Well here it is, my latest album which is inspired by the planets and our solar system. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Overall I'm really pleased with this, over 7 months of work with more than 40 collaborators. I'd set some goals in terms of approach and content based on what I wanted to improve over Second Earth - personally I think I hit them.
I'll start, here's what I like track by track:
1. Intro – spoken and co-authored by my friend of 35 years Ian, he's also a passionate scientist
2. Mercury – a frantically fun track which conjured up visions of Mercury racing around the sun
3. Venus – narrated by my daughter Hannah and a very satisfying attempt at the classical style
4. Earth – the “Dark Side” moon song was a late addition and is really one of my favourites.
5. Mars – Venturing right outside my style and collaborating with another friend Kieran we co-write this epic. Dodgy Russian accent by mate Vasily
6. Jupiter – I really like the tune for Galilean moons and it’s sung by my niece Laura
7. Saturn – This started as an attempt to write an Aussie bush instruments song but gained a somewhat gypsy flavour – great bouzouki by my mate Scott. Titan is one of my favourite songs
8. Uranus – this one fought me every inch of the way. The goal was a Jethro Tull inspired song and I battled between the extremes of direct plagiarism and boring – nailed it! The character of Uranus in the narration was a lot of fun
9. Neptune – I love the rock section of this and had a lot of fun with Prince Charles
10. Pluto – planet or not a planet? Some ethereal guitar by another mate George and some gutsy blues vocals from my mate Tony
11. Kuiper Belt – another one of my friends, Chris Quinlan contributed the amazing percussion part
12. Planet Nine – mathematically possible and a moody, slightly enigmatic composition by long time Uni Chris Lloyd and his son – arrangement by Chris & Ian
Overall I'm really pleased with this, over 7 months of work with more than 40 collaborators. I'd set some goals in terms of approach and content based on what I wanted to improve over Second Earth - personally I think I hit them.
I'll start, here's what I like track by track:
1. Intro – spoken and co-authored by my friend of 35 years Ian, he's also a passionate scientist
2. Mercury – a frantically fun track which conjured up visions of Mercury racing around the sun
3. Venus – narrated by my daughter Hannah and a very satisfying attempt at the classical style
4. Earth – the “Dark Side” moon song was a late addition and is really one of my favourites.
5. Mars – Venturing right outside my style and collaborating with another friend Kieran we co-write this epic. Dodgy Russian accent by mate Vasily
6. Jupiter – I really like the tune for Galilean moons and it’s sung by my niece Laura
7. Saturn – This started as an attempt to write an Aussie bush instruments song but gained a somewhat gypsy flavour – great bouzouki by my mate Scott. Titan is one of my favourite songs
8. Uranus – this one fought me every inch of the way. The goal was a Jethro Tull inspired song and I battled between the extremes of direct plagiarism and boring – nailed it! The character of Uranus in the narration was a lot of fun
9. Neptune – I love the rock section of this and had a lot of fun with Prince Charles
10. Pluto – planet or not a planet? Some ethereal guitar by another mate George and some gutsy blues vocals from my mate Tony
11. Kuiper Belt – another one of my friends, Chris Quinlan contributed the amazing percussion part
12. Planet Nine – mathematically possible and a moody, slightly enigmatic composition by long time Uni Chris Lloyd and his son – arrangement by Chris & Ian