“When we arrived at Château Palmer in late April of 2026, time instantly slowed down,” say Laurence and League. “It’s a place where nature is encouraged to do its thing, to take all the time it needs, and that felt like the perfect setting to record.” This quote from the liner notes by the two musicians expresses particularly well the way in which the tranquillity and beauty of the recording location helped to capture the essence of the way they collaborate and communicate even more effectively. As they observe: “’Close to Home’ goes deeper into what the duo is in its purest form. From the writing to the performances, to the way in which Nic Hard recorded it, we are trying to get closer to the root of what we are doing as two musicians in dialogue – simple, exposed, and raw.”

You can hear exactly this intimacy and immediacy from the very first track, “Luray”. The musicians breathing is audible as they play, as is the sound of the strings of the oud, the gentle thud of the machinery of the grand piano; in the pauses between the notes, birdsong drifts in from the garden of the Château. It is this sense of closeness, this feeling of being together in one room, that runs through the entire album and gives it its special charm. As Michael League says: “We’re inviting the listener to be in this house along with us, rather than trying to put on a show for them.” Many of the tracks on the album were written at night, often between 2.00 am and 5.00 am – something which further enhances the tranquillity of the music.

Like the duo’s first two albums, “Where You Wish You Were” and “Keeping Company”, “Close To Home” is an album of songs. The focus of the tracks is not on individual styles, but rather on distinctive moods, carried by clear melodies and rhythms which, whilst appearing light, also reveal the proximity, the precision and the sixth sense with which Bill Laurance and Michael League play together. Bill Laurance says: “The beauty of this duo is that there is no style that’s off the table”.

And the elements of this music are indeed fascinatingly diverse: Western and Eastern music, influences from North and South America and the Mediterranean, pop, jazz, blues, folk, minimal music. For Bill Laurance and Michael League, these are all part of the vocabulary of their shared musical language which has been forged during more than twenty years of collaboration and close friendship.

Ultimately, ‘Close To Home’ is a life-affirming celebration of human connection. The recording sessions were punctuated by shared meals and conversations between the musicians and the ACT & Château-Palmer family. The surroundings and these friendly encounters had a profound influence on the way the music developed. As Bill Laurance and Michael League affirm: “We have decided we’ll only do records like this for at least the next few years. Quick sessions in non-typical recording spaces with good friends, food, and drink. Make it more like a celebration. No time to overthink, second-guess, fixate ourselves on small details. Keep it natural, keep it human.”