Fruitless... is a tale of failure, growth, and the limits of dreams... (read on for story info, details on the unique format, and samples of the text)
The 276-page book includes lyrics from the album and an illustrated poetic story.
The story
A mask maker accepts that he will never earn an invite to the famed garden of immortals and begins creating for himself... But when the garden takes notice, he finds himself with one more opportunity to fulfill his fantasies...
The book
Includes a 90-page poetic story (illustrated by Tanate Asami) that weaves together the lyrics of the album into a sweeping narrative. It's a big collection (276 pages!) but breaks up nicely into 3 parts.
The music
Lush, complex, and ambitious in its scope, the 1+ hour of music is produced by trip hop musician Ogi Feel the Beat and performed by the poet to capture the rich rhythms of the text. (Some people have said how much reading along with the music has given them a deeper appreciation of both.)
Daniel is a rhyming poet, hip hop artist, comics writer, and director of ambitious independent multimedia projects. His work typically tells stories and features dense rhyme schemes. After a 6-year run of consecutive projects, he took 6 years off from releasing anything to the public. His newest release is a return to form—a 276-page book that tells a fable through an illustrated poem and lyrics to an hour-long album of music.
Credits
Written by Daniel Johnson
Produced by Oleg Brnic (aka Ogi Feel the Beat)
lllustrated by Tanate Asami
Album cover by Kyle Pherson
Vocals by Daniel Johnson
Mixing and mastering by Daniel Johnson
Book design by Daniel Johnson
ISBN: 978-0-9984468-1-3
Album and book originally released December 1, 2023
