MAURI DARK'S DEBUT ALBUM DREAMS OF A MIDDLE-AGED MANOUT DEC 18, 2020
MASTERED BY VLADO MELLER
(Metallica, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash)
MIXED BY HIILI HIILESMAA
(HIM, Apocalyptica, Amorphis)
ALL MUSIC & LYRICS BY MAURI DARK
PRODUCED, RECORDED & PERFORMED BY MAURI DARK
ALBUM REVIEWS
“some of the most inspired music we’ve heard in a generation”
–DAILY DOSE
“ten fantastic folk songs…monolithic debut”
–VENTS MAGAZINE
“a deeply affecting sound experience”
–JAMSPHERE
“A handsome start for a solo courier”
–KAAOSZINE 9 of 10 points
“this is far and away one of the most enthralling debuts”
–NEUFUTUR MAGAZINE
“A brilliant artist who is a master of musical storytelling and melodic instrumentation.”
–EUROPEAN INDIE MUSIC NETWORK
“Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous and impressive.”
–DESIBELI.NET 4 of 5 stars
“A true diamond in the rough.”
[“Album of the year” -nomination]
–INDIE SHARK 4 of 5 stars
Mauri Dark EPK
…or separate files (below) from Google Drive. If something is missing, please ask: mauridarkmusic@gmail.com
AUDIO FILES for editorial use only.
Music Video Release Feb 28, 2022
MAURI DARK’s New Anti-War Music Video Shows The Internal Struggle Of A Wounded Female Soldier
Finnish Singer-Songwriter Mauri Dark releases new music video ”Thin Line Of Understanding”. The video is now heartbreakingly real with the Ukraine war.
Mauri Dark says, ” ‘Thin Line Of Understanding’ is about how hard it is to understand another human being and how you can never fully know someone else. You can think of the subject more widely – how different cultures do not understand each other, or how do we understand life. Mutual understanding is a disappearing moment of togetherness. Misunderstanding is easy and can in worst scenarios start a war.
I have mixed feelings on releasing this video a day after the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine has started but in my guts I feel it is just the right time. When I wrote the script in October 2021 the tensions were already building up but I had no idea it would go this far. Sending my deepest sympathies and a message of hope to people in Ukraine from Finland.”
The video was directed by Petri Vilén, screenwriting by Mauri Dark and Taina Kaunisto as the wounded soldier. Track is from Dark’s debut album ‘Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man’.
Mauri Dark is quickly becoming known for his stark, cinematic, and striking music videos. His music video “Love Will Prevail” has won Best Music Video in Europe Film Festival, Luminous Frames Festival and Golden Wheat Awards and has been selected to many others. Altogether the debut album’s videos have been viewed over 70.000 times.
Mauri Dark says, ”Both of my grandfathers served in Second World War against Russia in 1939 to 1940 Winter War and then 1941 to 1944. Both of them got wounded. Finland remained independent. My mother’s dad returned from war with a grenade chip in his head. His personality had changed and he suffered from severe headaches. In April 15, 1960 he blew himself up with dynamite. He was 43, the same age I am now. My mother was 12 when he died. My dad’s dad was a machine gun man. One of the few who survived. They were usually shot at the most. To survive he must have killed a lot of people. It was either kill or getting killed. He never spoke about war. They gave up their home when Karelia region was joined to Russia. They passed on their war traumas to my parents and my parents in a way passed them on to me. My experience of war are the silent mental wounds that last for generations. One leader can ruin millions of lives on both sides of the front.”
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man,” the album, was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark. The sound was crafted with Mixing Engineer / Associate Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica), Two-time Grammy Winning Mastering Engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Johnny Cash) and Associate Producer Jussi Vuola.
WATCH VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Lbam0MkJwGs
LISTEN SINGLE: https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle2
LISTEN ALBUM: https://ffm.to/mauridarkalbum1
Michael Stover
MTS Management Group
+1 412-445-5282
michael@mtsmanagementgroup.com
VIDEO & SONG CREDITS+LYRICS [.txt file]
FULL MUSIC VIDEO FILE [MP4, 3840 x 1634 px MP4 (1,32 Gb)]:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kcuv_mpkb5fKF12GPGx0WaQLh3KySIP2/view?usp=sharing
Thin Line Of Understanding -single
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/08-thin-line-of-understanding
LISTEN/STREAM/BUY: https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle2
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/2gg5MImjLIntxjCuQVZ0Yl
ITUNES: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1538940903?ls=1&app=itunes
APPLE MUSIC: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1538940903
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/o9oyuyCWuP4
YOUTUBE MUSIC: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k7jzSVEvDaT2T_0NjKAqnMXlkBhKd0hCQ
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/fi/track/1134254142
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/08-thin-line-of-understanding
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/track/161890157
AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08MX7XP83
CD & VINYL: https://www.recordshopx.com/artist/mauri_dark/
SINGLE CREDITS
ISRC: FI5MK2000008
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
SINGLE TITLE: Thin Line Of Understanding
DURATION: 4:24 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE: Thursday, Nov 19, 2020
GENRES: Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Americana, Country, Pop
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa
MASTERED by Vlado Meller
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
LYRICS
Thin Line Of Understanding
—-
Something is hidden
In these words that you say
Not fully understanding
The meanings in between
Comforting silence turns
To awkward pause of speech
Those lips were much easier
To kiss than they are to read
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
The distance between us
Like a forsaken jungle road
Once I thought I had
The direct path to your soul
But time it changes you
And time it changes me
And time can make us blind
To all of the things we used to see
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
I see connection go and
Come back like the tide
I trust in what we used to have
It’s only playing seek and hide
When the tribulations
Are finally overcome
The glass bridge between us will turn
Into solid ground
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
–
Top 20 UK iTunes Artist Mauri Dark And His Daughter Star In Timely New Music Video
Finnish Singer-Songwriter Mauri Dark and his two-year-old daughter explore a burnt forest in his new post-apocalyptic music video “Love Will Prevail.”
Top 20 UK iTunes singer-songwriter Mauri Dark is quickly becoming known for his stark, cinematic, and striking music videos. His music video debut “Dreams Of a Middle Aged Man” has been selected for the International Music Video Awards, Europa Film Awards, Pune Short Film Festival, the Rome Music Video Awards and others. Now, Dark is joined by his young daughter for a walk through post-apocalyptic lands in “Love Will Prevail.”
Shot in Muhos, Finland, with cinematographer Vesa Ranta, the footage for “Love Will Prevail” was intended as a side story to “Dreams Of a Middle Aged Man.” The video will be released on March 31st, 2021.
Mauri Dark says, “The ‘Love Will Prevail’ music video is a dreamy journey through an apocalyptic, burnt forest, together with my two-year-old daughter. There is no purer form of love than the love towards your own child. My daughter, Hymni, is the star and director of the show. I love her more than anyone else. Dressed in white and with a white balloon tied to her back, she guided us through each take with her innocent, playful, intuition. This video is a wonderful memory for both of us. Editing it was a heartfelt experience. Just watching her being her beautiful, pure, self, unable to fake or act. If we could only maintain a tiny part of the pure love and joy a child has simply being alive this world would be a wonderful place. Love Will Prevail!”
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man,” the album, was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark. The sound was crafted with Mixing Engineer / Associate Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica), Two-time Grammy Winning Mastering Engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Johnny Cash) and Associate Producer Jussi Vuola.
ABOUT MAURI DARK:
Born Mauri Kosonen in 1978 and based in Turku, Finland, Mauri Dark is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, established musician and a professional visual artist. He has recorded 8 albums and performed more than 500 shows in 25 years with different bands. He is best known for 5 albums with metal duo, Mystons. “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” is Mauri Dark’s first solo album. It includes a Top 10 South Africa iTunes hit and a Top 20 iTunes UK hit.
https://www.mauridark.com/
WATCH VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IghyvyWKAas
LISTEN SINGLE: https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle4
LISTEN ALBUM: https://ffm.to/mauridarkalbum1
####
MORE INFO/ PRESS KIT (for editorial use):
https://www.mauridark.com/mdepk/
Mauri Dark – “Love Will Prevail”
Release Date: March 31, 2021
ISRC: FI5MK2000004
Michael Stover
MTS Management Group
+1 412-445-5282
michael@mtsmanagementgroup.com
LOVE WILL PREVAIL -single
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/04-love-will-prevail
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/2HWkmrOdxfI1nYKufsdC2X
ITUNES: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-will-prevail/1539389206?i=1539389218&app=itunes
APPLE MUSIC: https://geo.music.apple.com/us/album/love-will-prevail/1539389206?i=1539389218&app=music
YOUTUBE MUSIC VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IghyvyWKAas
YOUTUBE MUSIC: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lvH2b-k6glO7cza9RnfzaohyfxvjodYIY
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/track/1138633122
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/track/162092208
AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08NSTJN5J
CD & VINYL: https://www.recordshopx.com/artist/mauri_dark/
SINGLE CREDITS
ISRC: FI5MK2000004
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
SINGLE TITLE: Love Will Prevail
DURATION: 04:32 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2021
GENRES: Folk, Americana, Folk-Pop, Indie Folk, Pop, Rock
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa
MASTERED by Vlado Meller
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
LYRICS
Love Will Prevail
—-
In between love and hate
I patiently wait
For the dark clouds to drift away
For bitterness to stop its raining
Love will prevail
Over anger and pain
Love will prevail
‘Cause every moment of hate
Brings us closer to losing life’s game
I saw it on a stranger’s face
I saw it on the broken cityscapes
People getting tired of their own hate
Losing their wars every day
Love will prevail
And the violence will fade
Love will prevail
So be amongst the winners in this game
The neglected ones
The worst criminals
Got raised without it
The cruelest dictators
The Wall Street alligators
Wet their pillows longing for it
Love will prevail
Over fortune and fame
Love will prevail
Remember that we all were
Born to be loved
Lennon-McCartney knew the pace
The California hippies had a trace
Be it universal or be it internal
The time has come to face
Love will prevail
Over time, over change
Love will prevail
And breath its eternal light
To these dusty dark pages of mankind
–
PRESS RELEASE DEC 18 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAURI DARK Drops Single, Lyric Video “Poison Woman” And Full-length ‘Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man’
On December 18th, the iTunes Folk Song chart-topper from Finland releases his debut album, along with the 3rd single and lyric video for “Poison Woman.”
On December 18th, 2020, Turku-Finland based singer/songwriter and iTunes chart-topper Mauri Dark releases his debut album, “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man.” Dark is also releasing “Poison Woman,” the third single and (lyric) video from the album. This new single and video follow Dark’s November 6th debut with the title track and the November 19th second single release, “Thin Line Of Understanding.”
“Poison Woman” is a rock-spiced, up-tempo song from the dark, folky debut. 70s drums, bass, Western movie-ish electric guitar and a doomsday piano are the framework for Mauri Dark’s acoustic baritone guitar and deep, low voice. After five albums and hundreds of shows, the frontman for metal duo, Mystons (born Mauri Kosonen, 1978) has stepped into the bare boots of a vulnerable acoustic storyteller. “Poison Woman” is the first song written for his debut.
“Poison Woman’ is the end song of my 7-year relationship. It is about two people who brought out the worst in each other,” Mauri Dark says. “I wrote it when I was living alone in a forest cabin in Finland in 2016. My mother had stage 3 cancer, and the word ‘poison’ came from the treatments. She died on May 27, 2017. 364 days later I was happily married, and our firstborn daughter was born. This roller-coaster of life wrote my debut album.
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man, the album, was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark. The sound was crafted with Mixing Engineer / Associate Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica), Mastering Engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Johnny Cash) and Associate Producer Jussi Vuola.
The road to recognition has been fast since the November 6th, 8-minute debut single “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man”. Its 12K-viewed music video, directed by Vesa Ranta, was selected for the Sweden Film Festivals Finals. The November 19th single “Thin Line Of Understanding” has 21K Spotify listens. Worldwide radioplay, playlist adds, dozens of stories, interviews and flattering reviews can be summed up with Jamsphere’s “a deeply affecting sound experience.”
Mauri Dark recently teamed with reputable US Manager / Promoter Michael Stover of MTS Management Group / MTS Records (IMEA Artist Manager of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019).
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man, the album, was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark. The sound was crafted with Mixing Engineer / Associate Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica), Mastering Engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Johnny Cash) and Associate Producer Jussi Vuola.
The road to recognition has been fast since the November 6th, 8-minute debut single “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man”. Its 12K-viewed music video, directed by Vesa Ranta, was selected for the Sweden Film Festivals Finals. The November 19th single “Thin Line Of Understanding” has 21K Spotify listens. Worldwide radioplay, playlist adds, dozens of stories, interviews and flattering reviews can be summed up with Jamsphere’s “a deeply affecting sound experience.”
Mauri Dark recently teamed with reputable US Manager / Promoter Michael Stover of MTS Management Group / MTS Records (IMEA Artist Manager of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019).
The album is founded on Mauri Dark’s experience: 25 years of songwriting, 8 albums, and 500 shows with different bands and instruments. Strong compositions and lyrics are led by Mauri’s low voice and backed by acoustic baritone guitar, with varying moods and soundscapes. The atmospheric, discreet backgrounds are built with acoustic instruments such as piano, pump organ, cello and upright bass, adding electric guitar ambience (á la Pink Floyd, Ennio Morricone’s Western soundtracks, blues and jazz), and acoustic drums and electric bass on two tracks.
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is a dream come true record,” Mauri Dark says. “It combines everything I have learned about music and life. It is emotional, sincere and timeless acoustic album full of moods and stories in the spirit of Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake. I made it with the best professionals simply for the love of music.”
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man album is released on December 18 via EluccaArts on digital, CD and vinyl LP formats.
Tracklist:
01 Poison Woman (3rd SINGLE, LYRIC VIDEO & FULL ALBUM Dec 18)
02 Worst Enemy
03 X-Renegade
04 Love Will Prevail
05 Shades Of Gray
06 Chains Of Solitude
07 Hymn For A Wanderer
08 Thin Line Of Understanding (2nd SINGLE Nov 19)
09 Up To Us
10 Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man (1st SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO Nov 6)
###
Michael Stover
MTS Management Group
+1 4124455282
michael@mtsmanagementgroup.com
LINK IN BIO (includes links below)
https://ffm.bio/mauridark
4th SINGLE: “Love Will Prevail” March 31, 2021
ALBUM: Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man | Dec 18, 2020
LISTEN / STREAM / BUY DIGITAL, CD & VINYL
–––
3rd SINGLE “Poison Woman” | Dec 18, 2020
LISTEN / STREAM / BUY
WATCH LYRIC VIDEO
–––
2nd SINGLE: “Thin Line Of Understanding” | Nov 19, 2020
POISON WOMAN -single
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/01-poison-woman
SINGLE CREDITS
ISRC: FI5MK2000001
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
SINGLE TITLE: Poison Woman
DURATION: 3:04 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE: Friday, Dec 18, 2020
GENRES: Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Americana, Country
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa
MASTERED by Vlado Meller
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
LYRICS
Poison Woman
—-
One is less than two
When two become one
I am half a man
Since you came along
The book of my good deeds
In the library of your needs
I am a fading stream
In the ocean of your dreams
You always left me wanting
But now I want no more
You always kept me waiting
Now my time has gone
Because you’re poison,
poison woman
When we split the blame
You say I can have it all
Said we’re both that kind of people
Who are never wrong
Your sting gave me a fever
And the delusions of this ring
Have turned into a leg chain
And I’m filing through the pain
You always left me wanting
Now I want no more
You always kept me waiting
But now I’m moving on
Because you’re poison,
poison
Now the venom is in me
Like black ink in my bloodstream
And now so much like you
I’m turning into poison too
You always left me wanting
But now I want no more
Infected with your love I’m lying
Halfdead on the floor
Because you’re poison,
poison woman
–
DREAMS OF A MIDDLE-AGED MAN ALBUM DEC 18
ALBUM SPOTIFY LINK: https://open.spotify.com/album/0Hj3RJw5vIfOEgFaU8YdGw?si=InrNnacCT32HD6DKU8AZ0g
ALBUM SOUNDCLOUD LINK: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/sets/dreams-of-a-middle-aged-man/s-JwJG2VnNYYV
The Singles
04 LOVE WILL PREVAIL
(4th SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO: Wednesday, Mar 31)
01 POISON WOMAN
(3rd SINGLE, LYRIC VIDEO & FULL ALBUM: Friday, Dec 18)
08 THIN LINE OF UNDERSTANDING
(2nd SINGLE: Thursday, Nov 19)
10 Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
(1st SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO: Friday, Nov 6)
Music & Lyrics:
Mauri Dark
READ ALBUM
ALBUM INFO
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
ALBUM TITLE: Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
DURATION: 41 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE CD, DIGITAL: Friday, December 18, 2020
VINYL LP: available on Friday, January 22, 2021
GENRES: Folk, Singer/songwriter, Americana, Country
ALBUM CODE CD: ELUCCACD-03 (EAN:0712221017513, UPC:712221017513)
ALBUM CODE VINYL: ELUCCALP-01 (EAN:0712221017520 UPC:712221017520)
© & ℗ EluccaArts 2020. All rights reserved.
ALBUM CREDITS
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa at Coal House Mixing Room, Hämeenlinna, FINLAND
MASTERED by Vlado Meller at Vlado Meller Mastering, Charleston, SC, USA
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
TRACKLIST
01 Poison Woman
02 Worst Enemy
03 X-Renegade
04 Love Will Prevail
05 Shades Of Gray
06 Chains Of Solitude
07 Hymn For A Wanderer
08 Thin Line Of Understanding
09 Up To Us
10 Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
ISRC codes: FI5MK2000001-10
DURATIONS (Total 41 min):
01 Poison Woman 3.04 ISRC FI5MK2000001
02 Worst Enemy 3.25 ISRC FI5MK2000002
03 X-Renegade 3.36 ISRC FI5MK2000003
04 Love Will Prevail 4.32 ISRC FI5MK2000004
05 Shades Of Gray 2.11 ISRC FI5MK2000005
06 Chains Of Solitude 3.26 ISRC FI5MK2000006
07 Hymn For A Wanderer 4.28 ISRC FI5MK2000007
08 Thin Line Of Understanding 4.24 ISRC FI5MK2000008
09 Up To Us 3.34 ISRC FI5MK2000009
10 Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man 7.59 ISRC FI5MK2000010
PRESS RELEASE NOV 19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Singer/songwriter MAURI DARK Draws “Thin Line Of Understanding” with 2nd Single from Upcoming Debut Album
The Turku, Finland based established musician and visual artist Mauri Dark (Mauri Kosonen, born 1978) releases 2nd single “Thin Line Of Understanding” on Thursday, Nov 19. Mauri Dark’s first single and music video “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” was released on Nov 6. The video, directed by Vesa Ranta has gotten about 8000 views in less than two weeks.
Mauri Dark’s debut album Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is to be released on Friday, Dec 18. The album was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark. The album sound was crafted with Mixing Engineer / Associate Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica, Amorphis), mastering engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Jack White, Johnny Cash) and associate producer Jussi Vuola (V.R. Studio).
Mauri Dark’s deep-voice and baritone guitar lead the bare, intimate and acoustic track “Thin Line Of Understanding” accompanied by piano, cellos and catchy, ethereal sounding guitar melodies. The track is the most pop influenced of the upcoming albums 10 songs.
”Thin Line Of Understanding” is about the fragility of connection with your loved one”, Mauri Dark says. “The borderline between comfortable and awkward silence. Mutual understanding is like a line drawn in water. You constantly have to redraw it with love and respect for each other.” Mauri Dark describes.
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man album will be released on Dec 18 via EluccaArts on digital, CD and vinyl LP formats. Album Pre-save, CD Pre-Buy and Vinyl pre-order available now.
2nd SINGLE: “Thin Line Of Understanding” | Nov 19
Thin Line Of Understanding -single
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/08-thin-line-of-understanding
LISTEN/STREAM/BUY: https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle2
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/2gg5MImjLIntxjCuQVZ0Yl
ITUNES: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1538940903?ls=1&app=itunes
APPLE MUSIC: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1538940903
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/o9oyuyCWuP4
YOUTUBE MUSIC: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k7jzSVEvDaT2T_0NjKAqnMXlkBhKd0hCQ
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/fi/track/1134254142
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/08-thin-line-of-understanding
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/track/161890157
AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08MX7XP83
CD & VINYL: https://www.recordshopx.com/artist/mauri_dark/
SINGLE CREDITS
ISRC: FI5MK2000008
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
SINGLE TITLE: Thin Line Of Understanding
DURATION: 4:24 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE: Thursday, Nov 19, 2020
GENRES: Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Americana, Country, Pop
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa
MASTERED by Vlado Meller
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
LYRICS
Thin Line Of Understanding
—-
Something is hidden
In these words that you say
Not fully understanding
The meanings in between
Comforting silence turns
To awkward pause of speech
Those lips were much easier
To kiss than they are to read
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
The distance between us
Like a forsaken jungle road
Once I thought I had
The direct path to your soul
But time it changes you
And time it changes me
And time can make us blind
To all of the things we used to see
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
I see connection go and
Come back like the tide
I trust in what we used to have
It’s only playing seek and hide
When the tribulations
Are finally overcome
The glass bridge between us will turn
Into solid ground
Thin line of understanding
Cracks once again
I thought I knew you
But you might be someone else
Life may draw a gap, a canyon between us
But we can choose to walk
On a shaky bridge of love
–
PRESS RELEASE NOV 6
Singer/songwriter MAURI DARK Dreams Free on Debut Single and Music Video “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” from Upcoming Solo Album
After five albums and hundreds of shows with metal duo Mystons Mauri Kosonen releases dark folky singer/songwriter music as Mauri Dark. His acoustic baritone guitar and deep, low voice set the warm mood of his autobiographical, intimate and timeless music influenced by Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake.
Directed by Vesa Ranta. Video link: https://youtu.be/zRYAGOYE2lo
The Turku, Finland based frontman, songwriter, musician and visual artist (born 1978) made his debut solo album mostly alone, then perfected his unique dark sound with world-famous professionals. His dream audio team included mixing engineer / associate producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica, Amorphis, The 69 Eyes), mastering engineer Vlado Meller (Metallica, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash) and associate producer Jussi Vuola (V.R. Studio).
First single and music video “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” is to be released on Friday, November 6, 2020. The video was directed and filmed by Vesa Ranta, known for his videos for metal bands like Dark Tranquility, Amorphis and Sólstafir.
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” music video tells a story of an aging couple having a hard time letting go of their only daughter who is moving away from home. The fictive family dad’s motorcycle and imagination fly the viewer to scenic landscapes of Senja Island, Northern Norway. Mauri Dark and his two-year-old daughter are also seen in a burnt house and forest in Oulu, Northern Finland.
“We wanted to tell a realistic story that would resemble a dream. The music video depicts midlife anxiety when the core family goes through changes. Director Vesa Ranta’s vision of Nordic darkness and mentality, known from his metal music videos, creates an interesting visual blend with my music,” says Mauri Dark who also makes large public artworks as a professional visual artist and entrepreneur.
The upcoming debut album Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man was written, produced, recorded and performed by Mauri Dark.
“The single “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” is an autobiographical daydream from changing baby diapers to riding a motorcycle in The Lofoten Islands, Norway,” Mauri Dark says. “When you dream, you go to a beautiful place inside your mind, like in the end of that song. Dreaming is a state of mind where you are free.”
“I made the songs and lyrics for my debut album amidst the changes of breaking up from a 7-year relationship, my mother’s death of cancer, and finding happiness again, getting married, having a firstborn daughter and making music,” Mauri Dark describes the album writing process.
The album Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man has a solid foundation of Mauri Dark’s experience: 25 years of songwriting, 8 albums, and 500 shows with different bands and instruments. Strong compositions and lyrics are led by Mauri’s deep bass voice and accompanied by fingerpicked acoustic baritone guitar, and their moods and soundscapes vary. The atmospheric, discreet backgrounds are built with acoustic instruments such as piano, pump organ, cello and upright bass but also with electric guitar ambience (á la Pink Floyd, Ennio Morricone’s Western soundtracks, blues and jazz), and acoustic drums and electric bass on two tracks.
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is a dream come true record,” Mauri Dark says. “It combines everything I have learned about music and life in the past 25 years. It is emotional, honest, sincere and timeless acoustic album full of moods and stories in the spirit of Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake. I made it with the best professionals and simply for the love of music.”
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man album is to be released on Friday, December 18, 2020 via EluccaArts in digital, CD digipack (pre-buy now) and vinyl LP formats.
Tracklist:
01 Poison Woman
02 Worst Enemy
03 X-Renegade
04 Love Will Prevail
05 Shades Of Gray
06 Chains Of Solitude
07 Hymn For A Wanderer
08 Thin Line Of Understanding
09 Up To Us
10 Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” -single:
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man -single
TRACK LINK: https://soundcloud.com/mauri-dark/10-dreams-of-a-middle-aged-man/s-pzXlSjgIoI7
SINGLE CREDITS
ISRC: FI5MK2000010
ARTIST: Mauri Dark
SINGLE TITLE: Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
DURATION: 7.59 min
LABEL: EluccaArts
RELEASE DATE: Friday, November 6, 2020
GENRES: Folk, Singer/songwriter, Americana, Country
MUSIC & LYRICS by Mauri Dark
PRODUCED / RECORDED / PERFORMED by Mauri Dark
MIXED by Hiili Hiilesmaa
MASTERED by Vlado Meller
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Jussi Vuola / Hiili Hiilesmaa
RECORDED at Songscapes Studio, Turku, FINLAND
LYRICS
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
—-
I’ve been dreaming ’bout motorcycles lately
Shiny chrome and engine sizes like crazy
You see Those Harleys and I
Were both born to be wild
But before that I need to diaper my child
Dreams of a middle-aged man
Are as standard as they can be
They’re interrupted by the word from a wife
Taken down by the scream of a child
But they still go on silently inside
Once I dreamed I’m gonna be a rock n’ roll star
Stand with my band on stage and play the guitar
But a 1000 gigs later in the backstage of a stinking bar
I still loved music but wondered what my true dreams are
Dreams of a middle-aged man
Are so hard to realize
When the Harley handles are the diaper’s sides
And that engine roam the blender of my wife
And that biker leather outfit I bought on ebay was two numbers downsized
Maybe some dreams are better left undone
Or when cooked properly medium
They give you something on your mind to hang on
Whenever the days seem to lose their Kodak colorscapes
You have a Disneyland-kind-of-place in your thoughts to escape
Dreams of a middle-aged man
Are best dreamed when awake
They’re sweeter than a marshmallow cake
Free’er than loose balloons in the air
And just as easy to break
I can feel the wind on my thickening hair
I cruise in my leather outfit through the avenue of admiring stares
As the landscapes turn from green to gold
This time I won’t wake and realize that I’m growing old
Dreams of a middle-aged man
Dreams of a middle-aged man
Don’t wake me because I’m dreaming
Don’t wake me because I’m dreaming
Oh, that motorcycle is so sweet and I’m shifting the third gear
I’m riding in Norway the land of the vikings
And I’m heading for Lofoten Islands on a serpentine road
On my left there’s the Geiranger fjord and the turquoise sea
And high up on the right
There’s the Trollstigen mountains in their grays and the greens
I’m gonna ride through there
But do you know what’s the best part when I’m dreaming
The motorcycle engine never breaks
And I never have to wonder which gasoline I need to take
And the police won’t stop you to give you a speeding ticket
There are no traffic jams, speed limits or photo surveillance
And the weather is always nice and there are no mosquitoes in my eyes
And I never get thirsty or hungry or tired or homesick
I look handsome and young in my dream
And I don’t pollute the air while I’m dreaming
And meanwhile my soul is healing
Dreams of a middle-aged Man
Dreams of a middle-aged Man
Dreams of a middle-aged Man
—-
MAURI DARK BIOGRAPHIES
Short Story & Full Story
MAURI DARK
Short
Biography
Mauri Dark’s autobiographical debut solo album Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man invites you into dark, folky, timeless, intimate, and acoustic songscapes. There is a story behind the record, says the artist:
“The songs and lyrics were made amidst the changes of breaking up from a 7-year relationship, my mother’s death of cancer, and finding happiness again, getting married, having a firstborn daughter and making music.”
Equipped with a baritone guitar and his deep, low voice, Mauri Dark is an experienced musician and songwriter. For his self-produced-recorded-performed solo album, he got to work with his dream audio team. Associate producer Jussi Vuola is a band mate and a musical blood brother. Mixing engineer / associate producer Hiili Hiilesmaa is famous for his work with HIM, Apocalyptica and Amorphis. Vlado Meller has previously mastered albums for Johnny Cash, Metallica, and Michael Jackson, to name a few.
“Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is the record I have always wanted to make, Mauri Dark says. “It is an emotional, honest and sincere acoustic album full of moods and stories in the spirit of Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake, and polished by the finest audio professionals and equipment in the spirit of the old times when albums were made to last.”
Mauri Dark
– Mauri Kosonen, born in 1978. Based in Turku, Finland.
– Singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, established musician and a professional visual artist.
– 8 albums and 500 shows in 25 years with different bands.
– Best known for 5 albums with metal duo Mystons.
– Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is Mauri Dark’s first solo album.
MAURI DARK
Full
Biography
“Dreaming is a state of mind where you are free”
MAURI DARK
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man is Mauri Dark’s timeless, autobiographical and intimate full-length solo debut. Based in Turku, Finland, Mauri Dark (Mauri Kosonen, born 1978) is a singer/songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist, an established musician, and a professional visual artist.
The Dark Story
In 2016, the music world knew Mauri Dark as Mauri Myston, the founder, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the metal duo Mystons. Their fifth album Destination Death—produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica, Amorphis) and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Opeth, Paradise Lost)—was out in September 2016. Legacy, one of the biggest metal magazines in Europe, described it as a “masterpiece”.
Everything was looking good for the band. Mauri’s personal life was another story.
“In April 2014 my mother was diagnosed with stage III+ cancer, and I broke up from a 7-year relationship. Writing Destination Death was a way of dealing with these things,” Mauri Dark says.
It was the band’s best work yet, and expectations were high. However, after the release fuss and the Finnish and European tours were over, nothing happened.
“I was living alone in a remote forest cabin in the Finnish countryside and had a lot of time to think. I then wrote “Poison Woman” and “Chains Of Solitude”, the first songs for Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man.”
Things were about to change fast. Besides being a musician, Mauri has been an established visual artist for 20+ years. In 2014, he met his future wife, Inga, in Kankaanpää art school.
“Inga was my tempera painting teacher, she’s an established visual artist as well. In her presence, I felt like being at home for the first time. It was clear to both of us that we were each other’s missing halves. But neither of us was free.”
Mauri broke up with his then-girlfriend, and Inga’s already shaken marriage shook some more.
“After two years of difficult times for both, Inga finally got divorced. We had been writing to each other and soon moved in together. It wasn’t a nice way to start, and people got hurt. But eventually things turned out good for everyone.”
However, there was grief to deal with. On May 27th, 2017, Mauri’s mother died of cancer at the age of 70.
“Her illness was a horrible thing to watch. There were extensive surgery and cancer treatments with torturous side effects, and a small hope for the better before a turn for the worse. This would go on and on until they finally gave up with the treatments.”
Three years after the diagnosis, his mother was gone.
“We had the chance to talk things through on her death bed. When she died, an expression of relief was left on her face which I will never, ever forget. She had gone to a good place knowing his youngest son was soon to be married.”
364 days later, on May 26th, 2018, Mauri and Inga had a healthy baby girl.
“The birth of our daughter was the most natural event I had experienced. The tiniest, sweetest girl in the universe made me think about life. I stopped and looked back and forth. When people have children, their everyday lives usually change permanently. Suddenly, the dreams they had when they were young, don’t seem that important anymore. But I wanted to hold on to my dreams.”
A lot happened on the side: Mauri was playing guitar, writing songs, building a home studio, and creating art as an artist-entrepreneur. He also graduated, got married, moved into a new home, became a local celebrity (he was nominated for the Person of the Year award for his public artworks in his home city, Turku), dealt with his mother’s death and her funeral, and his father becoming a widower. All these changes had an inevitable effect on his music.
Everything that had happened to him made him re-evaluate his life and dreams. That gave the spark to Mauri Dark’s debut solo album, Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man.
“I still wanted to make music. It was who I was. I had been writing songs for 25 years. Why would I stop now? I had seen people kind of give up their dreams on music at the verge of middle-age. They get stuck in their jobs and running everyday family lives, and most of them are happy doing so. To me, our daughter gave a whole new kind of inspiration.”
So, amidst changing the diapers, Mauri found himself daydreaming and polishing lyrics for song drafts. If his daughter didn’t wake him up at night, the songs would.
“They are like living creatures that you allow inside your head. They haunt you in a good way until they are ready. Writing a song is like a working on a mathematical puzzle. It has to be solved before it can flourish as an emotional, musical and lyrical artwork.”
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man
Equipped with a baritone guitar and his dark, low voice, Mauri Dark was influenced by the music he loves. Masterful singer/songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake and Tom Waits gave him a lot of inspiration, and so did the Beatles. Johnny Cash’s five American Recordings albums, produced by Rick Rubin, provided a permanent and soulful musical bond.
Changing guitars was inspiring as well. Martin D-28 gave Mauri the song “X-Renegade”, and a 70s yellow Gibson ES-175 jazz guitar inspired the album’s title song. When he got a 2010 Gibson Sheryl Crow signature model acoustic guitar, songs like “Thin Line Of Understanding” and “Love Will Prevail” got written.
“Guitars are communicators. They plant the songs and melodies inside of me. The best guitars have a vibe, a personality. There’s something primitive in the way they resonate. In the best songwriting scenarios, they make me forget the time and my surroundings. My Gibson Sheryl Crow is a special piece. It used to belong to Heikki Hela, a famous Finnish musician and comedian. I dropped the guitar to B to B baritone tuning, and I wrote the most songs and recorded the whole album with it.”
The song “Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man” gave a theme for the whole album.
“It is an autobiographical daydream from changing the baby’s diapers to riding a motorcycle in Lofoten Islands, Norway, spiced with humour and generic assumptions of what a middle-aged man dreams of. But we do dream about all kinds of things. Dreaming is a state of mind where you are free. It gives emotional fuel to carry on. When you dream, you go to a beautiful place inside your mind, like in the end of that song.”
The music evolved. In May 2019, Mauri recorded demos for ten songs in his newly built Songscapes Studio, equipped with oldish-sounding analog gear and classic microphones. He gave the demos to his musical-brother Jussi Vuola (Mystons’ drummer-vocalist, V.R. Studio owner, producer and a mixing Engineer), who agreed to help him as an associate producer. Hiili Hiilesmaa, a well-respected Finnish producer and a mixing engineer, was also excited about the demos. He gave invaluable insights on the recording process and later mixed the album.
Mauri had a clear image of how the album was going to be.
“A minimalistic, honest, intimate, personal and autobiographical singer-songwriter album with a background painting of sparsely added acoustic instruments. Timeless songs with a natural sound. Vocals and lyrics in the center of everything, backed by acoustic guitar.”
The album was recorded between June and December 2019. No additional musicians play on it. The minimalistic song backgrounds were built with instruments like piano, pump organ, cello and double bass (sample instruments), jazzy, dreamy and bluesy electric guitar, glockenspiel, saw, outdoor sounds, mellotron, acoustic drums and electric bass guitar.
“I acquired an old, German Mannborg pump organ and a 101-years-old restored acoustic Hellas piano, which I even learned to tune.”
In January 2020, Hiili Hiilesmaa started to mix. He described the sound “like a soft pillow on listener’s ear, telling stories”.
“The mixes sounded amazing. I wanted to give the album the best possible polish, so I studied the mastering credits in my favourite-sounding album covers. From Johnny Cash–American V: A Hundred Highways I found Vlado Meller, a mastering engineer who had done everything from Metallica to Jack White to Michael Jackson. Vlado gave the album’s sound a final touch. He described it as ‘a beautiful, soothing album’.”
To Mauri Dark, his solo debut realizes one of the Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man.
PROMO PHOTOS
Download high quality, full resolution press pictures and logos in hi-res print image formats.
Contact
Press Inquiries Mauri Dark
(also Whatsapp, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc)
Time zone: EET (Eastern European Time, Helsinki)
USA & International Inquiries MTS Management Group / Michael Stover
Social Media / Music Services
FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM:
@mauridarkmusic
#mauridarkmusic
Mauri Dark Links
WEBSITE: https://www.mauridark.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mauridarkmusic
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mauridarkmusic/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqXH5GrpTFLC9sZQqpcICw
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XmwrS7CN5y9mDmkw1BoFI
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/fi/artist/mauri-dark/1535902172
ITUNES: https://music.apple.com/fi/artist/mauri-dark/1535902172?l=fi
AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B08L9TVVK1/mauri-dark
CD&VINYL SHOP: https://www.recordshopx.com/artist/mauri_dark/
Smartlinks
Love Will Prevail (4th SINGLE & LYRIC VIDEO)
https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle4
Poison Woman (3rd SINGLE & LYRIC VIDEO)
https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle3
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man (ALBUM)
https://ffm.to/mauridarkalbum1
Thin Line Of Understanding (2nd SINGLE Nov 19)
https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle2
Dreams Of A Middle-Aged Man (1st SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO Nov 6)
https://ffm.to/mauridarksingle1
LINK IN BIO WITH ABOVE SMARTLINKS AND WEB/SOCIAL MEDIA LOCATIONS:
Visual Artist Website
Website: https://maurikosonen.com