Popular singer/songwriter Anthony Toner releases new double album

Barely six months after putting out his acclaimed all-acoustic album Emperor, Anthony Toner celebrates his 14th release with a landmark double album, The Book of Absolution, a collection of 27 brand new songs.

The album is available digitally now via Bandcamp, and is set for general release on November 30.

It will be available for sale as a physical double CD in a limited edition of 400 copies, via mail order from www.anthonytoner.net.

The album appears near the end of the run of shows across Northern Ireland in the autumn and winter as a solo artist, and throughout the UK with special guest of folk legend Barbara Dickson on her November acoustic tour.

There are still some seats left for the last handful of shows in 2022, and tickets are available now for a special shared-billing show with Barbara Dickson at the Grand Opera House, Belfast on March 18, 2023.

Some of these songs have been in gestation for years, but the bulk of the collection was composed during 2020-21, and it’s perhaps the Coleraine-born songwriter’s most personal collection.

Over half of the songs were recorded by Anthony alone in his home studio, playing acoustic and electric guitars, piano, lap steel, banjo and percussion.

Contributions were added to the remainder of the material by some of the finest musicians in Northern Ireland, with Clive Culbertson on bass and production duties, Matt Weir on drums and John McCullough on Hammond Organ and piano. Listeners can also enjoy backing vocals from Ciaran Lavery on two of the songs, upright bass from Nick Scott, and string arrangements written by Anthony and performed by Neil Martin (cello), Maebh Martin (viola) and The Arco String Quartet.

The whole thing was mixed and mastered at Clive Culbertson’s studio in Coleraine.

Contributions were added to the remainder of the material by some of the finest musicians in Northern Ireland, with Clive Culbertson on bass and production duties, Matt Weir on drums and John McCullough on Hammond Organ and piano. .

The Book of Absolution is available as a limited edition physical CD from November 30 and from this date on all digital streaming platforms, including Spotify, Google Play, and Apple Music.