Air of Optimism
⚠️
Genres
Initiated
Released
Singles
Preceded
Succeeded
Runtime
Progressive Trance, Progressive Rock.
August 14th, 2017*
December 17th, 2017*
Humbled & Exalted, Tree, Sanctuary
TBA
1:37:55
This means that although the album has been completed
and released, it is yet to be revised & distributed globally.
⚠️
* = approximation of date.
Overview
Air of Optimism is Exero's fourth album. The album is his second Christian studio album and is based off of the concept of finding rest in the Lord Jesus. Exero's fourth album is a split between progressive trance/electronica and progressive rock, his first concerted focus on a non-electronic genre.
Air of Optimism is Exero's first album to take inspiration from the British progressive rock band King Crimson alongside additional Genesis influences. Albums such as Discipline and Selling England By the Pound serve as the backbone for Exero's arsenal of inspiration. Additional inspiration stems from the fourth level of Metroid Prime 2, named Sanctuary Fortress.
Background
During the late summer periods of 2011 and 2015, Exero wrote demos distinctly different from the early parts of the summer. This period was dubbed "sub-summer" by Exero in order to distinguish it as a uniquely different period of the year for seeking inspiration. Summers, autumns, winters, and springs were periods where distinctly different sounding material would be written. However, more and more the seasons would be split in half, creating even more uniform material and sources of inspiration.
Alongside these time periods, Exero listened to Genesis almost exclusively in 2013 and 2014. After hearing much of Genesis' studio discography, Exero was inspired to write his own progressive rock music. Hearing the combination of rock instrumentation, uses of woodwinds, and synthesizers felt perpetually fresh to Exero and served as Air of Optimism's instrumental foundation.
The layers of this album become even more complex due to other sources of inspiration being involved. The video game Metroid Prime 2 gave so much inspiration to Exero that it supplied both Solar Experiments and Air of Optimism with song ideas. Other layers such as brief reworkings of ideas from 2012 demo album Gated Space and Solar Disasters further added complexity to the album. The final layer ended up being the concept of spiritual replenishment in God. After the brutality of K2L, Exero wanted to continue to write more Christian music, but in a directly opposite direction to K2L.
The concept behind Air of Optimism came to be during the middle of producing Solar Experiments, where Exero prepared for future efforts after his current work-in-progress was complete. Air of Optimism was created to house material inspired by the "sub-summer" and all these other ideas. The album used both progressive rock and progressive trance as base layers to create the sound of this new album. Since Solar Experiments was completed well after this time period, Exero waited until August 2017 to start this new album. By the time he started Air of Optimism, one unexpected bonus layer of inspiration was thrown into the mix: King Crimson's Discipline. Since much of 2017 was dedicated to revising K2L for the first time, hearing the radically unique sound of this album gave Exero foreward momentum to finally create the next album after a year of no new material.
Sound Design & Style
Although sound design was still focus as per usual, much of this album's focus was geared towards composition. Much of Air of Optimism does not contain synthesized instruments, and so in order to continue to create compelling and continuously maturing music, Exero focused more on melodies, song structure, careful instrumentation, and chord progressions.
Acoustic drum sounds and kits were used extensively like in progressive rock from the 70's. This decision also was made in order for Exero to think more about percussive ideas, drum patterns and less about unique sound design. "Leader of the Mob" is an example of this in which drumming style switches from traditional progressive rock drumming to march-eqsue music to signify the militancy of mob mentality. Renowned prog rock instruments such as the Pro Soloist synthesizer (an analogue synthesizer that contains presets modelled after acoustic and electric instruments) and the mellotron (a sample-based keyboard that has a distinctly grainy sound to it) were used extensively on the album to widen the album's sonic palette without relying on sound design.
Unlike Solar Experiments which mostly used 4/4, Exero resumed using odd time signatures to create fresh new ideas. Songs such as "Humbled & Exalted" and "Leader of the Mob" are written primarily in 7/4 in order for the rhythms of the songs to sound jagged, noticeably cyclical, and frantic. "Sanctuary" uses 13/4 to create a ballad-esque pacing that is fresher than the traditional 3/4.
In addition to consideration to time signatures, Air of Optimism makes much use of tempo changes. This idea was mostly absent from Solar Experiments and was used more in Exero's first two albums. Air of Optimism makes much use of tempo changes in order to drive home the idea of storyline more than ever. "Humbled & Exalted" uses tempo variations in order to create a dichotomy between the short lived grandeur of self-exaltation and the soon to come humiliation based off of pride. "Amidst the Seasons" uses varying tempos to signify the differing energy levels of seasons in a Christian's life.
Despite much of sound design being deprioritized more than usual, Exero still made much of the album electronica. Trance songs such as "Of the Dreamscape", the beginning of "Sanctuary", and "Tree" are some of the most blatant electronic areas on the album. The album was designed to have an engaging, mesmerizing, and even entrancing feel in order to drive home the grandeur of rest in a hopelessly sin stricken world. The beginning of "Tree" uses arpeggiated pluck synths to mimic the maze-like structure of tree branches (and also serves as a homage to the main guitar style of Discipline). "Of the Dreamscape" extensively uses reverb-drenched pads and gated synths to mimic the floaty and hyperactive nature of dreams.
Air of Optimism is a personal feat for Exero in which only 2 samples were used on the album. The only loops that were used were a background sound effect in "Of the Dreamscape" that appear in its solo sections and the windy soundscape in "Amidst the Seasons". In Exero's demo years, he relied heavily on royalty free loops to help him create music. However, starting with his first official album, Exero gradually departed from using pre-made audio content. The desire and reasoning to discontinue using loops was a growing desire for Exero in order to compose authentically, intellectually honestly, to have greater power over his compositional process, and to simply have more fun creating music.
Theme
Exero had only created one official Christian album up to this point. K2L primarily had an aggressive, brutal, and often disturbed edge to it. Air of Optimism was created to serve as a bold counterweight to K2L's heaviness. The album centers around the idea of resting, relaxing, and seeking replenishment in God. In a broken, corrupt, and sinful world, Exero wanted to create an Christian album that consciously focused on the goodness of God in contrast to the ways of unrepentant humanity. Songs such as "Sanctuary" and "Of the Dreamscape" are lengthy compositions that mediate on the grandeur of the Lord's promises. "Tree" and "Amidst the Seasons" are impressionistic interpretations of the nature of a Christian's walk with Jesus. To give a rounded, educational angle to the album, topics such mob mentality, pride, and varying seasons of a Christian's life give more context to why the promises of refuge in the Bible are significant.
Recording
Keyboard parts and synth parts were even more sparse than usual on Air of Optimism. However, unlike on prior albums, the songs that do feature these performances are more extensive than Exero's previous three studio efforts. The saw synth solo in the middle of "Sanctuary" was longer than Exero's normal 8-meaure habit. This portion was partially improvised, similar to the clarinet solos in "Answers Within" on his first album. One track later, the majority of the woodwind-ish synth parts in "Amidst the Seasons" were exclusively performed live.
The clarinet and bass clarinet were used more than ever on this album. Exero realized how his favorite influences rarely ever programmed and most of what he heard were instrumental recordings. His first three albums contained sparse recordings of his primary instruments, so Air of Optimism is his first album to make a much more concerted effort in contributing clarinet parts. Although many more parts exist on this album versus prior ones, due to a tight window for making the album, Exero relied more on MIDI for the parts than actually performing the compositions. A revision for Air of Optimism was intended to be made and released in 2018 in which all clarinet parts would be performed and recorded. This never came to be. However, the album will be revised in the near future, according to Exero's plans.
Release
Exero started the album August 2017. The album was completed in the middle of December of that same year. Although the album was deemed officially completed and released via digital download, much of the album remained underdeveloped. The lack of completing much of the ideas on the album stemmed from Exero's writer's block that lasted most of the year. Although K2L received its first revision during this period, between late winter 2017 into late summer, Exero's creative block didn't fully resolve until after the album was released. Both The 15th Parallel and Air of Optimism are slated for revisions soon as part of Exero Reconstruction Period.
Credits
Exero creates the music you here via digital samplers, synthesizers, digital audio workstations, and playing various instruments.
Bb Soprano Clarinet - track 1*
Bb Bass Clarinet - track 1, 9, 12*
MIDI Keyboard - track 10, 11
Roland System 1 Synthesizer - track 10
* = Many more parts are yet to be finalized for the album. MIDI renditions cover all non-recorded/performed areas of the album.
Royalty-free loops and samples courtesy of Soundtrack Loops.