Neil Gaiman Announces Debut Album

Writer Neil Gaiman has announced his debut album of original music, in collaboration with FourPlay String Quartet, titled Signs of Life. The author, known for works including The Sandman, Good Omens, and Coraline, has written novels, short stories, films, and television, but this is his first foray into song. Signs of Life is due for release on April 2023. Two songs from the album are available to stream now. The first is the single “Bloody Sunrise.” The second is “Credo,” which sets Gaiman’s personal essay of the same name about his beliefs regarding free expression, written in the aftermath of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shootings, to music.

Gaiman first collaborated with the FourPlay String Quartet when the Australian group created the soundtrack for Gaiman’s story The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains in 2010. “I’m not entirely certain when I fell in love with a string quartet,” Gaiman says of his relationship with FourPlay String Quartet. “I remember our first date, though. It was a day spent in a tiny room somewhere in the backstage maze of Sydney Opera House. We played the next night on the stage of the Sydney Opera House. It was remarkable. It was so much fun we did it again.”

“We did a tour together, but when we reached Carnegie Hall, we decided we needed something better than me reading a poem as our encore, so we stole some time from soundcheck and rehearsed a song. And then we performed our song on the stage of the Carnegie Hall, and that felt a lot like something special. We started to build a repertoire, and when I was in Australia we would make music together. These are some of the things we’ve made together. It’s been a long fallow winter, the last two and a half years. Here are signs of life.”

Signs of Life builds on a previous collaboration between Gaiman and the FourPlay String Quartet, titled Signs, which focused on the zodiac. Signs of Life is a mix of reworked material from Signs, new material, and previously published Gaiman writings, like “Credo,” set to music. Gaiman recites his previous work and provides some backing vocals on the new material.

“Neil’s mastery of storytelling, and his crafting of words, is second to none.” the FourPlay String Quartet say. “Among the members of FourPlay, we have been fans of Neil’s for many years, and t was a golden opportunity to work with him. Nevertheless, we could never have expected to find him to also be such a master of pacing, such a musical performer and wordsmith. We’re joyful to count him as a friend as well as a collaborator, someone we spend pleasurable time with and someone we never fail to create beautiful, glittering things with.”

Signs of Life releases on April 28, 2023. Gaiman is also currently working on .