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Alabaster DePlume

Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue

(( photo by Chris Almeida ))

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Alabaster DePlume
Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue

Out May 5, 2026

Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue is a new EP by Alabaster DePlume, recorded during the middle of his March 2025 US tour. DePlume had been playing shows with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Tcheser Holmes, performing music from his critically acclaimed album A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole (released March 2025). The trio’s onstage rapport was so immediate and strong that, on an off day in Brooklyn, DePlume chose to capture that connection, recording this collection of instrumental pieces shaped by the experience of performing, sharing, and improvising off the music of A Blade for audiences across the US.

Dear Children serves as an epilogue to A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, and on its vinyl release appears alongside the Cremisan: Prologue to A Blade EP (which was released digitally in October 2024). 

Speaking about Dear Children, DePlume says:

“Meeting with you all at the shows I sensed that you felt voiceless, on this ethical issue that also spelled out what we’re seeing today, in the form of ICE. That experience with you is etched into me, like graffiti or a poster on the wall. It’s my job to deliver your voice, and that’s what this record is. And to take action. That urgency compelled me to record then. And now here we are. As we said, this world is awakening to the reality it was already living.”

As with almost everything that DePlume has put forth in recent years, the connection of all these works to Palestine is deep. The Cremisan EP itself was recorded in Palestine. Dear Children incorporates field recordings and samples of children playing and of normal life in the West Bank, and its cover art depicts wheatpaste posters of a drawing made by a 13-year-old boy from Gaza (used with permission). The inscription on the cover art says, in Arabic, “Dedicated to the mother of the martyr/witness Obaida Ahmed al-Qiram. May you rest in peace. From your student, the artist, Hasan Jawad Abudayyeh.”

Notes

Recorded at Figure 8 Recording, Brooklyn.

Produced by Alabaster DePlume in Total Refreshment Centre, London.

Alabaster DePlume - saxophones, sampler, synths, guitars
Shahzad Ismaily - bass
Tcheser Holmes - drums

Engineered by Tyler Hicks.
Mixed by Dave Vettraino.
Mastered by David Allen.

Samples by Mai Mai Mai, Marta in Brooklyn and Aladdien in Bethlehem.

Drawing by Hassan Jawad Abudeia.

Installation and cover photo by Rich Jones.

About

Alabaster DePlume often asks a simple question: what do people need? In his work, at his shows, in his collaborations, the Mancunian singer-saxophonist and poet-philosopher poses this to the people around him. What are people looking for? In recent years, the same reply kept coming up: healing, healing, people need healing. But why, and what does it mean to heal, especially in a world where the very idea is often commodified and sold as a luxury? If people were coming to his music for something so mysterious, he ought to figure it out. Maybe he ought to try some healing himself.  

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