Alabaster DePlume releases 'Dear Children Of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue'

ALABASTER DEPLUME DEAR CHILDREN OF OUR CHILDREN, I KNEW: EPILOGUE  NEW EP OUT TODAY ON ALL DIGITAL MUSIC PLATFORMS VIA INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM WATCH PORTRAITS OF PALESTINE, A FILM BY SKYLER CARRICO FEATURING MUSIC BY DEPLUME

Photo by Alabaster DePlume

Today, London-based saxophonist, singer, songwriter, activist, orator, and poet-philosopher Alabaster DePlume releases his new EP of instrumentals, Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue, available now on all digital music platforms (following its April 18th release on Record Store Day exclusive vinyl LP) via International Anthem. Stream or purchase Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue here. As an epilogue, Dear Children closes a four-part series that began in October 2024 with the release of DePlume’s poetry book Looking For My Value: Prologue to A Blade and digital EP Cremisan: Prologue to a Blade, followed by the critically-acclaimed album A Blade Because a Blade is Whole in March 2025. Dear Children also arrives today alongside Portraits of Palestine, a 16mm film by Skyler Carrico featuring DePlume’s track “Honeycomb,” taken from the Cremisan EP. Carrico says of the film: “In the spring of 2024, Alabaster and I both found ourselves in the occupied West Bank — he to undergo an artist residency which would lead to the creation of ‘Honeycomb’, and I to create visual art on 16mm film in collaboration with a youth center in a refugee camp. While our paths never crossed in Palestine, our work converges in this piece — a project which began without a clear sense of direction for music until it found its home in the sounds Alabaster happened to be recording during the very same period, so very nearby.” DePlume says: “Skyler was driven by nothing more than the desire to deliver these children’s faces to you. The ideal piece of “content” is that which already wanted to happen, in the first place. Our feelings and instincts too, exist around this issue already - you can feel them now as you read this. It is my job to get out of the way and let you have them.” Watch the film Portraits of Palestine here. DePlume recorded Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue during the middle of his March 2025 US tour, after weeks of playing shows with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Tcheser Holmes, performing music from A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole. 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. 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.” On April 18, Dear Children was released as a Record Store Day exclusive vinyl LP that also contains DePlume’s 2024 EP Cremisan: Prologue to A Blade. The two EPs contained on the vinyl release serve as bookends (literally a “prologue” and “epilogue") for A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole; and as with almost everything that DePlume has put forth in recent years, the connection of both 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.”   Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue is out now, buy/stream it here. TRACKLIST Bringing Up The Nakba I Play A Role In It And I Know It's Only Now Once (Elbit Systems Windowpane) Glass What Did The Child Say / Facing Reality CREDITS 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. LIVE DATES Wednesday May 27 - Athens Jazz, Athens, Italy  - info Sunday June 14 - Handmade Festival, Guastalla, Italy - tickets  Friday July 24 - Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Porto, Portugal - tickets Thursday September 3 - Sound and Gravity Festival, Chicago, US - tickets Saturday September 26 - Videodroom, Gent, Belgium - tickets   Stay connected with Alabaster DePlume: Website | Instagram | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter Stay connected with International Anthem: 23 Profile | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube