gift

Released: December 2025

Equipment: Korg Opsix synthesizer, Arturia KeyStep Pro sequencer

Over the past four years my musical productivity had settled into something of a routine. I'd spend half the year, usually through Spring & Summer, creating three album's worth of music and then go into a hiatus for the next six months. I'd generally use a single synth for each of these groups of albums and then swap to a different one when the cycle repeated. None of this was planned, it just seemed to emerge as a trait of my creative process.

At the tail end of 2025 I'd produced three albums with my new Opsix synth and was planing to take the holiday period 'off' and then return to recording with a focus on my newly acquired drum machine, probably in combination with one of my other instruments. But my Muse had other ideas, coming up with an intriguing new melody and then a stream of fresh ideas as each piece neared completion. With only a month remaining before the inevitable disruption over the midwinter holidays I made the bold decision to try to put an album together before then. I'd trust to my instincts, try not to labour over the more analytic side of things, and generally aim for something fresh & spontaneous. And if it didn't happen in time then that wouldn't be the end of the world.

My speedier, light touch approach was (mostly) fun but it did have some serious drawbacks. Notably finding a nice melodic line, creating a song structure around it, and then having to backtrack and work out how to construct an arrangement to fit. Usually I could tell what the 'right' chords were but sometimes it was down to trial & error, which then compounded the problem when adding the next element(s). It was very frustrating at times but it was nice to find myself pushed out of my comfort zone and into strange, new worlds. At least in hindsight.

Another challenge was finding my limitations starting to encroach more on my recording. On the physical side my keyboard technique, never one of my strong points, increasingly spoiled takes or required many, many attempts to get it right. On a couple of tunes I had to resort to programming the sequencer to get the right notes in the right order and then manage the rest of the arrangement to fit the more robotic result. A more worrying development was finding my mind going blank in the middle of a take, not just unable to remember the next note but what I was trying to achieve in the first place. Scary moments but an incentive to make the most of things while... now what was I saying?

The Opsix continued to delight me as I began to understand the mysteries of FM synthesis, something that had seemed like voodoo magic when I'd tried it before. The tonal variations were similar to wavefolding on steroids but it was the combination of six (or seven!) envelopes that gave those wonderful dynamics & emerging modulations. The operator mixer gave a quick & easy way to find sweet spots in the sounds and I began to get more of a feel for dealing with odd artefacts & unwanted overtones. I'll probably switch to another synth for my next set of tunes but I feel fairly confident about returning to the Opsix at some point in the future.

This collection is quite downbeat and intimate/introspective but on listening back it's clearly a continuation of the feel on Anima. There's a definite sense of solitude and the balance between freedom & loneliness that comes with it, some nice moments of surprise where the tune goes off in an unexpected direction, and more breaks from my usual/habitual song structures. The songs are generally less 'full' than on a lot of my previous work, letting them breathe, and they're mostly a bit shorter, not outstaying their welcome.

The title is a nod to my Muse for being so generous with her... gift.

Wormhole starts things off with a bouncy, offbeat pulse and an unusual (for me) chord progression. Some nice textures and understated percussion. Inspired by sci-fi wormhole travel where rapid transit passes through strange & mysterious surroundings.

Toybox came from memories of childhood delight when playing with a collection of toys, immersing in a world evoked by one but then quickly flipping to another at the drop of a hat. Some nice contrasts between the different parts.

Siren brings drifty washes of sound with some unusual phrasing & timing. The name comes from the Siren's song, a beguiling call that tempts you away from your conventional life.

Freefall is another example of long echoes evoking a spacious atmosphere. Deliberately thin & slight, a reflection on feeling unconstrained & undirected.

Far and few between continues with the introspective feel, particularly during the hesitant 'piano' line in the middle & the end. I heard the original idiom being (mis?)quoted and liked the associations coming with the new phrase.

Galasphere was an experiment in getting the elements of a song to remain disparate, happening at the same time rather than gelling together. The name comes from Space Patrol, a children's TV show from the early 1960's that left an indelible mark on me, both for its strange vessels (more gyroscope than space rocket) and unearthly electronic theme music.

Doldrums closes with more introspection (& long echoes). There's a sense of timelessness & solitude, drifting along without any great impetus to move in any particular direction.