Touchstone is:
(1) The recognition of, or reference to, a visionary source of inspiration
(2) A standard by which others can be measured

In 2008 he produced Rain Stars Eternal, his rebirth 2.0 artist album and in 2009 he imagined and created Electronic Architecture – his IDMA-nominated concept compilation vision. Now, for a new decade, Solarstone returns with… Touchstone.

In ways big and small, conscious or otherwise, inspiration happens to everyone, everyday of their lives. Musicians are perhaps intrinsically even more open to it. Lines thick, thin, straight and curved are drawn to productions that span back over many decades… In his own production work, identifying these inspirations, down to their smallest fraction is something that Solarstone (composer, producer, singer & DJ Richard Mowatt) has long been captivated by.

Touchstone, his new artist album, brings these inspirations out of the cortex and into the light, ‘musically mapping’, for the first time, an artist that has at every turn sought to redefine the word trance. As with every album ever produced, influences are there to be picked up on by the listener. On Touchstone though they are first illuminated, clarified and examined by the artist himself. Richard goes on to explain: “To me musical inspiration comes in many forms. It can be artists that I’ve fallen in love with wholesale and still venerate to this day, or simply fragments of music that made a lasting impression at arbitrary points in my life. ‘Touchstone’ is a culmination of all those inspirations.”

Solarstone’s brand new artist album ‘Touchstone’ will be released on June 28th 2010 on Solaris Recordings. Its dedicated microsite has just gone live and will be there in the run up to the release and beyond to keep you up to date with all the info-bursts. Featured on it over the next few weeks will be some incredible on-location mini-documentaries that take you behind the musical creation of ‘Touchstone’. There will also be some great free music downloads (on the site already is an exclusive, unreleased, don’t-miss mix of the new Solarstone single ‘Electric Love’) and amazing competitions (more about which below!).

In a wholly new cutting-edge Solarstone want web users to participate in the album’s release! Solarstone have created a points = prizes feature on the website for registered users to help spread the word of ‘Touchstone’ around the worldwideweb.

As a user, you can help by embedding ‘Touchstone’ widgets on social networking pages, forums & websites. The widgets enable people visiting your page to listen to tracks from the album and then themselves get involved. You can recommend friends to join and every time your widget has a friend sign up or creates a sale, you automatically get points added to your account. And remember best of all: points are going to equal some pretty incredible Prizes!

…And more to follow from us very soon!