Chosen

Released: July 2025

Equipment: Korg Opsix synthesizer, Arturia KeyStep Pro sequencer

Listen:

In the spring & early summer of 2024 I'd produced three albums, a burst of creativity after the gruelling experience of my mother's decline & death. However things had ground to a halt after this, I'd started work on a couple of ideas but had abandoned them when I couldn't summon the drive to develop them further - my creative process seems to require a certain amount of 'inertia' to sustain itself and the longer I go without composing & playing the harder it is to get started again. On top of which my work situation was becoming very unsatisfying and I was spending a lot of my time (& energy) looking at future plans, while also dealing with family issues and just generally grieving. It was not a good time for making music.

My way out of this logjam was to fall back on an old but well-tested remedy - buying a new synthesizer! Rather than just being a simple excuse for a new toy I took the opportunity to reassess my current setup and look for an instrument that could provide inspiration while guiding me in new directions (I've written about this adventure in The third machine). When the dust had settled I found myself with a Korg Opsix synth and soon after began exploring its capabilities.

Things were a little daunting at first - the Opsix is based around FM synthesis, a notoriously difficult process that had befuddled me when I'd tried it before. But slowly (helped by the excellent control layout) I began to get a feel for how the sounds were constructed and how I could sculpt them in the direction I wanted. There was still a large element of hopeful experimentation involved but I was definitely moving from explorer to pilot. The Opsix does a lot more than 'standard' FM and it was great fun to see just what it could do and where it might take me.

The recording process was broadly similar to my recent albums, I'd find a sequencer line and matching synth tone, develop them in parallel to create a song structure, then 'fill in' with melodies & accompaniment. The process seemed a bit slower than usual, averaging about a week per track, but looking back that was the sort of productivity rate I was achieving before my long hiatus. The song structures were a little more uneven than in previous works and my chord sequences were much more adventurous, often meandering way outside the key signature. With the decidedly 'digital' tones of the Opsix the end result was a collection of songs that were recognisably my own but appreciably different from my other albums. Which is what I was hoping for.

The title came from a bunch of sources. The process of choosing a new instrument was the first inspiration, leading on to the thought that the creative process is, to some degree, a series of choices. And do we make those choices or do the ideas choose us to manifest through? The cover photo highlighted another aspect, where being 'chosen' can be seen as a gift or a disfigurement, a prize or a curse (or both).

Fastlane starts things off with a bouncy beat in an unusual 10+12 rhythm. A nice variety of tones and a middle eight chord sequence that I'm rather proud of

Caravan has a gentler tempo and a dreamier feel. Some nice 'plucked' sounds using a (very simple) form of physical modelling contrasting with some very swirly tones. Early on I had the image of camels crossing the desert but this broadened into a more general sense of shared journeying.

Windblown also tends to the dreamy end of things with a 'wandering' feel underpinned by the bass line.

Morphia was inspired by the experience of anaesthesia, a change of consciousness driven from an external source. As well as disorientation there's a sense of euphoria, transcendance,and a bit of dread & spookiness. One of my favourites.

Runabout is an ostensibly simple pop tune, although in 7/8. Some primitive synthesized percussion helps drive it along.

Aftermath began as a very harsh & metallic piece but slowly found itself draped in melancholy. Some interesting chord choices take it in unexpected directions. Inspired by the fallout after a bitter argument, the sorrow at what can't be unsaid mixed with the release of saying (or hearing) it while the work of reconstruction carries on regardless.

Dreamcatcher has a deliberately 'misleading' structure, changing at unexpected points and going off at odd tangents.