magic on my tracks last week. She has sent back the final files, and they sound so balanced after her wonderful mastering pass. I am very excited to be sharing them with you soon.

So why am I setting release to mid-August instead of late July if my masters are ready? I consulted with a few industry experts and was advised from all sides that my release timeline was too short-scaled to get the admin side of distro properly sorted out. For multi-store distribution, there are certain admin steps that should not be rushed, and I was running my engines a bit too hot. This is my first album going to a plethora of digital stores (not just Bandcamp, where I focused my energy in the past) so in some ways I am still on the learning curve. I apparently calculated timelines a bit naively. That is why I decided I will be releasing this EP in mid-August instead of late July, and I trust you all understand my reasoning! If you are a backer and simply CANNOT WAIT, I have a solution for you - contact me if you would like to take part in an early listening session!)

I will do a full EP livestream performance on August 19, along with the gorgeous video art by Hali Rey, to launch this beautiful project’s performance phase into space.

From mid-August onwards, I plan to do some live performance - stay tuned for the details. Everyone able to physically attend is warmly invited to in-person activity, and we can set up a basic stream on a phone or tablet for those of you who are geographically far away.

Talk to you all/see you all very soon, online or irl! Your support means the universe to me. <3

Image: by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08329 (compressed version of http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/tiff/PIA08329.tif), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1319915

Hello all!

I hope you are all having a lovely start to your summers!

I’m hard at work on the EP: mixing 4 of the 5 tracks (and doing some final recording sessions for the last, most demanding of the songs ;))

Now for a timeline for you all.

The EP will be digitally released in late July. I will post a performance announcement soon. For those of you who aren’t in Vienna, don’t worry: I will do a beautiful stream for you!

Regarding rewards: each of you (even those who didn’t select a reward) will receive the EP download just after digital release. Postcards will go out in August. The Bending Time, Constellation, and Custom Arrangement rewards will go out a bit after that, trailing into the fall.

I will keep you all updated for launch activities/performances very soon. <3

Thank you again, and much love,

Clio

Dear Backers,

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for helping me reach my goal - and a few days early, too! I can’t wait to get you all your beautiful rewards over the summer, and I am so very excited to be launching Constellate in late July.

A few more friends expressed interest in becoming backers, so now’s your chance to back CONSTELLATE. Depending on how much further the budget stretches, I can upgrade my performance outfit/equipment just a little more :)

Thank you all again, you are tremendous!

Much love <3

Clio

Dear Backers,

I would like to thank you for helping me make the launch phase of my project a success. I crossed the 1/3 threshold in less than 2 days. this is phenomenal news, and it would not have been possible without your support. Some of you have been sharing Constellate on your socials. I deeply appreciate this. I am also currently featured on the front page of We Make It. Have a look on their landing page and scroll down a bit, and you’ll see some stars! :)

A quick note: the Postcard and Custom Arrangement rewards need your address so I can mail them to you, so please use your mailing address! Otherwise, the rewards are delivered digitally. If you chose one of those rewards and prefer the digital version over the physical, please let me know. (For clarity, I will note here that the Bending Time reward is always offered digitally.)