The “Scenes from the Ocean” album is a rollercoaster of emotion, much like The Outlaw Ocean itself. The whole work is meant to feel like one very lengthy song that is broken up by small interludes that rely on Ian’s ambient sound archive to paint a vivid sound collage. Each track seamlessly flows into the next, giving the album the feel of an epic journey that reflects the adventurous nature of Ian’s own trips around the world. Through this sonic adventure, the labrum conveys feelings of sadness, despair, fear and anger, as well as hope, mystery, vastness, epicness, which ultimately results in confronting the unknown and overcoming great obstacles.

The creation process for this album was a multi-year project that required much reflection and pondering to find new perspectives and ideas. I made the album in two project files — one for the first half, and one for the second half — which was a crucial workflow factor, as it enabled me to create a continuous journey where the tracks melded together and took the listener on a deep dive through the world of The Outlaw Ocean. This was quite a challenging album to make, but also artistically very rewarding and exciting. The project required much thought and digestion, but I’m incredibly proud of how the final product turned out. 

Axel Thesleff