The making of A World of Mirrors
"A World Of Mirrors" has been a long time coming! Oldest sections were written many years ago. Still, when I sat down to create the album, I quickly found the songs that belong together. It's fun that you can stick to a musical style for so long. What I heard is that what you listen to at 33, you listen to your whole life. Do you agree??
People who knows what I listen to are a bit surprised of what I compose. But I have no problem seeing how it all works together. I started my life with hard rock, you know, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, MSG, Rainbow. The likes of Queen, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd opened my eyes for complex and beautiful compositions. The "Gothenburg sound" combined melodies, in-your-face-punching energy and complexity, featured by magical bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Evergrey. And then entered the band that comprised it all; Dream Theater. I have followed them every step of the way since I got my hands on the album Awake in the mid 90's.
One thing that really hit me with Dream Theater was how beautiful arrangements they could create in between the progressive rock frantics. So I started finding music that was even more focused on beautiful arrangements and emotions. Post-rock and bands like Lights & Motion, Sigur Ros, Pg.lost, U137. And that's where my music found a genre!
I have in many ways also been inspired by the work my bandmate Marcus and I put into our band Soundwave Society. We released our first album early this year 2024. So if you need more pure rock in your life - listen to Soundwave Society on Spotify!
Below is a stream of thoughts about the tracks on the World of Mirrors album. There's so much more that could be said, but hey, the music also has to speak for itself!
Enjoy!
/Truls Helstad
The Mirror Prelude
The album starts off with this beautiful, downscaled introduction.
I wrote it with the swedish movie 'Änglagård' echoing in my head. It's summer in the countryside, sunny, lush and green. At 1:27 the bass/cello enters like an approaching thunderstorm, leading to the crescendo that predicts that changes are coming...
Chapter 1. In a World Of Mirrors
This is the song I wrote in the aftermath of the accident that is ground for this whole album. Parts of it was written while my left hand was in bandages.
It's a 'busy' song, with many layers of instrumentation, reflecting the mental state I was in. It has a sad, melancholy sound, a long intro where the main theme/chorus is first heard at 1:30. After this, the song goes down in energy, leading to my favorite part, the bridge at 2:29. The thing is that I have never been able to record the guitar sound that I hear in my head. It's stuck in the world of mirrors, I guess!
Chapter 2. Origins
'Origins' is the most orchestrated song on the album. Several layers of cellos and violins builds a scenery of norwegian fjords and mountains, yes, well, at least in my head!
The intro leads into a section at 0:45 with staccato strings and a light, fragile violin floating in with a beautiful melody. At 1:24 another violin, more self confident, grows in strength and overtakes the lead. More instruments adds to the energy, emphasizing melody and support up to the ending crescendo.
Chapter 3. Home
Starts with a singing piano, carefully supported by bright strings. A delicate melody enters, like raindrops in a forest, soon evolves with more bass and distinct tone. At 1:18, a bridge of rising steps leads into an intro repetition an octave lower, but with more energy and focus.
At 1:55, the piano is joined by violins that broaden the soundscape, supporting the melody, but soon, at 2:20 the violins enters their own melody, as if they are starting a conversation with the piano. The dialog continues, until the violins can gracefully end the song on their own in the outro starting at 3:10.
Chapter 4. Reflections
This song is really two songs chained together. It's the longest on the album, spanning over 9 minutes. The intro is a very beautiful segment performed with the iconic 'Alignment' soundbank from my old Korg N5ex. It is soon joined by a very gentle guitar, later a bass enters, another guitar, and these instruments keeps evolving the song. The main theme is hinted by the guitar and finally introduced at 2.13. At 4.14 the key changes from C major to D major to give an energy boost and align with the second part. Around 4:40 we enter the bridge that leads up to the second part of the song.
The second part was for a long time named "Summer" in my library. It is really a very uplifting song that always gets me in a good mood. There are several layered guitars with beautiful harmonies that sweeps in and out of focus. The energy level changes throughout. One of my favorite parts starts at 07:30, a calmer section that leads into the last chorus where the guitars, the bass and the drums runs circles, yet keeping and driving the melody.
Also listen to the bass, especially the section starting at 6.36 where the bass gets a more central role.
The very "chorusy"/echoing synthesized guitar in the bridge between the two sections and in the end is worth mentioning. Comments have been that "I thought something was wrong", but I really fancy that sound and I do think it has found its place here!
Chapter 5. Where I was, I am no more
This song started out with me wanting to have a fully guitar-based tune. It then evolved with strings and bass and became a really intricate and beautiful composition.
The theme starting at 1.22 give me vibes of the old guitar tune Cavatina from the movie The Dear Hunter. Do you agree?
For a long time, this track didn't last longer than around 2 minutes, but a drumsound made me experiment a bit more, resulting in the next section, starting at around 2:10. That part has become one of my favorites, boosting the energy and evolving the song. The bridge starting at 2:38 builds nicely up, goes down in tempo and then drops to a calm section at 3:25. Then another build-up with a stronger, cleaner guitar, returning to the chorus and then ending on a nice C major.
Chapter 6. A Place of my own
Returning to the singing piano, this song is probably the most beautiful on the album. Again imagine raindrops in a forest, the sun getting close to the horizon, shining between the clouds.
There's no reason for this little tune to evolve, it's steady and calm, reminding us to just enjoy here and now.
At 1:45 we are reminded of a breeze in the trees around us. While gently lifting our heads to look, we spot a deer down by the lake, introduced at 2:21 as an A-flat in the C major scale, surprising us. But as we realize the beauty of it all, we find ourselves again resting safely in C major. The raindrops are back, leading to what is probably my favorite moment on the album, starting at 3:05. The left hand starts climbing the scale, gaining equal focus as the melody. It ends in a really high note, then fading into the outro where the sun slowly disappears under the horizon.
Chapter 7. The Story So Far / The Shattered Mirror
This is actually one of the oldest tunes on the album, but it is also still one of my absolute favorites.
Starting with staccato strings straight into the main theme, it promises doom or salvation, nothing in between. Guitar and drums enter, a hovering bass that emphasizes the road towards the end.
At 1:06 the guitar and the arrangement stabilizes on the verse, evolving to next theme at 1:38, and enters a build-up at 2:10. It ends at 2:42, returning to the main theme. Starts quiet, then building up to the final section that hits at 3:14. At 3:46 extra layers are added, fattening the mix, building up for the album's climax at 4.18 where the mirrors are finally shattered.
The climax is followed by a nearly minute long outro where we get a chance to breath again, free from the confusing world of mirrors.
The Mirror Postludium
From the oldest to the newest, this track was written specifically as an ending to the album. After a soft introduction, the main theme enters at 0:43 with a melody that quickly sticks.
At 1.27 the chords go up an entire octave in halfsteps - a playful and fun section - listen carefully :)
At 1:52 starts a section that could be a song of its own. I'm even throwing in a harp, but it has been gradually decreased in volume in the later mixes. Maybe changes in a re-mix? At 2:35 a really beautiful build-up starts. A simple two-note piano chord stays on C while a single violin plays a lovely melody. It ends when the main theme kicks in again.
When the final descent starts at 4:00, the story ends in a beautiful piano - the singing piano from earlier tracks. My initial idea was to paint a picture in positive, sunny colors, but when I listen, I hear a tone of approaching doom...
Maybe the world of mirrors is still out there...