Amor Fati by The Laconic
Amor Fati is the second full album by Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist The Laconic, and continues the program established with 2022's Integrals, of creating evocative, eclectic, and emotional songs without words.
Not quite a concept album, but not quite not a concept album either, Amor Fati was inspired by the topics of fate and eternal recurrence. Not really not progressive rock, but not really progressive rock either, it draws from other genres, from salsa to spaghetti western, and veers away from expectations at will.
Amor fati is a Latin expression meaning "love of [one's] fate". The Stoic philosopher Epictetus stated its essence as: do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens, happens the way it happens: then you will be happy.
Tracklist
| 1. | Fate | 8:36 |
| 2. | Nona | 1:45 |
| 3. | Saber | 6:07 |
| 4. | Decima | 2:18 |
| 5. | Dust | 4:20 |
| 6. | Morta | 2:02 |
| 7. | Mirror | 5:30 |
| 8. | Refuge | 18:32 |
| 9. | Equinox | 6:52 |
Videos
Credits
It took me nearly half a century to discover the power and joy of collaboration, and so there are many people that made Amor Fati possible. Thanks to all of the the guest musicians for their consistently beautiful and thoughtful contributions. Additional thanks to Tim Gardner for fundamental contributions to “Refuge”; Juan Dahmen for being a treasure; Gary Husband, for somehow making my music sound even more like what I intended; Aralee Dorough and Colin Gatwood for their generosity; Christina Ruf for giving me an entire string section, twice; and Stefano Castagna, my brother-in-adversity, for his ears and heart. Special thanks to Scott Pelath for listening and being a top-notch brother; Erik Emil Eskildsen for advice and support; Markus Reuter, for making this all possible, and a hundred other things; and finally, my wife Diana, for her support throughout my at-times obsessive quest to make music for myself.
Juan Dahmen: Drums, percussion, and electronic drums
Aralee Dorough: Flute and piccolo
Erik Emil Eskildsen: U8 touch guitar
Colin Gatwood: English horn
Tim Gardner: U8 touch guitar and electric guitar
Gary Husband: Keyboards
Marc Pelath: U8 touch guitar, bass guitar, and synths
Scott Pelath: Electric guitar
Christina Ruf: Cello and electric cello
All music written by Marc Pelath, except "Refuge", written by Marc Pelath and Tim Gardner.
Recorded at Casa Margarita, Chicago, IL and elsewhere.
Mixed by Stefano Castagna
Mastered by Lee Fletcher
Produced by Markus Reuter
Design by Bernhard Wöstheinrich
Cover art "Milford" by August Hoerr
License
All rights reserved.
The Laconic is an entity created by composer-musician Marc Pelath, whose mission is to make evocative, eclectic, instrumental, arrière-garde, epic AF post-prog music.