Jonathan Yandel - Inner Ocean (2017)

Composer Jonathan Yandel has provided soundtracks to the video games Influx, Song of Seven, and Stolen Steel VR, as well as the films CZ-918 and Carmen. Inner Ocean is a collection of pieces that he wrote during some of the most troubled periods of his life. According to Yandel, the piano has always been his most intimate and vulnerable means of expression, and Inner Ocean allows the listener to journey with the composer through an exploration of his inner self. The piece "Impromptu No. 1" is the result of an improvisation with piano and electronics, where there was no time for judgement or deliberation: just the raw, unfiltered stream of consciousness that came from performing with little preparation or goals in mind. The 3 pieces that comprise the work "Metamorphosis" use the stages of a butterfly's transformation as a metaphor to describe how painful experiences enrich us and allow us to grow, and that the realization of our true potential is not given but earned. The track "Inner Ocean" went through several iterations over a six year period before arriving at its current state. It describes how others see only the surface of our outer selves, but our inner selves--our true selves--are like oceans containing limitless depths and hidden currents within.