Influences
Delerium, “Innocente” and “Inner Sanctum”
Blue Stone, “Epimetheus”
Secret of Mana soundtrack, especially “Phantom and a Rose,” “In the Dead of Night,” and “Whisper and Mantra”
Donkey Kong Country, “Life in the Mines” (home in on the chorus chords, and you’ll hear what I mean. I think of the snare as influenced by this song as well, but they don’t sound similar, so I don’t know what I’m thinking of – maybe just the reverb generally)
Story
This is a song about wind pollination of conifers (or anemophily, for you science-y types) from the wind’s perspective. The whole process is really odd when you think about nature and efficiency and all that. Only about 1% of conifer pollen actually lands on what it needs to – the rest just goes somewhere (annoyed noses? And yes, this is a reference to Teen Girl Squad’s “3 noses?”.) So I’m thinking about how the wind propagates loads of important life, but it’s not invested in the process. It’s just enjoying being itself, and perpetuating an ecosystem is a happy side benefit.
Musically, I wanted to nail those stately, hippy-dippy songs of the late ’90s that are still darkly inviting. The downward pitch-bend of the opening pad and bass riff are meant to simulate the slow descent of pollen. And the lyrics are about 15% more poetically erudite than they need to be, because that’s how those songs roll. (At least, that’s what I’m claiming this time. “It’s a feature, not a bug!”)
To emphasize the randomness element of the biology I’m describing, a ton of elements are set to random. The kind of industrial tertiary bass – what sounds a bit like it belongs in Depeche Mode’s “The Sinner in Me” – is a Pigments synth set to produce a lot of randomness. The main vocals have an old effect (a multi-effect thing that went out of business years ago and sold for $5 as it was closing – BT said to pick it up, so I did even though I wasn’t making music at the time) that produces a random amount of panning and a random amount of doubling; combined with the heavy reverb, there’s a kind of pulsating life-of-its-own feel that I enjoy.
Lyrics
I, the living wind, high above my forest,
Cross-pollinate as I please
The mating dance of the verdant immobile
Is seen in my chaotic breeze
Lazily liaising the pine and cypress,
Swirling it all without a care
As long as I carry enough in my whimsy,
It doesn’t matter what lands where
Watch me glide among the trees
Circling the canopies
Feel my ever-pleasant gentle omnipresence
My design is randomness
In abundance for success
I go where I like and bring you elements of life
I take it up, I mix it up
I give it back, I don’t keep track
I just move on, the past is gone
More life to live, more life to give
More time to see whatever I can be
I’ll never stop reaching the top
Of leafy skies, where my surprise
Is that I bring awakening
Upon the earth, but my self-worth
Comes from how I enjoy the way I fly
(Repeat the chorus and left-right bridgey bit, but together the second time)
Some press about it
“In terms of cinematic electronica, ‘Circling The Canopies’ by Restless Mosaic is an immediate winner. The contrast of swirling synths and deep drones during the intro advertises a track with a grand intent, and the dual melody continues to provide a huge melodic heart throughout. Even when the middle eight breaks out into a bigger, brighter sound before dropping into something that sounds as if it were inspired by Jean Michel Jarre’s ‘Oxygene, Part 3’, the retro-futurist approach has a kind of sedate quality, and that’s helped no end by a rather unexpected vocal. The featured voice floats across the musical landscape with a genuine ease, adding an extra melody that might help this appeal to the indie crowd. The vocal’s vaguely Brian Molko-esque tones also lend a very 80s influenced androgyny here that really works. It would be remiss to merely call this “quirky”, but it sort of is, in it’s own way. It’s great to hear a synth-based workout that doesn’t fit squarely into a single genre.” – Real Gone Rocks
““Circling the Canopies” follows, featuring futuristic synths recalling of Depeche Mode, but with a darker tone. As the angelic vocals begin, the track takes on an ambient tone similar to Enigma, balancing shadow and light.” – Skylight.gr
Song three is neither a lie nor the truth, I guess: Melt Spun
restlessmosaic.com 