I've been a medical mess lately, now with horrible recurring double vision (sometimes triple and quadruple) that has everyone mystified. I've seen my primary care, an optometrist, and an ophthalmologist about it, and all anyone's been able to say about it is, "Your eyes are really screwed up." Like, I know, that's why I'm seeing all these doctors about it! It's been interfering with my ability to work, watch or work on anything with a screen, and to drive.
I'm also getting tremors in my neck and hands. I could barely hold onto my phone the other day. So I just saw my neurologist about it, and he wants my back and brain scanned. My brain was just scanned about two months ago for the double vision.. No abnormalities, but what the hell. Now he's looking for a new problem. I'm already due for an MRI on my liver...maybe I can get them to do everything at once.
But whenever I can, I've been busy writing new songs, and now, not even a year after Pattern Recognition, I'm putting out my eighth full length album! Combined, Sunward and Moonward could have counted, but they didn't really have meshing themes. Well, I've continued down the path that led to Moonward, and now I have Saturn Ascending, which is my favorite thing I've done since Dialectical Observations, almost one-upping it. It's hard to say it's my favorite thing I've ever done, but it's damned close.
It all started with "Pulses Intertwined," which I was able to include on the extended version of Pattern Recognition, and then released as a single on November 30th of last year. That song represented a radical change in my songwriting. I was still on the neoclassical path that led to Pattern Recognition, but after the strings-oriented songs of that album, I returned to my first love, the piano. But the neoclassical riff I wrote demanded abrasive synths, electronic beats, and crunchy guitars, giving it a post-industrial vibe I hadn't really explored since Dialectical Observations. Almost directly afterward, I wrote its siblings "Pierced Heart" and "Dark Highways," both of which had the neoclassical piano, and post-industrial vibes. I was able to include them on an extended version of the single for "Pulses Intertwined."
I started writing more songs of the same style for the EP Moonward, and it turned out five of Moonward's songs were to be included on the upcoming album. I wrote more songs of the same ilk, specifically "Naiads and Dryads" and "Charmed, I'm Sure," both of which have an optimistic tone, but continue down a path of synths and electric guitars. "Naiads and Dryads" is more of a ballad, but "Charmed" has a streak of metal running through it. I was inspired by two older songs for these: "The Cloud Walkers" for "Charmed, I'm Sure," and "The Nocturnal Dervish" for "Naiads and Dryads." Mostly the piano in both cases. I also happened to be working on new versions of the "Dervish" at the time, and it got me switching riffs and variations for the piano on "Dryads," and got me putting in some of my "theremin" in there as well.
It turns out that almost all of the new songs I was writing had some sort of synths melody in them. There's three different bases for the customized synths. One is the "theremin," was is "hip-hop," and the other is "soprano vocals." At least, that's what they turn into once I've turned the dials and knobs. Actually, when I look over the track list, there's not that many. It's just "Pulsar Song," "Dark Highways," "Naiads and Dryads," and "Charmed, I'm Sure" (which really only has it in short bursts).
Let me delve some more into the inspiration for some of these songs. "The Pantheon..." is based on a little ditty I played in my early teens. I was taught it by my on-and-off girlfriend in middle school and high school. I know, a girlfriend, right? She thought it made a lot of sense when I came out of the closet. I'm still in touch with her: she called, somewhat in a panic, when her daughter came out as a lesbian. I know, a daughter old enough to come out. Sigh. I am thirty-six, you know.
Anyway, that ditty has stuck with me, and is the basis for some other songs, specifically "Jaded" and "Self-Righteous." But this is the first time I've played it all the way through. I think the accompanying beats and cello I wrote are pretty kick ass, and the experimental synth that provides some rhythm midway through is pretty interesting. But I was honestly pretty iffy as to whether or not this song would be on the album. I had two playlists going, and one began with "...That Holds Up The Stars" renamed "The Pantheon That Holds Up The Stars." But after playing the piano backward and forward and switching pieces of it down an octave, I did some editing that added a few notes. Those additional notes reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the song, and after upping the tempo, it became pretty concrete that "The Pantheon..." would begin the album.
"...That Holds Up The Stars" is based on four chords I thought were particularly beautiful, that concluded another song, "Two Sons," which didn't make it onto the album. Well, "Sons" is actually a bonus track on the Snail Tunes version. Anyway, I got a kick-ass beat to go with "Stars," and its fate to be on the album was sealed from there. The rest of it wasn't very hard to write. I wrote an accompanying piano melody, and layer by layer it came together. Like I said, it almost started the album. Instead, it became an extreme one-eighty from the opening track. Together, they're pretty incongruous, yet I thought it was a pretty amusing pairing.
"Elation" became an almost new song to me once I edited the violin melody. The change is probably pretty imperceptible to most people. I just nudged a couple of lines back a little bit so they were better timed with the rest of the instrumentation. It made a world of difference to me, though. It's funny, I wasn't entirely convinced of this song when I put it on Moonward, yet it grew on me more and more, and it's streak of metal cemented its place on this album, as almost every song has a similar streak. I'm pretty enthusiastic about this song now, and it pairs very well with "Charmed, I'm Sure," Both songs have pretty optimistic tones. For as much as this album is post-industrial and metallic, overall it's a pretty light-hearted record. I hope that strikes a chord with my friends, family, and followers.
"In The Beginning" almost didn't make it onto the album, but I wanted to show off the rapid-fire piano that streaks through the middle and the electric guitars that conclude them. The problem was pretty much the beginning, which was really hard to come up with. It was a stroke of pure inspiration to place the climactic strings - that run through a repeat of a piano riff and electric guitars - at the beginning. That seemed to solve the problem, and it convinced me to include this song on the album.
"The First Time I Woke Up..." is one of my favorite things I've ever written. Some might find the opening synth a bit piercing - I turned the treble way down to the point I think it actually works. But it gives the song an ambience, with alternations with a bass synth, that I absolutely love. It's one of the most ambient things I've ever written, and I find it very soothing to my soul. Even the metal guitars are very soothing to me. Though I used to be a metal-head, I've never found metal to be particularly soothing. Maybe some post-metal instrumentals. Mostly I find it abrasive and energizing. But here it relaxes me, and also earns its place on the album. I thought it would make a great conclusion, giving it a soft landing. I like soft landings. They cushion the particularly energetic songs that come before. This album may have a pretty ambient beginning, but just like Moonward it builds in energy as it progresses. So landing in an ambient cloud sort of bookends the album.
Two pretty notable songs didn't make it into the main body of the album. They had a place in the playlist, but I thought they didn't mesh well with the overall theme. Here you can give one of the songs a listen and judge for yourself:
"Roundabout" and "Two Sons" are included as bonus tracks on the Snail Tunes version of the album. The standard version can be found at YouTube and YouTube Music, Spotify, Google Play, iTunes and Apple Music, Amazon and Amazon Music Unlimited, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, and TIDAL.
I'm having pretty bad double-vision as I'm typing this, so I'm going to wrap it up. Thank you for all your support, and I hope you enjoy the new album. May your inner snails remain resilient and determined.
