Since techno, by nature, is urgent and intense, I am excited to use it to convey the urgency of Ian’s journalism. Urgency is what the world needs right now. It wakes people up and inspires change. And we need to change. In my experience, people have to feel something intense before they are moved to change their behavior, for better or for worse.

Since I’m a big fan of challenging myself to push the envelope and make fresh, meaningful techno, I was interested right away to work with Ian in this new creative context. I was particularly inspired by the prospect of creating a soundtrack for Ian’s experiences living in other people’s realities that are so different from his own.

My mission as an artist is to create driving, emotive tracks that surprise the listener and make them feel something. With this project, my goal is to create club-leveling music with vocals that listeners can emotionally connect to on a variety of different levels. I hope that the emotions invoked in my EP inspire listeners to dig deeper into the music’s meaning, pulled from Ian’s source material, and expand their awareness of what is happening in the world around them. In this way, I hope that my music can act as a catalyst for change.

All of the concepts and lyrics in my EP are sourced from “Adelaide’s Voyage.” I knew immediately after reading this chapter that it would serve as a powerful foundation for my music. The themes of hope, agency and independence in “Adelaide’s Voyage” deeply resonate with me as a young woman living in a time that often feels very restrictive and dystopian. I am incredibly excited to create an immersive sonic experience that will amplify the emotional urgency that Ian conveys in his reporting. I want to leverage the power of music to bring Ian’s work to the other senses, which I hope will both inspire empathy in the hearts of listeners around the world and encourage people, women in particular, to do what is right for themselves and take their power back.

Funding journalism that inspires us to save our planet, modernize society’s laws, and be kinder to one another is money well spent. That’s why I am happy that some of the music’s earnings will go toward Ian’s continued reporting. Ian’s journalistic voice is a gift, and his vivid storytelling transforms hard, serious topics into riveting, digestible adventures. And when it is fun to learn, people are more willing to broaden their intellectual horizons to expand their minds.

Sara Landry