Neon Index DX — Chronicle by Saros-FM

Neon Noir
Neon Noir
Nov 6 · 8 min read

Welcome to Neon Index DX! Instead of focusing on multiple albums of already released albums per issue, the Deluxe edition will be looking at soon to be released albums in a deeper manner. Except for the length, the same rules apply, as stated in Neon Index 0.

In this issue we dive into an exploration of a story long foretold, a story of change — Chronicle by Saros-FM.

This is Neon Index.

Introduction

A life you want always seems so far away. But what specifically are you not satisfied with? Your career, house, friends? If you move just one more time, you’ll definitely succeed, you’ll get that satisfaction you so desire, won’t you? The other place is just so much better in every way — there’s no reason to believe it will be worse. Just get away from here, with her, believe in the possibilities you have in the future, as grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Saros-FM brings you the next step in his musical exploration of the electronic genres — Chronicle. An Ambient and Trance-focused 10-track album, with mixing, mastering, and cover art done by the artist himself, totaling for a runtime of 50 minutes.

Analysis

Minimalistic in nature, the album tells us of its vagueness via the cover art, featuring space. It is what we so desire to explore, a better place for all of us, a more hopeful future. Simple, yet telling, so is the name of the album — Chronicle, a historical account of events. Are these events in the past, or are they foretold? Who exactly experiences them, and do we even want answers, as maybe we already know them. Saros-FM isn’t going to give you any specific answers, or questions for that matter, to you, the listener, as you are the writer of this story — you are asking and answering your own question. The artist will be discovering with you along the way, making this journey more of a group activity.

The album is mainly set in the Trance, and Ambient genres, with some House and Synthwave influences here and there. Slow, deep synths predominate the atmosphere, setting a very space-like, underwater tone, emerging the listener in the non-descriptive universe. The drums feature a heavy usage of the clap, making the music very danceable. For the most part, the melodies do not tend to take your attention away, but rather set a specific direction for each track, an emotion, or idea. The angelic tone of these makes the mood relaxed, even though the tempo is quite agitated.

The structure of Chronicle is a rather interesting, slow decrease in energy from the beginning to end, which can give a feeling of comfort. Not to say that you can leave your guard down from the beginning as this journey is a night party through and through — fun, powerful, and unforgettable, but centered around the very human concept of search. The story is quite flexible in how you can see it, but it all leads back to the idea of change, how we desire it in theory, despise the actual implementation, and change ourselves in order to fit to the environment. But then we do it all again, without even thinking about the looping process, and the album represents this idea wonderfully by making its ending track flow very well right into the starting one.

Track I — Run Away With Me

Chronicle doesn’t waste any time and throws you right into the action with this pleasantly active song. There’s no need for introductions, as the album trusts that the listener will figure everything out by the end, thus the track brings us to right to the conflict. Change is scary but getting the chance for a better tomorrow is always a possibility few can overlook. The track tackles the topic with a very positive outlook, simulating that burst of adrenaline and happiness from just hearing the news. The melody is definitely the engine here - a strong, almost siren-like synth. Such news could also bring a feeling of confusion or nausea, which is supported by the background rotary synth, and quite a bit of reverberation.

Track II — Soaring

First impressions can be everything, but more often than not, these are not representative of what really is going on. Emotions easily cloud judgement. Soaring is more of a continuation of the previous track but engaging faster drums to tell of the exploration excitement one feels when encountering something new. Seeing our change for the first time is a truly memorable experience, making one light as air, flying, with new hopes and dreams. Repeating synth chords support the same rhythm the drums are keeping, quite familiar to a heartbeat. The mood’s still very positive but feels as if it slightly tonally shifts to melancholy with moments for a breather.

Track III — Rain in Heaven

After one’s settled in, the reality starts sipping in, as you realize there’s no perfection, and as the name of the tracks puts it — it even rains in heaven. The song deceptively keeps the same energetic drums, mostly keeping up the dynamism of the situation. It introduces the usage of bells in its instrumentation, for the purpose of shifting to nostalgia and familiarity — its quite a pleasant surprise to see similar things that you’ve known before, even in strange lands. The drums contrast with the slow, deep synths, creating an atmosphere that feels magical. The melody is driving the track still, giving its desired direction — a strange excitement for rain.

Track IV — Liquid

Now that we’ve run through the rain and got wet, started to root ourselves slowly back into reality, it’s time to adjust some things, namely — ourselves. Adaptability is what drives survival, and is part of change, thought this particular change can be the scariest one due to the amount of investment required from the person itself. Liquid strikes a tone of insecurity with elongated chord-based synth writing and by bringing the more classical piano-like sounds into the mix. The percussion, clap-heavy, creates a certain urgency, a need to get to the next step as soon as possible. It is one of the more ambient tracks of the album, which focuses heavy on the background instrumentation.

Track V — Talking Bells

Even though, as previously mentioned, the tone of the album is happy in general, Talking Bells strikes me as an even more joyful one. The light acoustic drums, synth which sounds like it was rather written for a saxophone, makes it feel like a sunny walk on the street. It does relate a feeling of weirdness, but in a positive sense, a very adorable weirdness. After one has become more adaptive to his environment, it’s not a stretch that the person is now more open to new and different things, quirky things. Even something as exotic as bells which talk sounds nice and enjoyable. Thus, why not just take in everything around you and have fun while doing it?

Track VI — Breath Control

But everything that’s fun will come to a close, and you’ll need to control yourself once more. As the name of the song suggests, the topic is about keeping everything in your hands, slowly, gently. As the tempo becomes slower and softer, so do the themes in actuality. There won’t be aggression, or anything which will make your heart pump uncontrollably, but rather a soothing, and immersive atmosphere. Engaging a more space-like mood with rising synths, the track relates more of a journey through the cosmos, with the angelic hymns as your guide. You observe and learn, get more and more experienced with yourself and the world around you.

Track VII — Transitions

Good or bad, time changes everything, and the transitional property of the universe is something no one can really touch. Everything will disappear and become something else, so in a sense, nothing really dies. Transitions could be considered the culmination, the climax of the album, as not only does it engage a more exotic writing style to mix up the atmosphere, the usage of echoed voice samples gives it an ethereal feeling — a conversation with a ghost, which is probably yourself. The track keeps the same fun and danceable charm, but also takes its rightful place in this emotional ride of loss and change.

Track VIII — Far Away From Here

If you didn’t really feel the climax with the previous song, this is where it really bursts out. Hyperactive drums, catchy backing synths and melody, elevate from the relaxing mood of the previous songs to one of action. Now’s not the time to wait or think, this is where you act. This is where you decide what to do next. Are you satisfied with yourself, echoes the music again, the same question it asked in the beginning? Wouldn’t you like more? It’s quite interesting how Run Away With Me reflects off Far Away From Home, like some kind of sister songs. Even the naming conventions are similar, and they go well together in a sentence. But what we have this time is more context. We’ve gone through so much; do we really want that whole journey again? Maybe comfort is worth having and shouldn’t be traded away so lightly. The music calls you to act. What do you do?

Track IX — Filtered

Back to the voice samples, to the silence of your won mind, Filtered acts as if the previous track never really happened. Heart’s not pounding and everything’s well, as if one has purposefully forgotten the stressful question. It did happen, and you know that. You also know that it will come to haunt you one day again. The vague topic of denial is not the easiest to grasp here without the context to it, but it is possible to get some leads. The track is strangely happy, trying as hard as to be the perfect go-lucky music. Of course, it keeps it consistently atmospherical, with the mood from Transitions, but adds another layer of positivity to try and hide the truth underneath.

Track X — Imperia Skye

Lastly, we reach the end. And like the last shot of alcohol you remember before you blank out, Saros-FM pulls out all the guns for this one. To commend, Imperia Skye is a quite a long track, reaching almost 10 minutes, but it does that with a purpose. The ending to Chronicle is, just like album, quite vague and open for interpretation, thus its not unthinkable that the song has more world-building than action to it. It paints a wonderful picture of a glorious city in the sky, not unlike the representation of heaven itself, majestic, but strangely high-tech due to techno influences. It is still Trance at its core, though it starts slow, and builds up towards bustling life, just like metropolis day would usually go. This place truly seems perfect, and we, as listeners, are just left in it. Do we continue experiencing this as it is, or we loop back at and try to reach for a different fruit? This decision is for you to make.

Conclusion

Chronicle is a lovely mistborn conversation on change, disguised as soft ambiance. Its vagueness and openness for interpretation does come at a certain cost, that being the first impression. It’s an exploration worthy of taking time to look, because just maybe you see familiarity in the events and situations presented. Maybe this chronicle is not so foreign after all.

Take note that presented is my interpretation of the album through a wide lens, presentable to an audience of readers. What you may find in the music could be a different vision extrapolated from the ghastly depths of the skies. Each playthrough will give you just a bit more insight into the music and yourself.

Chronicle by Saros-FM is set to be released on the 8th of November 2019.

You can find it and more of Saros-FM’s work on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Soundcloud.

Saros-FM can also be followed on Twitter.

As always, the most representative track from Chronicle will be added to the Neon Index Spotify Playlist.

This was Neon Noir, and I’ll catch you next time.

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