Alabaster DePlume's 'To Cy & Lee (IA11 Edition)'

INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM DIGITALLY RELEASES ALABASTER DEPLUME'S TO CY & LEE: INSTRUMENTALS VOL. 1 (IA11 EDITION) LP IN STORES DECEMBER 5 DEPLUME CONTINUES TOUR ACROSS EUROPE THIS WINTER IN SUPPORT OF A BLADE BECAUSE A BLADE IS WHOLE

Today, International Anthem digitally releases the IA11 Edition of Alabaster DePlume's To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1. This expanded edition includes the addition of two digital-only bonus tracks "Every Time" and "You Already Know," which were recorded by DePlume circa 2013, concurrently with some of the pieces on the original album. Listen to To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 (IA11 Edition) here. To Cy and Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 is a collection of Mancunian poet, singer, saxophonist and composer Alabaster DePlume’s simple and serenely intimate wordless adventures in melodic ennui. The collection properly introduced the world to a previously under-exposed, undeniably deep dimension of DePlume who, at the time of the album's release, was most known to his followers for his music with words, his poetry, and his prowess as an impassioned orator. His performances (especially those that were part of his monthly Peach residency at Total Refreshment Centre in London) were becoming legendary for blurring the boundaries between secular sermon, theatrical monologue and song, as he turned audiences into experimental large ensembles and led full-throated shout-alongs to tunes like “Is It Enough” and “Be Nice To People” (both from his 2019 Lost Map album The Corner of a Sphere). The instrumental pieces that quietly buffered the big vocal moments of his recorded catalog, to that point, had mostly lived, quietly, in those buffers. We’re not really sure what inspired DePlume to gather all of his recorded instrumentals, add a couple new ones, and invite International Anthem to collaborate on the campaign (we had only recently been getting to know him a little deeper, after our second trip to Total Refreshment Centre in the fall of 2018, when we recorded jaimie branch’s FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise). But what we do know is, not long after To Cy & Lee’s February 2020 release and the subsequent arrival of a global pandemic, those recordings went very far, very fast, taking on a new life as stay-at-home hits — the quiet catharsis we didn’t know we needed in the face of rapidly unfolding confusion, fear, and isolation. As the people of the world found themselves inside their small rooms, they began to search for smaller, more intentional sounds to fill them. These instrumentals carried the healing qualities we were after then, and still seek now. As we cite on the obi strip, the music is an antidote with seemingly ancient sonic characteristics, and a unique ability to embrace the core of our very being. To Cy & Lee was also the first document of an ongoing collaboration between DePlume and IARC, which has already yielded the albums GOLD (2022), Come With Fierce Grace (2023), and A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole (2025), in addition to sundry singles and EPs. The depth of partnership between DePlume and our crew that has developed since To Cy & Lee, coupled with the endlessly quenching spiritual comforts the album continues to provide, makes it an absolute essential of the International Anthem catalog and a proud choice for the final three editions of the IA11 series. In record stores worldwide on December 5th, the IA11 Edition of To Cy and Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 comes on classic black 140-gram vinyl LP inside a heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with a 12-page 11x11" insert booklet (including previously unpublished photos and new liner notes by DePlume himself), IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined inner sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with new lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST. Preorder To Cy and Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 (IA11 Edition) here.   IA11 Liner Notes by Alabaster DePlume Along with today's digital release, International Anthem has also published the new liner notes for the IA11 Edition of To Cy and Lee, which were written by DePlume himself, on their website. An excerpt: "Do you know that it’s called Visit Croatia because my friend said “it sounds like holiday advert music, you should call it Visit Croatia". In a half-humour act of stubbornness, defiance and enjoyment of the absurd, I took him up on his suggestion. “We will see”. At the time I made it, the idea that my music could ever have a legitimate audience was remote for me, and absurd for nearly anyone else. That song’s melody arrived with me as I was walking with Cy and Lee to Cy’s car, from their house. I remember it precisely. It was time to drive somewhere, maybe their friend Pat’s house, maybe one of the many music sessions that the team and I supported them to run. Maybe the pub, maybe Tuesday club. When I started that job I thought I was just “getting a job” because I “have to make money” in order to “live”. No-one could have told me that it would teach me profound lessons about leadership, performance and music, and that it would one day connect me with you, the person who is reading these words somewhere today." Read DePlume's full liner notes here.   Photo by Andrea Terzuoli Alabaster DePlume on tour Alabaster DePlume continues to tour in support of his recently-released, critically-acclaimed album A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole. Get tickets here. January 29, 2026 – Rouen, France @ Le 106 February 1, 2026 – Brest, France @ La Vauban February 18, 2026 – Bern, Switzerland @ Bee-Flat February 19, 2026 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Moods