Minor Artists present a radiophonic production of the Book of Jonah; narrated by Professor N.T. Wright, starring Professor Alastair McIntosh as Jonah, with soundscapes and songs by David Benjamin Blower.

The book is narrated in its entirety by Professor N. T. Wright, one of the world’s most celebrated living theologians. Playing the part of the prophet himself, with dark Shakespearian grit, is the Scottish campaigner, theologian and writer Professor Alastair McIntosh.

Blower creates an ambitious and cinematic soundscape behind the tale, interwoven with characteristically eccentric songs that veer from polka cabaret to macabre dirges, laden with broken harmoniums, thundering percussion and waves of strings. Fans of Tom Waits and 16 Horsepower will feel at home in its noisy, theatrical belly.

These songs bring to light themes of imperialism, terror and otherness: the second half of the conversation begun in Blower’s book, ‘Sympathy for Jonah’, published last year. The Book of Jonah is, after all, a story about a man who travels to Mosul to reason with extremists.

This unique work re-imagines what an album is for, crossing the thresholds of cinema, theatre and literature; evoking Sergio Leone, Tarantino, Herman Melville, and more. Embedded in the rich language of the King James Bible, it reconnects this ancient tale to a very new world.

Tracklist

• Curtain
• Opening Theme
• Nineveh
• Now!
• The Ocean
• A Great Wind
• Yo Ho
• The Storm
• Sailors’ Vows
• A Great Fish
• The Belly of Hell
• A Second Time
• His Gracious Hand
• The Short Straw
• The City of Blood
• Sackcloth and Ashes
• And God Repented
• Angry
• The Gourd
• Cattle
• Closing Theme