WANDERERS BY CLÉMENTINE DELAUNEY
We worked on it the same way as we did for ‘The Deep & The Dark’, sending ideas and songs drafts back and forth with our producer Frank Pitters from Silverline Music. Since we had worked together before, everything ran really smoothly and I think this is one of the reasons why we managed to go further with our songwriting skills compared to the previous album. Most of the time, Frank comes up with a structure based on an idea we have and then I create the vocal lines. We work together on arrangements and sound. I write the lyrics… The main difference this time was to work with Michele. First time for me to have someone else than the producer, in the studio, while I was recording my parts and it was a very interesting and very enriching experience!
We knew where we were starting at: where ‘The Deep & The Dark’ stopped. This was our starting point. But then we let the horizon open, depending on the songs we decided to keep for the album. As we evolved as people and musicians, our music evolved too and it’s pretty natural that we came up with these songs. There was no real firm direction, we make the music we love to make!
A good musician needs to convey emotions to people. If there are no emotions in the music, in the interpretation, in the meaning… if no one is touched, if there is no magic… then it just doesn’t work. A good musician, a good artist must keep his or her heart open and let things get through and out of it. There are technical standards for sure, skills that we must develop in order to become a professional musician and be able to be part of a band that goes on tour and plays big festivals, but it’s not just that. You can technically be the best out there, never missing a note, if the heart isn’t open, then you’re no better than a machine. I guess the reason why machines aren’t replacing men when it comes to music is that they have no heart and can’t genuinely play with emotions.
I tend to focus on how I feel, what I am going through. Singing my lyrics is part of my own healing and spiritual growth. They reveal the deepest in me. I try to isolate myself and get away from any form of possible influence so that I end up with something that sounds like coming from my true self, even though we are all unconsciously influenced by everything we read, watched, heard, thought, experienced…
The artwork was made by Peter Sallai from Mortpaint graphics and it is a metaphor of the main message we want to the vehicle with this new album. The main ship on the right-hand side represents the very coded and traditional life, fitting every social requirement, putting us in predefined places, giving us predefined purposes. But this life had to face troubles (the tentacles of the Kraken) and proved its weaknesses (the fact that it had to ground on a desert island). The two main characters in the front have survived and are now forced to explore a new place. This is when life makes you step out of your comfort zone when you leave the common paths to explore the wild. To us, this is something positive, this is when you get to know yourself and grow. That’s why this cover is bright and not dark. We want people to feel that even if they go through dark times if they listen to their heart and stay true to themselves, they will find their way and be happy.
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