Experimenting... - Seibutsu (2009/2010)

As soon as I finished "Almost Me", I started to have lots of ideas of where I wanted to go next. 

I wanted to record a Wiccan album, a goth album, an underwater-themed album... 

But the very first thing I did was, in fact, record a little track titled "Life Impulse".

I'd had some fun recording more experimental tracks like "Personal Hell", "Spirits of the Forest" and "Claustrophobia", so I wanted to go in that direction again.

"Life Impulse" in itself was an ode to life, with a rather distinct vocal line and my trusty breathing (something I've used a lot throughout the years, if you think about it!).

Then it struck me: why not do an experimental autobiography... of sorts? 

Incidentally enough, it was the first project to be completely recorded while traveling between Andorra and Toulouse during the weekends. 

One of those weekends, after years of not having sung in my falsetto register as I used to do when I was a child, I managed to reach back into it and recorded immediately: that was "Childhood: Chalice of Purity". In that same recording session, I went as far as "Empathy, Emotional Explosion", then hit a block. 

It wasn't until well into December of 2009 that I gave it another try and managed to complete the whole thing. 

I was taking Japanese lessons at the time, so what had once rather lousily been called "2 Decades, 1 Life, 0 Regrets" became more elegantly known as "Seibutsu" (which is Japanese for "Living Being").

"Seibutsu" holds a special place in my heart. It was my own personal way of making amends with my own past, with what I had gone through during my adolescence, as though I were saying "I'm finally ready to face adult life". 

The idea of singing the exact same vocal line throughout the album was that I wanted it to be kind of like a leitmotiv representing me or my will to live - or maybe even a reference to life itself. Anyway, it was an element that was to prevail throughout the whole thing despite the adversities: the menacing tick-tock of time in "Chronos, Father of Time", the distorted vocal lines in "Distorted Reality: Adolescence" or the utter chaos in "Empathy, Emotional Explosion". 

The vocal line is sung hesitantly and brokenheartedly in "Death and Afterlife: The Black Rose from Hades" (until a second voice reassures the first one), more confidently in "Magic Inside: Resurrection" (I always pictured the first vocal notes in that track to the sound of a horn announcing the arrival of something good), teasingly in "Intimacy" and triumphantly in "Adulthood: Holy Grail". 

The way the vocal line is sung at the very end of "Hopes for the Future: The Red Rose of the Earth" is sort of like a reminder that things are OK now, that I had been through all of that but had come out on top. 

You can get "Seibutsu" right here:

Igniael

The sweet, innocent beginnings: Almost Me (2008/2009)

How to even begin describing how it feels to start creating your own music?

After years of singing other people's songs, the idea of creating my own music seemed daunting at the time, and still fascinating, as I had absolutely no clue about how any of it would sound!

At the time, I was listening to a lot of music by Björk, so of course that was the example that I wanted to follow, back then - hence me starting out as "Iñaki", but we'll get to that later... 

I remember, at the time, that I was using MySpace to promote my music, and the first thing I uploaded was a cover of Björk's song "Show Me Forgiveness" (a simple, a cappella song, so the perfect thing to start).

I started writing a few lyrics and trying out some tunes, until finally I got my first song up and running: "Merpeople". I was definitely going for a "Medúlla" vibe (Björk's 2004 all-vocal album), something that was vocally-driven (as I had no clue about how to properly record any other instruments than my voice - or the means, for that matter), something that was also primitive, so I called my first project "Arcanum" and pictured it as a bunch of primitive people singing songs for each other while sitting in a cave. Go figure. 

"Merpeople" gave way to "Almost like a Breath", to "Rêverie Arcane", to "Self-Sided Fortress"... and the "Iñaki" sound started to be defined. 

Taking some pictures in between and listening to Björk's 2007 album "Volta" also helped define the visual aspect of my music and "Arcanum" as a whole, adding that nature element.

A friend of mine (who also provided lyrics for a couple of songs and took some of the most awesome pictures you'd imagine) suggested that my songs gave a feeling of "almost...". 

They were raw, simple, kind of unfinished in a way, completely devoid of any bombastic production.

So I told him, "they're almost... me". 

And that's how "Arcanum" became "Almost Me".

Poor sweet "Almost Me" is the album that has suffered the most with time. 

I first removed two of the original songs, "Broken Words" and "Internal Heaven", for no other reason that they contained lyrics ("Broken Words") and vocal lines ("Internal Heaven") by somebody I had a huge falling out with. 

Then, in 2013, after recording "Call Me Your Majesty", I decided to re-record it all with beats to try and liken it to the sound I was using then, including the 2 cut songs with new lyrics and vocal lines of my own. 

This time around, though, to celebrate its 10 year anniversary, I will re-release "Almost Me" as it was meant to sound, with much better quality, sans the beats but with the updated "Broken Words" and "Internal Heaven". 

"Almost Me" spawned three singles: "Almost Me (Take a Look at the Surface)", "Merpeople" and "Almost like a Breath". 

You can get them all from here: 

Igniael