We listened to the field recordings with the book in mind and tried to transform the images that emerged in our minds into compositions and songs. This was a very conscious and direct quest for inspiration, perhaps similar to writing the score for a film, but even more intense. I think music can be a mechanism of storytelling in a more personal way than journalistic writing. Music reaches the listener on an emotional level, in a way that facts alone do not. The idea was to capture emotions evoked by bare facts and real-life adventures, rather than by a fictional or constructed storyline. 

Although we were already aware of some of the problems concerning the ocean before reading the book, reading about it in such an intense and concentrated way was very overwhelming. We were very touched by the authenticity of Ian’s voice samples and used outtake sounds to create beats. As the singer, I also loved combining the whale songs with the crying seagulls. I wanted to sing with them, so I found a melody that captured this feeling of solitude and the overwhelming desire for freedom that the sound of the sea inspires. While reading the book, we greatly enjoyed composing and writing the lyrics from a new perspective. 

Nala Tessloff