With visuals and titles referring to the theme of travel on “Navigation”, and a handful of tracks sharing a common thread on “Passage”, some of you may have been wondering if I wasn’t harboring the project of a fully-fledged concept album. It was indeed something I had been thinking about for quite some time. But as you can imagine, such an endeavor requires plenty more preparation than that of a “regular” album. And up until the release of “Passage”, I never felt I had enough time to properly develop all the different elements.

Once “Passage” was released, however, I told myself it was high time that I took things to the next level. Amidst a series of intensive rehearsals, I began writing down ideas, gradually crafting the premises for the concept in question. Around mid-November 2017, I began selecting sounds, finding melodies and recording tracks. This time, I really wanted to push the boundaries much further. This was going to be my most symphonic album to date. It was going to be lush and grandiose.

I actually got quite a lot of recording done. The number of compositions was rising rapidly. But such rich music also required a rich concept. And as the project evolved, I realized the whole thing would require more time than I had initially imagined. In other words, if I really wanted to have a new album ready for the 2018 edition of the Imaginales festival, I would have to momentarily shift my creativity to another project.

Thankfully though, I already had one I could shift to. Amidst all my neo-symphonic meanderings, I would sometimes take a “break”, so to speak, and record something more ethereal and less intricate. As I listened back to everything I had recorded so far, I was happy to see that I had quite a few of these ethereal pieces to work with. Basically, it felt as though another concept album was taking shape, parallel to the initial one. All that was left to do was find a few more musical ideas, and develop a story that fit the atmosphere.

Given the futuristic feel that emanated from these compositions, it immediately became obvious that the story in question would be science-fiction. And given the predominant ethereal tinge, the idea of a predominantly aquatic planet immediately came to mind. Once the story was finally complete, I simply needed to record a few more tracks, in order for the different moods and events to be properly illustrated.

But… that wasn’t quite the end yet. Indeed, this story also had to be illustrated in the pictorial sense. And furthermore, I wanted to create a special kind of packaging for the CD version. Something inventive and elegant that would make it unique.

Click here to find out more about the visuals and the pouch !

Best regards.

Iridaes