The Musicians : Dayna Stephens - tenor sax and EWI (tracks 1,4,9,10) John Ellis - tenor and soprano saxes (tracks 2,5,6,7,11) Gilad Hekselman - guitars Harish Raghavan - bass Daniel Dor - drums And special guests Camila Meza - voice (track 8); Yonatan Albalak - guitar (track 3) The track list : 1. Lonely Arcade Man (05:34) 2. Smell / Faded Memory (06:40) 3. From The Frozen Cave (02:03) 4. The One Warm Hearted Man Living in The Kingdom Of Ice (06:53) 5. The Way We Used To Laugh (03:13) 6. Safta (Grandma) (05:51) 7. Times Square (06:41) 8. Dreams (04:04) 9. Gambit (06:53) 10. Schlompi (03:10) 11. Autumn Song (05:46) All compositions, arrangements and lyrics by Eden Ladin Except track 3 by Yonatan Albalak Produced by Eden Ladin Recorded at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY February 10th and 11th, 2016 Engineer: Nolan Thies Mix + Magic by Pete Rende Mastered by Jonathan Jacobi at Jaffa Sound Cover Artwork + Graphic Design by Rahel Süßkind _________________________________________________________________________ Thanks: First I would like to give a special thanks to Dayna Stephens, John Ellis, Gilad Hekselman, Harish Raghavan, Daniel Dor, Camila Meza and Yonatan Albalak for their musicianship, professionalism, confident - yet lack of ego and acceptance, open-nes / restrain-nes  (in the right places), deep understanding of my music and vision while still sounding uniquely like themselves on each and every take. Extra Thanks to Dayna Stephans for helping me putting this record out and releasing it on his label, Contagious Music. Special thanks to Pete Rende for adding his own brilliant and unique touch on things and for his patience. And to Jonathan Jacobi for his accurate job, patience and kindness. Special thanks to Rahel Süßkind for making my imagination become real through her genius artwork and magical vision, and also for being super receptive and professional with my weird ideas. Thank you Elior Meirov for encouraging and loving me through the process, bringing good vibes in the studio and helping me out with the 2nd KickStarter video. Thank you Daniel Koren for the help and inspiration with the first KickStarter video. Thank you Nadav Pessach for filming us in the studio. Thank you to my family for the endless support and inspiration : Rina Ladin, Gil Ladin, Noam Ladin, Yona Ladin, Hadassa Ladin, Rachel Plotkin (RIP), Menahem Plotkin (RIP) and all the rest of the Ladin/Ladizinsky/Plotkin/Karnieli Family Thank you to all the people who hired me for gigs throughout the years and through that taught me a lot : Myron Walden, Wallace Roney, Omer Avital, Ari Hoenig, Kimberly Thompson, Avishai Cohen, Joe Sanders, Phillip Dizack, Tal Ronen, Spencer Murphy Thank you to my friends who inspire and teach me all the time : Asaf Yuria, Alon Albagli, Max Oleartchik, Daniel Kressel, Itai Kriss, Yonatan Levi, Noam Weisenberg, Yonatan Yudkovich, Keren Dun, Yonatan Rosen, Uri Mazal-Tov, Or Gurfinkel, Gal Seri and all my other friends out there! A very big thank you to all the people who opened their hearts and helped out during the Kickstarter campaign! I'm sorry if I forgot anyone - If I love you, you probably know that already. Love, Eden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each song on this album has a story behind it. It goes like that : 1.  Lonely Arcade Man was originally written as an electronic track and is based on an imaginary story I created about a character in an arcade game who's trapped inside a computer. Every time someone plays the game he’s happy but once they're finished he remains inside this world, all alone. Sometimes I feel like this man.  Don’t we all? 2. Smell / Faded Memory examines that feeling you get when you recognize a familiar smell from the past. For example a hint of that perfume your grandmother wore when you were 5 can revive vivid childhood memories, almost like a flashback. That sensation is really unique. 3. From The Frozen Cave is an intro to the following track on this album, “The One Warm Hearted Man Living In The Kingdom Of Ice.” Throughout the years I’ve worked a lot with one of my best friends and musical brother, Yonatan Albalak. It was very important for me to have him on this record, even if for one track (as he lives in Israel)  I sent him “The One Warmed Hearted Man…”, told him the imaginary story surrounding it (see below), and asked him to play an intro for it; I knew he would understand me. He later sent me four different takes which were all amazing. The one we chose here was exactly what I envisioned. 4. The One Warm Hearted Man Living In The Kingdom Of Ice (probably the longest title for a song) takes place on a frozen planet engulfed in huge, blue glaciers, frozen lakes, and endless snowstorms. At the peak of the highest mountain lies a dark castle and inside lives an evil witch with a frozen heart. She terrorizes the zombie-like people of the planet; they all fear her. But there is one man, a warrior hiding in a cave; he has a warm heart.  With his flaming sword and after years of strict practice—he is now ready to defeat the evil witch and set the people of the planet free! This song tells the story of that man. 5. The Way We Used To Laugh - a free of time composition, is about those moments when you have to let someone dear to you go. In a relationship - things can get complicated and problematic to a point it can't be fixed. Even though this song was composed after such a time, it draws from the joyful memories we’ve shared and the laughs we’ve had together back when everything was wonderful. 6. Safta (Grandma), dedicated to my late grandmother, Rachel Plotkin, honors a very special and unique person. When I was little she would often sit next to me while I practiced the piano, playing intimate concerts for her. During the final days as her illness progressed I wanted to return to Israel; however, it was important to her that I complete my senior recital first and then travel on the following day… But it was too late.  She passed away on the day of my senior recital.   She was the most positive person I've known, influencing me through the way she saw the world. She helped me understand that despite the sufferings of life, one should always dwell on the positive—there’s positivity in everything. This song is playful, not morbid, in celebration of her life and positive spirit. I chose to merge tracks 5 and 6 as they both remember the loss of people I’ve truly loved and they embrace their influence on my life. 7. Times Square reflects on the best and worst place in NYC. I took a video of the square with my phone, went home, watched it next to my keyboards, and this melody just came out of me. 8. Dreams… Everything is possible there… People you love that are not a part of your life anymore can show up suddenly… But you can't always really reach them… 
I wanted a dreamy atmosphere and decided there would only be vocals, piano, and about 7 layers of keyboards synths.  I was fortunate to have my good friend and incredible musician Camila Meza to sing on this one.  9. Gambit - in the past year I really got into chess. For those who don't know, a gambit is an opening move in which a player risks one or more pieces to gain an advantageous position. However, this is a potentially dangerous move that can cause one the game if executed poorly. This is also a metaphor for life—sometimes you’ve got to risk a lot in order to become better. 10. Schlompi was a toy store in Tel-Aviv that I used to visit as kid. This song, with its playful and silly melody and hints of childhood melancholia, embodies toy stores and this one in particular.  11. Autumn Song was written in autumn of course. I’ve always found autumn to be a very special time of year—a time of new beginnings on one hand but also of endings: happiness and mourning; rain and sun. I hope this will help you understand the songs better.. Enjoy listening! Love, Eden