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This #podcast runs every Monday and showcases the best in alternative electronic — #EBM, dark #electro, #synthpop, #goth, #powernoise

Behind “Our Common Future”

The track’s lyrics are dual, in the way that they deal with the world on a global scale, and the world in your every day life. Mutual respect for each other is the core theme, in both environmental issues as communication between humans. If we do not succeed in working together, listening to each other, living with each other, then our common future will not result in “survival for us all”, but in “destruction for us all”. It’s a quite simple message, and I don’t think it needs any further explenation, but do read the lyrics below…!

The vocal part…

For as long as I’ve known the band Lunascape (I discovered them during a late-night talksshow “De Laatste Show”) I wanted to work with Kyoko Baertsoen one day. Why? Simply because her voice is very distinct, warm and emotional. A perfect fit for the track. And because I was moving with to a more triphop / synthpop way for the “Future Past” EP I thought it was the perfect time to contact her. I wrote some demos and we sent ideas back and forth through the internet, ultimately resulting in the track “Our Common Future”. Kyoko can do harmonies like no other, she did some dubbings on the verses, and especially on the chorus parts that made those sections stand out even more. (PS: Fun fact: Kyoko recorded the vocal parts in her pyjamas… :-)!)

For the techies…

The bassline is procuded out of a KORG MS-20 synth, dubbed with a very clean subbass from NI Massive. Our main guitarist Ben Van de Cruys wrote the guitar parts for the track, the only thing I changed was adding a filter and a huge delay on them using NI FM8 as an effect processor, to get a mix between a normal delay and a reverse delay. This to get a more dubby flow on the whole track, and especially on the verse parts. The biggest pads come straight from ReFX Nexus and NI Massive.

When constructing the chorus I felt it was a bit empty. I was experimenting with adding guitars, but that made it a bit too full and cluttered. The solution came when I repeated a vocal part, listen below to hear the A/B difference…

Another subtle addition were the fills, or walkup passages, (read up about the term here if you’re not familiar with it). I used different sounds to construct a fill that would fit with the already dubby track, and endup up layering two ragga snares with a huge delay. Under those I added short hihats, with a phaser, delay and subtle variation in both amplitude and pitch. If I would have used snares in stead of those short hats it would have been too overwhelming. But, before ending up with this, I experimented with leaving out an eigth of the music (leaving only her vocals) as a transition into the next section, even a reverse crash.. But they all felt a bit dull and more importantly they didn’t fit with the feel of the dubby track. The fill now is subtle, but leaving it out would be signigicant. Anyway, listen to the example below:

The section between the verses and the chorus is one where I first only had a synth playing 2 notes, again with massive delays on there.. It felt a bit empty, and more importantly when the chorus kicked in it would’ve been too overwhelming. The next step I took was adding a pad to support the synth part. In the original version I also added Ben’s guitars, making them reappear in this section made the track feel like a whole more, and added to the dubby feel… Below you can kind of hear the step-by-step process:

Listen to the track

Via Spotify:

Via Soundcloud:

Lyrics

We’ve got a common future, we’ve got a common goal
Survival of the fittest, or survival for us all?
We have a common problem, we have global trouble
Sustainable future, or destruction for us all?

We are all on the same boat here,
We are all on the same…
We are all on the same boat here,
We are all on the same world here…

We’ve got a common future, we’ve got a common goal
Survival of the fittest, or survival for us all?
Our views trouble our sight, blind for each other’s eyes
Our views trouble our sight, blind for each other…

Comments

Here are some quotes we especially like :

“Again, this EP is a true success! It’s like a soft dream, an electronic journey into nostalgia.”

“I don’t like dubstep but here, the elements of beats and synths are introduced with such subtlety that it works perfectly.”

‘Our common future’ has a clear guitar sound in it and Kyoko Bartsoen is joining the vocal team (love it). This one is so sweet that it feels as if you need to brush your teeth’s afterwards. I loved the sexy @Dizkodude remix!”

Thx to Peek-A-Boo for the review & understanding our evolving & experimentation in sound & songwriting: because that is what Psy’Aviah is all about!

To finish, here’s our interactive youtube trailer to preview the new “Future Past” EP:

Behind “Look Beyond”

“Look Beyond” explores the “Black and White” thinking present in much of todays society. Some of that thinking is, in my opinion at least, due to the fact we as humans try to defend (sometimes to the impossible, or into absurdity) our own views & believes. Examples are everywhere: politics, the anti-scientific movement (but even some scientist themselves fall into the trap), vendetta’s, taboos, homeopathy, and the list can go on and on and on… But I think you get the point: the black and white thinking is leading us nowehere, it’s important to sometimes look over the edge (hence “Look Beyond”), and discover what’s happening over there.. The truth is out there, but in my opinion it’s grey instead being black or white…

Lyrically the song enumerates a couple of “opposites”, if you can call it that way (blacks vs whites), e.g.: “There’s truth in lies”, or “Order in chaos”, or “Danger in a safe place”… Each of them represents the fact that if you’re in that situation, or moment, don’t be afraid to “Look Beyond”, be skeptical, open your mind towards other possibilities. Even if, after investigation, they lead to nothing at first, one has the knowledge & experience now.

Other lines are more personal, or less political if you will… “Good in jesus christ” is one important for me, one I need to remember myself to from time to time.. I’m atheist, I don’t believe in a god, multiple gods, or whatever.. But the values portrayed by certain religions are valuable, and why should I be blind for them.. Still, it’s not always easy to put aside prejudices (because we all have those) and have the courage to open ourselves to the good sides of certain things we’re opposed to at first.

So, that’s roughly the idea behind the track, you can read the full lyrics below and make your own interpretations ;).

For the techies…

In this track I used a lot of ethereal pads VS harsh electronic synths, this to get a contrast and make it a kind of hard hitting track while keeping some soft & mysterious pads working to enhance the “atmosphere”…

Most of the acid synthesiers you hear were created with NI FM8, as was the bassline. For those lush/mysterious pads I relied on a mixture of NI Massive and a long forgotten synth, and by some regarded as crap, the ReFX Vanguard. It did the job, it’s good at moving pads that need a certain amount of thickness, if layered with other synths/pads.

The difficulty of choosing these ambient pads and textures with a more electro-industrial/acid influenced track was: the mixing.. Honestly I feel I could’ve done better, but at the time I probably heard it x1000 times, and just couldn’t decide anylonger.. Hearing it back now, after the excellent mastering treatment at the IC 434 studio by Geert de Wilde, I feel quite happy how it turned out though!

Listen to the track

Lyrics

There’s truth in lies, order in chaos
A story behind those eyes
Danger in a safe place, lessons in mistakes
Beauty behind a face
Colors in black and white, loneliness in a crowded heart
Good in jesus christ
With love comes greed,
A difference in what we want, a difference in what we need

Look beyond your narrow mind,
Open eyes, see the light, realise the other side…

Poverty among the rich, demons democracy
Ideas through a glitch
Thunder in clear skies, tears of joy and grieves
Battles through compromise
Beauty in agony, controversial positives
With love comes greed,
A difference in what we want, a difference in what we need

The new “Future Past” EP builds on our previous album ”Introspection/Extrospection”, and takes it one step further. Having tasted electro-pop, dubstep and electro-house… we decided again to make it our own. Resulting in a blend of ambient-dubstep on “Circles”, ballad like electro-pop on “Letting Go”, pure EBM vs Electro-House with acid elements on “Look Beyond”, and some dubstep-electro influences VS ambient textures on “Paused” and “Our CommonFuture”. The EP reminds us through the lyrical themes how we all keep struggling with past trauma:  “… time and time again making the same mistakes… I guess it’s true when they say that people never change” (taken from the track “Circles”).

In true PSY’AVIAH tradition, this EP is again crowned by another prestigious collaboration: with miss Kyoko Baertsoen (former HOOVERPHONIC artist & co-founder of LUNASCAPE). Her unique voice & timbre perfectly fits the very emotional song “Our Common Future”.

Future Past Cover

Tracklist
01. Circles; 02. Paused; 03. Letting Go; 04. Look Beyond; 05. Our Common Future (ft. Kyoko Baertsoen); 06. Letting Go (Atrox Bass remix); 07. Our Common Future (ft. Kyoko Baertsoen) (Dizkodude remix); 08. Paused (Cyance remix); 09. Letting Go (Frenchfire remix); 10. Letting Go (Triptone remix); 11. Paused (Rootkit remix); 12. Look Beyond (Dimension Flux remix); 13. Letting Go (Amarta Project remix); 14. Circles (Stripped edit).

Listen to some full length previews at soundcloud:

Introduction

“Future Past” builds on PSY’AVIAH’s previous album “Introspection/Extrospection”, and takes it one step further. They have tasted electro-pop, dubstep and electro-house… and then made it their own. Resulting in a blend of ambient-dubstep on “Circles”, ballad like electro-pop on “Letting Go”, pure EBM vs Electro-House with acid elements on “Look Beyond”, and some dubstep-electro influences VS ambient textures on “Paused” and “Our Common Future”.
In true PSY’AVIAH tradition, this EP is again crowned by another prestigious collaboration: with miss Kyoko Baertsoen (former HOOVERPHONIC artist & co-founder of LUNASCAPE). Her unique voice & timbre perfectly fits the very emotional song “Our Common Future”.

Besides these 5 beautiful new songs, PSY’AVIAH decided to hunt for fresh and interesting new sounds in the rich Soundcloud jungle and arranged remixes by these discovered talents: styles include dancefloor material in the form of electro-house by “Dizkodude”, “Amarta Project”, “Dimension Flux” and electro-house versus dubstep by “Rootkit” and “Atrox Bass”. There’s also more easy listening dub, and ambient-esque renditions by “Cyance”, “Triptone” and “Frenchfire”.

They have also added their own piano (or “Stripped” version) of “Circles” as a bonus – “it’s how 40% to 50% of our more song structured and lyrically evolved tracks start out, and we thought it was nice to portray how we went from this bare bones piano version to the version that it is now – a little peek in the process of how a song can change when you’re working on it…”, says Yves Schelpe.

“Future Past” reminds us through the lyrical themes how we all keep struggling with past trauma: “… time and time again making the same mistakes… I guess it’s true when they say that people never change”.