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Album Review – FKA Twigs: Eusexua

Posted by Steve Sauder on January 26, 2025
Posted in: Album Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I used to do a lot of album reviews on social media, but in the last few years for some reason I’ve stopped doing them. Not that I’ve stopped listening to new music … that would be horrible. As a musician, it’s kinda my job to keep myself abreast of new music, to exercise my ears, as it were. Sometimes it’s not an easy task to be honest, as a fair-sized swath of “modern pop music” (the air quotes are on purpose) just doesn’t resonate with me. Having said that, I genuinely believe that the only really important thing is talent and hard work. Even if the music itself leaves me cold, if the musician or band has talent, play their instruments (or sing) well, and write their own music, and seem to be trying to create something unique, original, that pushes the envelope and moves the art form forward in some way, then they deserve a listen with open ears and an open heart. So that brings me to FKA Twigs, a British singer songwriter who burst onto the hip-hop (kinda), R & B (sorta), eclectic pop (definitely!) scene a while ago (her first album, LP1 was released in 2014, and received a lot of attention). She started out as a dancer (and boy, can she move!) and moved to making her own music, and thanks to some very unique (one might even say “challenging”) music videos, from there into acting (she is currently in theatres co-starring with Bill Skarsgård in the remake of The Crow, and apparently, though the film itself is getting horrible reviews, FKA Twigs gets an occasional nod for her first-time acting. With all this other stuff going on, and after a by all accounts disastrous relationship-then-breakup with actor Shia LaBeouf (huh, who saw that coming, he’s such a stable guy!…), Twigs found herself out of creative steam, musically, and hadn’t released any music since her 2019 album Magdalene. However, after actually moving to Prague for the year-long “Crow” filming gig, Twigs found herself drawn to the underground Rave culture that Eastern European cities are (in)famous for, and this started her thinking about using some of the sounds and techniques from Rave and EDM to inform her own music, and “Eusexua” is the result.

As usual, her image on the album cover is confrontational, after finishing the album in preparation for publicity, she shaved the front half of her head, and has been seen with some truly remarkable and complex hairpieces in videos and interviews for the album. To my eye, it also looks like the length of her face and pointedness of her chin has been altered in the image, she honestly doesn’t look quite as much like an alien normally…

However, we’re not here for her looks, are we? Twigs has always had a very high, pure voice, a little on the fragile side, with a bit too much “baby doll” affect for me personally, and that’s definitely still there on this album, but the saving grace is how truly acrobatic her voice is (dare I say, almost Kate Bush-like in her Wuthering Heights days?) and a big surprise to me is the really wonderful full-throated modulation she’s added to her repertoire – the final song on the album “Wanderlust” had the hairs all over my body standing up – she lets loose a gorgeous vibrato-driven vocal belt that is truly electrifying.

The entire album is really good, very eclectic (she loves to write odd endings to her songs for some reason, almost every track ends with a stylistic change, I don’t know why, but it’s unique and I like it), and laced with the beats and soaked in the technical wizardry of electronic dance music. The eponymous lead-off single from the album throbs with a fast dance beat, which made the speakers in my car rattle. Her clear ethereal vocals float over the top and there’s a point in the song where everything takes off that made me bounce around in my car like an idiot. From there it rolls into “Girl Feels Good,” a treatise for her young nephew on how to treat women right (if I’m reading the lyrics right), which has an insanely catchy danceable hook, and then into yet another strong track, “Perfect Stranger”. There really isn’t a weak track on the album (my least favorite is the 2nd last “24hr Dog” and even that is catchy, if a bit uneven. One thing that you should prepare for if you’re going to give this album a listen, is Twigs’ habit of changing direction quite suddenly mid-song, there are several tracks that feature some radical changes of tempo and style, but they’re always handled well, and though some might find them jarring, after a couple of listens, I found myself nodding my head, thinking “Ok, that makes some sense there.” There are unique and I might even say “quirky” flourishes in most of the tracks, which some might find overwrought, but I salute her for packing the album completely full of ideas and eclectic choices.

So, what’s the theme of the whole thing? The title, “Eusexua” is Twig-speak for “Love”, based on the chorus of the title track:

And if they ask you
Say you feel it,
But don’t call it love,
Eusexua.

There are numerous references to the ideas of sexual freedom and liberation on the album. “Perfect Stranger” talks about the pleasures of anonymous encounters, saying to a man she’s hooked up with:

But that’s alright I say,
We’re all getting through this our own way,
I’d rather know nothing than all the lies,
Just give me the person you are tonight…

Not everything is in service of that messaging, there are songs that are just for fun, like the almost maniacally upbeat J-pop adventure of “Childlike Things” including a whole verse sung in Japanese, and a shout out to Tokyo. I imagine there’s quite a fan base for Twigs in Japan! I’m going to include a link to the YouTube video that went up a couple days ago for the song “Striptease” which is just … omygod, eye popping is understating it. It shows off her acting chops, her choreography and dance capabilities, and her ability to morph herself into a floating, spiky ball of limbs and heads. Honestly, I don’t know how she did it. 🙂

New Release!

Posted by Steve Sauder on April 22, 2024
Posted in: Classical, New Album,, Orchestra, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

“aqsarniit / Aurorae“ Available on All Services!

After a bit of reworking and remastering, and quite a bit of work finishing the actual scores, my piece “aqsarniit / Aurorae” has been released onto the streaming services, and iTunes Music Store! There’s new cover art too (see below)!

This piece has always been one of my own personal favorites, because it recalls a time when I was a young man, that I had the good fortune go on a once-in-a lifetime adventure to experience Canada’s arctic, feel the warmth and welcome of the Inuit community, and learn some of the amazing stories, legends and myths that flow from their long, hardship-filled and turbulent, but ultimately life-affirming oral history. More than any other event in my life, this nearly year-long experience, left me deeply in love with the Inuit culture, art, and people. When the time came to try to encapsulate the experience musically, I went back to my notes and my fond memories and composed a series of 9 songs, written for full orchestra and choir, that tells the story of the Aurora Borealis (called “aqsarniit” in the inuktitut language), and the traditional belief that they contain the spirits of ancestors, and if you fall asleep while they are in the sky overhead, your ancestors can speak to you in your dreams.

The narrative that the music accompanies, is contained in the booklet which accompanies the album when purchased from the iTunes Music Store , which is why I recommend purchasing the album from there, as the booklet comes along with it. If you’re streaming the album on Apple Music, Spotify, or other streaming service, I’m making the booklet available to everyone below, to download and follow along while you listen.

aqsarniit_notesDownload

The original version of this piece (from 2015), is available at this previous blog post, if you’re interested in listening for the differences! The original score was gifted to the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and was in the planning stages of getting performed, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started and orchestras across Canada shut down for a couple years. I do not know where it sits in the calendar for performance by the NACO orchestra (if at all) after the pandemic. In any case, there are new scores which reflect the updates that have been made to arrive at this version. With the increasing recognition of Inuit music, culture and history that is occurring across Canada at present, now would be a great time to perform this piece, if any orchestras are reading this (hint, hint!).

I hope that you listen and enjoy ”aqsarniit / Aurorae”! It’s a love-letter from me to a culture which changed my life for the better.

Environments Booklet

Posted by Steve Sauder on March 15, 2024
Posted in: Orchestra. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

As (what I believe to be) an integral part of the “Environments” release, comes a booklet that describes the various pieces, my Patreon patrons who are the inspiration for them, and the process that I used to create them. Because the overall theme of “Environments” is “music about artchitecture” which doesn’t seem on first glance to be something that really exists, the booklet, in describing the process of creation of the album, makes it clear just what the music is, what the tracks mean to the people who shared their favorite places with me, and ultimately, what they mean to me as a way of expressing my friendship and appreciation for each of them. As I wrote each of these pieces, I felt a sort of psychic closeness to each of them, exploring places that meant a lot to each of them personally.

However, because of our modern digital-only distribution systems, with the exception of iTunes Music, it’s impossible to distribute booklets with albums any more, so I’m putting it up here, and making sure that there’s a link to it wherever possible with the album when distributed electronically. Anyone is welcome to look into it, maybe it will inspire you to listen to the album, who knows? It was truly a labour of love, and I sincerely hope that everyone who listens to it is moved by it. Please feel free to read and/or download the booklet below.

Thank-you for listening!

environments-bookDownload

Environments Now Available!

Posted by Steve Sauder on July 16, 2023
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

I’m really excited to announce that my new album, called “Environments” is now available on digital music stores and streaming services everywhere! “Environments” is an album of contemporary orchestral music, that attempts to answer the question: “What would music about architecture sound like?” There are 18 sections, each one describing a particular environment (initially, I positioned an “environment” to be a piece of architecture – a building, or piece of public art, occupied or abandoned, but that grew to include natural spaces and more emotional places). The music isn’t strictly descriptive, though it often is, and there are numerous references, to pop music, to television themes, to famous musicians and their music.

If you’re interested in it, I’d recommend getting it from the iTunes Music Store, because they have enabled me to include a digital booklet with the album, that contains lots of information about how the album was created, my Patreon patrons who contributed environments to the album, and explanations of each piece’s composition process. Here are a few links to the album on various platforms:

Get it on: Apple Music / iTunes Music Store, Spotify, Deezer

Later in the summer, I’ll be putting together a numbered, limited-edition hardcover coffee-table book of the content of the digital booklet, printed on high-quality paper, and having a CD pocket in the front cover with a pressing of the CD, for sale as a collectible. I hope you all enjoy the new album, and leave your thoughts here on this blog! Peace to all!

Environments – Coming Soon!

Posted by Steve Sauder on June 9, 2023
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Coming soon, I have a new album of orchestral music called “Environments” that I’ll be releasing in short order (within the next month, fingers crossed!). It’s a collection of 18 orchestral pieces, all composed during 2021 & 2022, that poses the question, what does “music about architecture” sound like? There’s a great quote that I heard from Jane Siberry, but could have originated elsewhere, which goes: “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” A valid point, but I cut out the talking and the dancing.

The real story is that I have always felt that my composition process works best when I have a narrative to write to, a story that the music should tell. It’s like the narrative structure “pulls” the music along, and gives it life (this type of music is called “Program Music”). While this has been helpful for my film work, it’s always seemed like a weakness to me, like I should be able to just write music for its own sake, without having to follow a story. During a conversation about this, my composition mentor, Michel Rochon suggested that I should take on a project where I was forced to write music about something static … like Architecture. I decided I would ask my patrons on the amazing Patreon platform, to suggest buildings, or places, public artworks, or natural environments that have made them feel awe or wonder, and I would write short pieces about each of their suggestions.

And here we are a year and a bit out from the beginning of that, and it’s finally (nearly) ready to see the light of day. The pieces run the gamut of musical styles (as the buildings and other spaces run the gamut of architectural or emotional styles). Some of the environments turned out to be indicators of much bigger things (the destruction during World War Two of the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis, for example, or the fighting of Bangladeshis for their country’s very existence), or more about the architecture of a state of mind (the joy of seeing his daughter smile for the first time in many years after a very difficult period in her life, or the freedom of skydiving) than about actual buildings, but with every piece, you can feel a personal connection to the place, and the memories of that sense of wonder. There are musical references, too, from Madness and Björk to mall Muzak and TV theme songs from my youth.

I can’t thank my Patreon patrons enough for the support and originality they demonstrated! They get honourable mentions in the large format coffee-table book that accompanies the music. It will be available as both a digital download and possibly also a vinyl or CD special edition, with the coffee-table book beautifully printed and bound, if there’s enough interest in that. I’ll post here when it’s released!

Thanks for reading!

Soundtrack Album now available!

Posted by Steve Sauder on September 29, 2022
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment
Album Cover

I’m beyond excited to let everybody know that the soundtrack album for Was I Next? The Sean Cribbin Story, is now available at the following links:

New Film Soundtrack

Posted by Steve Sauder on May 23, 2022
Posted in: Film Score. Leave a comment

The documentary film “Was I Next? The Sean Cribbin Story” finished production last year, and went on the international film festival circuit, was awarded over 100 awards from film festivals all over the world, and was picked up for distribution, so keep your eyes peeled on Netflix or your nearest theatre!

The soundtrack for the film was written by yours truly, and the film received several “Best Original Score” awards among the others, and I’m incredibly honoured.

Check out the film’s website at wasinext.com for all kinds of interesting information about the film, including a “Music” page, which contains an interview with me about the process of scoring documentaries, and some great samples of the music used in the film.

I’m in a band!

Posted by Steve Sauder on June 19, 2018
Posted in: Ambient, Stardust for Jennifer. 1 Comment

stardustforjennifercovers

After a few years of being out of touch, my friend Phil M. and I recontacted each other a few months ago, and I discovered that he’d been very busy in the intervening years, turning himself into a rock star, and putting his band Stardust for Jennifer on the map globally (an impressive number of albums sold, somewhere north of 1 million, I understand!)  I’ve loved his music for years, and own all the albums (some of whose covers are shown above), and was so happy to hear that he was making his wonderful, ambient/electronic sound available to the world, and that the world was taking notice!

And then, to my complete surprise, he asked me to join the band!  And of course, I said yes.  I think, actually, he had gotten about as far as “Steve, I was wondering…” when I said “Yes, of course!!!”  🙂  So, I’m now officially a member of Stardust for Jennifer, and have been working with Phil and the other band members (whom I hope to actually meet in person soon, as they’re scattered around between Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie) on the new album, which apparently I’m not supposed to talk about, so I won’t, except to say that it’s so fucking amazing it’s going to make people’s brains melt in their heads. …and it’s called “Ghost”.

I may have said too much.  But I’m really super excited about the prospect of making music with such an incredibly creative and talented band.  They feel a bit like family and I haven’t even met them yet!  Look for the new album sometime soon!

ReSCORE Project – Part 3

Posted by Steve Sauder on August 29, 2015
Posted in: Film Score, ReSCORE. Leave a comment

Here’s the third instalment of my project to “re-imagine” some of my favourite movie scenes, with my own music instead of the original score.  My first two have gotten quite a few very positive and constructive comments, and I’m pleased that people have taken the time to listen and give me such wonderful feedback!  Thanks so much!

For my third outing, I decided I wanted to tackle something non-Western, to see how I would fare with some musical idioms that I wasn’t familiar with.  It’s a task that’s handed to many a film score composer when the film takes place in an exotic locale.  And to do it right, without “patronizing” the music and culture of the destination, is really quite difficult.  But where to go?   Well, I’ve always loved the sound of the Indonesian Gamelan … the shimmering, wonderfully out of tune quality that they build into the instruments purposefully, the huge wall of sound that 30 people banging on metal bells and gongs produces, and the intimidatingly complex circular playing structure that, as it turns out, is unique to gamelan composition.  OK, there was the challenge, now, what movie?  Well, in a twist of fate, after doing “Dead Poets Society” for my first film, I started reacquainting myself with my “Peter Weir Collection”, coming to the realization again (as I had years ago) that the talented Australian Filmmaker was (and is), at least as far as I was concerned, somewhere very close the pinnacle of filmmaking genius.  His films are sprawling and gorgeous,  a visual feast, made all the more luxurious because he has a slow and steady hand on the camera, letting shots linger so little details catch your eye.  He’s also a master of the “… and the music swells …” moment that so few directors get right … a wee bit too over the top and it’s ham-handed, but not quite enough and it’s not the emotional bombshell that it could be … Mr. Weir has utterly perfected that balancing act (which, of course, relies just as heavily on the music swelling like it should, as on the deft visuals) – which is probably why after only 3 attempts, I’ve already done 2 Peter Weir films – he knows how to use film music in a very powerful way!

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ReSCORE Project – Part 2

Posted by Steve Sauder on July 28, 2015
Posted in: Film Score, ReSCORE. Leave a comment

Continuing on with the ReSCORE project, I thought for my second time out, I would tackle something that is (a) a little more recent, and (b) is scored by one of my heroes, Hans Zimmer.  Zimmer has written a truly staggering number of film scores, and while he receives a bit of flak for reusing ideas between projects, I’ve found that when he’s presented with an interesting challenge, he invariably comes up with highly original music that adds a great deal to the film.  One such challenge was the score for “Sherlock Holmes” – after writing a jangly, highly recognizable theme for the first Guy Ritchie film, and populating that score with wild fiddle playing and broken pianos, he was presented with the unenviable task of creating something new, but sort-of the same, for the second film, “Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows”.

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