Cotton Mather’s much revered album "Kontiki" – originally issued in 1997, and then again as a deluxe edition in 2012 – was heavily influenced by Chinese philosophy, and the band’s mastermind, Robert Harrison is mining that subject matter again with his ambitious new project which represents the first all-new Cotton Mather music in more than a decade.

“I’ve always been spiritually curious,” Harrison says of the subject matter. “I studied the I Ching in college but didn’t delve deep until later.” Delving is putting it mildly as Harrison intends to record one song for each of the ancient book of Chinese wisdom and advice’s 64 hexagrams, eventually packaging selected tracks into several album releases, but also making them available digitally along the way.

Harrison discusses the latest track, "The Cotton Mather Pledge," saying, "Nothing befuddled me more in first grade than turning towards the corner of the room each morning and solemnly reciting the 'Pledge of Allegiance' to a piece of cloth. I sort of understood the 'Star Spangled Banner,' because at least you sung that and it had action. Even years later, watching my son and his Cub Scout troop raise their hands to recite the pledge kind of gave me the willies all over again. Maybe it's because he had a buzz cut at the time, and if you're a long haired guy from Alabama, the sight of somebody in a blue uniform with a crew cut is petrifying."

Harrison continues, "Then again, I'm also the guy who doesn't feel the need to turn every single sporting event that's not golf or tennis into a celebration of the armed forces. It seemed a stirring national impulse to do so in the wake of 9/11, and it was fitting - but now the two worlds have become inextricably fused. Let me say that I deeply admire and respect the men and women who defend and protect our country. But as a pacifist sports fan, I'd feel equally pleased if we were to all stand up before the opening pitch and recite 'The Palm at the End of the Mind,' by Wallace Stevens."

Harrison concludes, explaining that "The 13th hexagram of the I Ching, 'Fellowship Among Men,' or 'Seeking Harmony,' lays out guiding principles for establishing harmony and integrity within a community. Walker Percy was fond of saying, 'One must do the thing they are most fit to do,' and if there is one thing I'm better fit to do than anyone, it's to write a song about being in Cotton Mather. I don't know if it's a pledge or an anthem, since a pledge is technically spoken word. But feel free to place your hand over your heart when you listen."