| Blemish | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 2003 | |||
| Recorded | February–March 2003 | |||
| Studio | Samadhi Sound Studio, New Hampshire | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:41 | |||
| Label | Samadhisound | |||
| Producer | David Sylvian | |||
| David Sylvian chronology | ||||
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Blemish is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in May 2003 on Sylvian's Samadhisound label.
Following Sylvian's acquittal from Virgin Records, he built a home studio, Samadhi Sound Studio, and recorded Blemish in early 2003. The album was inspired by, and documents, the disintegration of Sylvian's relationship with his wife, Ingrid Chavez, marking a turning point in Sylvian's lyrics as they became more personal and open and less oblique. Wanting to find a new musical vocabulary for himself, he recorded the album in a relatively quick, six-week duration, improvising the eight songs on the album as he went. It features guest appearances from free improvisation guitarist Derek Bailey, and electronic musician Fennesz.
The album is experimental in its use of electronics and sound and marks a stark departure in Sylvian's musical career, moving in an ambient direction and featuring fewer occurrences of melody. Sylvian felt the album functioned as cartharsis, and that recording the album helped him work through difficult emotions. Blemish was originally released via the internet only, but when the album caught the attention of distributors, Sylvian set up Samadhi Sound records who released the album commercially in mid-2003. Despite alienating several fans, Blemish was a critical success, with praise given to its dark, personal tone. Sylvian toured in promotion of the album in autumn 2003, while a remix album entitled The Good Son vs. The Only Daughter, containing remixes of each of the songs from Blemish remixed by international producers, was released in February 2005.