Above Us by Jay Rolland

To compose is to take a train every day to an unknown destination, both so far and so close to the bustle of the world and the madness of mankind.

Through these ten cinematic-minded tracks, I tell about a space-time wanderlust, between true story and science fiction, between The Shawshank Redemption and Interstellar. I play Andy Dufresne in front of a poster of Rita Hayworth or Cooper going through a wormhole aboard The Endurance. I am imbued with nostalgia, hope and determination.

Above Us is my debut album composed from September to December 2020 then mixed and mastered from January to March 2021. I built it around a leitmotif characterizing a presence, a brand new vitality. Around this theme, I have produced music that is both orchestral and electronic, sometimes powerful and animated by percussion and brass, sometimes ambient and soft when the piano asserts itself as a soloist. I have used Ableton Live software, Native Instruments libraries and Waves Audio plugins.

I gifted myself an escape when I was stuck inside because of the health crisis but everything outside invited me to nature, to my family and my friends. I gazed across the window, sat down at the piano and made my movies. I wish this album to transport you to my universe, or somewhere else, or above us.

Many thanks for listening to Above Us by Jay Rolland.

Musician | Teacher | Composer

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