In this album you will hear textures of classical impressionism combined with tonal early modernism, with a slight inflection of bebop Jazz. Think of a meeting of Debussy, Shostakovich and Chick Corea. During mixing and production I modeled after pop singers such as Agnes Obel, Aurora and Tori Amos. I brewed and stirred and concocted and tasted the sound until I got it to be oh so sweet.
As before, the music is built around a simple poem, where (like most of my work in physics and biology) I focus on notions of time and transience. In the poem I project myself forward in time near the heat death of the universe and look back at the history of life with bittersweet nostalgia.
In accordance with the theme of transience, no music was ever written down for this album. I improvised everything on the piano, edited it, and sent it to the vocalists with instructions. My four superhuman vocalists, Syauqi Destanika (Indonesia), Faye (South Africa), Ena Marley (Spain) and Julia Camayd (United States) brought the songs alive with their mastery of voice, artful interpretation and unique character.
I’ve been listening to this on repeat for the last month, with the excuse that “well, I’m fine tuning the mix”. But really, I keep listening to it because it’s so delicious. I hope you’ll also enjoy it as much. So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado:
Carmen Silentii.
Found myself awake, singing
A song from the end of time
Without a soul or a voice, a chant
The finale of a story without a plot
Look, just a broken daydream
A humorous requiem
For myself
And everything alive
That once was
1. Found myself awake, singing 02:46
2. A song from the end of time 02:39
3. Without a soul or a voice 05:01
4. A silent chant 03:04
5. The finale of a story without a plot 03:22
6. Look, just a broken daydream 07:30
7. A humorous requiem 05:18
8. For myself 02:35
9. And everything alive 03:11
10. That once was 06:28
Music, Lyrics, Piano, Back vocals: Dervis Can Vural
Female Vocals: Syauqi Destanika, Faye, Ena Marley, Julia Camayd
Sculpture on Album Cover: Martin Lagares
