ALL THAT GLITTERS... - 2017
Towards the back end of 2015 it was time to start working on a much anticipated gemstone related collaboration album. The concept was to tell the story of gemstones through music, for a local jewellery makers website, however there are a lot of gemstones and ultimately these gemstones were to be whittled down to the 12 birthstones.
The 12 birthstones have changed over the decades, dependant on value, availability & trends. In some cases a month can have more than one birthstone and in these instances the gemstones with the most interesting back stories have been selected. These backstories hail from all corners of the known world, myth & legend and even outer space. All these combined themes make this album both experimental and diverse. The tracks take influence from the Far East & Australia, North & Latin America as well as Greek & Nordic mythology amongst others. The tracks are ordered by month, January through to December, starting with Garnet and ending with Turquoise. As they all attempt to tell a story, the track titles have been given alternate names.
The album art is unique, this album for the first time does not have a booklet, but a fold out insert. Completely white, except for the 12 colours of the birthstones, with black font for all the wordy stuff and on the reverse side an image. This image comes from the "Aquamarine" story.
The 12 birthstones have changed over the decades, dependant on value, availability & trends. In some cases a month can have more than one birthstone and in these instances the gemstones with the most interesting back stories have been selected. These backstories hail from all corners of the known world, myth & legend and even outer space. All these combined themes make this album both experimental and diverse. The tracks take influence from the Far East & Australia, North & Latin America as well as Greek & Nordic mythology amongst others. The tracks are ordered by month, January through to December, starting with Garnet and ending with Turquoise. As they all attempt to tell a story, the track titles have been given alternate names.
The album art is unique, this album for the first time does not have a booklet, but a fold out insert. Completely white, except for the 12 colours of the birthstones, with black font for all the wordy stuff and on the reverse side an image. This image comes from the "Aquamarine" story.
1. Pomegranites: Garnet - the birthstone for January. In this track we tell the story of when a girl meets a boy (via kidnap, but they fall in love anyway). Her mother is sad and turns the world to winter. Boy gives up girl a few months per year so that the world can thrive again. Oh, and there are some pomegranites!
The track itself opens with a lovely summery vibe, string section & plucking guitar. Slowly the track becomes darker and more sinister as the story unfolds. Deep grating synths and a dark brooding guitar now come into play, with a heavy trap style drum and percussion section. The track fluctuates between these two extremes and ultimately concludes where we came in. |
2. It'll end in tears: Amethyst - the birthstone for February. Drunken Greek God hurts maiden and feels really bad about it, so much so his tears of wine turn said maiden to Amethyst! Those Gods eh?
As already mentioned we stay in Greece for track 2, where that old drunk Dionysus is throwing a soiree. The mood is distinctly casual and the background music very much reflects that. Nice mellow pad, understated percussion and a mellow guitar riff. The vino is in full flow but there's something amiss, that little synth is alerting us to something, an ominous mood is brewing. At this point it all goes somewhat pear-shaped. The guitar becomes frustrated, the drum picks up in comes the synth and the guitar stops. All sorts of weird and wonderful sounds enter the fray! Oh my, this will end in tears! |
3. The water of the sea: Aquamarine - the birthstone for March. An amulet for seafarers. Just pop it into the sea when the weather looks bad and a mermaid will find it and calm the storm.
The track starts,as you've probably already worked out, at sea. The moody string section and sporadic percussion gives a sense that a storm is brewing. Suspense filled guitar riff and that deep bass synth build the storm up and then our Aquamarine is tossed into the water, immediately calm, the guitar gently plays and a vocal sample is introduced as the mermaids get to work. The storm has passed and our voyage can pass safely onto the next track, phew..... |
4. Vajra: Diamond - the birthstone for April. Made from lightning bolts, trapping spirits, battle protection, miracle healing & lie detection. No wonder it's so hard.
So many stories for Diamond, so here we've gone to India for our inspiration. The percussion section here sets a stormy scene, the swirling wind and rain of a monsoon perhaps. Then as the lightning hits the earth, the diamonds are formed on the rocks. Indra, aboard his white elephant Airavata, cackles gleefully as his lightening bolts, Vajra, crash into the earth forming this most sought after of gemstones. |
5. The Queen of Muzo: Emerald - the birthstone for May. Man & Woman inherit the earth, provided they stay faithful to each other. He does, alas, she does not. It all goes wrong, but God, sort of, takes pity on them.
Crashing drum section and some pan pipes take us to South America, to the Colombian mountains, for another story of love. There's plenty going on here, including some building horns. and a pulsating bass. A dark and ominous pad, is once again offset against a plucky little guitar. The drums build throughout the track and at its' climax a cascade of effects and extra percussion. Emerald incidentally is my birthstone, just in case you're interested. |
6. Pearls of wisdom: Pearl - the birthstone for June. Boy finds pearl. Pearl is magic. Jealous men try to take the pearl. Boy swallows pearl !?!? and turns into a dragon.
To China now, Szechwan province no less. Deep bass, lots of percussion and chimes going on, in an attempt to make this track as oriental as possible. In addition there's a lute, and a harp. Throw in that pipe which I admit sounds more Indian, really, but I quite liked it. But it does darken the tale, hinting at all the poverty and famine running through the story. Lots going on in this tale too, so we have a sinister section, which is where we strip everything out except the bass and the percussion. There's also an optimistic element so the track uses a warm string section running throughout the track. |
7. The explorer and the Emporer: Ruby - the birthstone for July. Marco Polo wrote in his very elaborate and extensive diaries that the Kublai Khan coveted a large ruby owned by the King of Ceylon. He offered the King a city in exchange for the ruby, but, was ever so politely refused.
And so return to the sub-continent for this track, which in essence is a musical version of the Kublai Khan recanting a story to Marco Polo, who in turn, relays this story in his diary. So it's the story of a story being told put to music. #namedropper The Indian influences are all over this track, heavy set percussion, loads of pipe and reed instruments and of course a sitar. There's also a breathy sound effect for some reason too. The track is intentionally grandiose, due to the historic characters within the tale, Mr Polo, Mr Khan and of course the King of Ceylon as well as the ruby itself - "about a palm in length and as thick as a mans arm" Yep, that about sums it up! |
8. Pallasite: Peridot - the birthstone for August. This gemstone has been found on Mars and in meteorites.
For Peridot we go, literally, out of this world, when data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spaceprobe found outcrops of the mineral olivine or peridot in an area called Nili Fossae, on Mars. So far this is the only gemstone to be found on another planet, it also has been found on meters (pallasites) thus the name. The track therefore is an ambient voyage through time and space. Long slow drawn out pads and effects, building all the time, culminating with the guitar. |
9. Persian Skyline: Sapphire - the birthstone for September. Why is the sky blue? Because the earth is nestled inside a great cosmic crystal made of sapphire, so when the sun shines through the rock, the sky appears blue! Or at least that is what the ancient Persian believed.
So for this track we make our way to western Asia. Here we are very much influenced by India, eastern Europe and North Africa, the Persian empires boundaries at its height. We have some Asian percussion and an almost an Arabian feel to the melody. You might also get Egyptian or Turkish tones mixed in there too. We also have a dark undertone to the track in the form the a juddery grating effect. Is this a warning? Perhaps of the struggles that Persia will undergo for many years to come. Not all blue skies then. |
10. The message: Opal - the birthstone for October. An Aboriginal God made a rather grand entrance. He travelled on a rainbow to the earth and every time his foot touched the land the stones turned to Opal as he spread a message of peace.
So, at last, we reach Australasia and here we have one of the more upbeat tracks on the album. In the early phases of the creation of the track, its working title was Andamooka, where Opal was first found in 1930. A heavy didgeridoo pulses throughout the track. Again we have a heavy almost tribal percussion set and a pounding bassline. Throw in the synth on the chorus and we have a goodwill message of peace for all to hear. |
11. The golden sun: Topaz - the birthstone for November. There is very little known of Topaz and it's origins so, for now the Egyptian God, Ra, gave this beautiful gemstone it's golden hue. (Also available in blue).
So this track actually came before the back story. Topaz was, throughout the research, a bit of an enigma, basically, quite dull, from a story telling perspective. Based on this, the song is a probably the most Breezy-esque on the album. It's just a simple little plodding bass with a steady drum and percussion arrangement. All this is interspersed with some airy pads and perky synths. During the research, it was discovered that in medieval England, Topaz was considered a cure for lunacy. Having used this notion, the track is very soothing, calming and laid back, a resting of the mind, if you will. However, when you listen and imagine the sun, you quickly realise, that it fits that idea too. Relaxing in the warm summer sunshine on a hot day with a nice cold drink. Ah, that's nice! |
12. Cloudburst: Turquoise - the birthstone for Turquoise. Forget Leprechauns and pots of gold, some early Native Americans believed that you would find turquoise at the end of a rainbow.
Our final destination is native America, where turquoise would herald the end of a drought. After a drought the rain would fall, the native Americans would dance and laugh and cry tears of joy. The salty tears, mingled with the fresh rainwater and they would turn to turquoise. And so for the track, again a tribal sounding percussion set and a cheeky little flute, herald the rains after the dry spell. A cascade of earthy sounds and effects build the track, jumping and pulsing to the downpour. Rain soaks into the arid ground and the green shoots of life emerge from the earth. |