Lunatic Soul is the new project from Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda. The self-titled debut album will be released on Kscope on October 13th 2008.

Riverside have risen to prominence over the past five years following the success of the Reality Dream trilogy of albums which started in 2003 with the band’s debut Out Of Myself, continued two years later with Second Life Syndrome and was completed in 2007 with Rapid Eye Movement. These three albums have drawn widespread critical acclaim, positioning Riverside alongside groups like Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Dream Theater as part of an emergent group of post-progressive acts

Duda is keen to stress that Lunatic Soul doesn’t represent the end of Riverside, instead it represents an opportunity for him to explore other musical avenues before embarking on the next Riverside album.

The Lunatic Soul album is thus a studio project realised in co-operation with a collection of hugely talented friends and colleagues. Together they have created ten atmospheric tracks.

While undeniably a more mellow sound than Riverside (as Mariusz himself has noted ‘an interesting fact is that there is no electric guitar here at all’) the album still reflects the moods and atmosphere of his earlier works exploring themes such as death and transience.

The sound that has been created, blending a variety of instruments including keyboards, piano, flute, harmonica, Hammond organ, e-bow, acoustic guitar, bass and various kinds of vocals , has been described by Duda as ‘an oriental-trans-psychodelic-verbal-musical journey through the pitch darkness available only to those who have… a lunatic soul.’

For more info on Lunatic Soul go to www.kscopemusic.com/lunaticsoul