the big romance (kittser's version) by DAVID KITT

In Mr Kitt's own words: "The Big Romance was originally released in May 2001 on Blanco Y Negro, Geoff Travis's Warner-backed imprint which had been home to acts like Dinosaur Jr, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Everything But The Girl and Carl Craig. The contract I signed gave away the masters to Warner Music 'for eternity for the universe'. Warner have shown no interest in repressing the record and haven't responded any time I've made enquiries about the possibility. I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a version of the record that I own myself to mark the 25th anniversary of the original release. Using no post-2000 technology and mainly 90s hardware samplers and synths and the same guitars and basses I used on the original, I feel like I've made the definitive version of this collection of songs, which in many ways shares more DNA with my debut Rough Trade release - Small Moments - than the original did - David Kitt"

2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of ‘The Big Romance’.
Coming shortly after my home-recorded debut album 'Small Moments', 2001's ‘The Big Romance’ was my first time working in a real studio.

The bulk of the original album was recorded at Pulse Studios off Camden St. with producer Ken McHugh - owner of many of the synths and samplers and drum machines I dreamt of owning back then. It was such an exciting time to have access to this dream palette of sounds and Ken's skill and talent as a producer/programmer. I was bringing in records from underground electronica and hip hop as references for the sound I was going for and the results were a fusion of more traditional acoustic and electric instruments with electronic sounds and hip hop flavours that was pretty fresh for the time. It felt like a distillation of all the things I was a fan of. It's a sound I feel I've been honing and crafting ever since.

The record - featuring the singles 'Song From Hope St. (Brooklyn, NY)' and 'You Know What I Wanna Know' - sold 60,000 copies in Ireland alone and marked a major shift in my life as a musician and performer.

‘The Big Romance’ came out on Warner Music - the contract I signed back then means they own the rights to the album “for the universe forever”, apparently. Great! I approached them about a vinyl reissue for the 10th and 20th anniversaries, and got nowhere. So for the 25th anniversary, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a version of the album that I own myself and I'm free to press on vinyl.

The new release features all ten tracks of the original album along with five new tracks and b-side and fan favourite 'Saturdays' - all lovingly and faithfully remade in Ballinskelligs in my home studio with the invaluable help of Ken McHugh and drawing on my 25 years experience of making records with synths and samplers. I feel I've landed on a document that has the sonic and emotional DNA of the original - and at times improves on it, a record that will be cherished by fans of the original and would get the seal of approval from my 25-year-old self.

TRACKLIST (as on release)
song from hope st.(brooklyn, ny)
you know what i want to know
step outside in the morning light
private dance
pale blue light
what i ask
strange light in the evening
whispers return the sun, rest the moon
you and the city
into the breeze
i walk with seán garvey
robert wyatt(along the way)
held
all been gold
saturdays