The journey Ian takes readers on through his reporting in The Outlaw Ocean Project was incredibly compelling for me, and I knew I wanted my album to pay tribute to all of its stories in different ways. I sought to construct individual narratives with each of my 10 songs. Whether it was using the sounds of a coral reef to tell the story of Ian descending into the depths of the sea in a submersible in “The Rights of Coral,” or a Nordic mythology take on the tale of Captain Peter Hammerstedt and the crew of the Bob Barker chasing an illegal fishing ship in “We Got the Thunder,” each track was approached in a unique way. Composing some of the songs also brought about new creative opportunities for me, like in “Before Time Runs Out,” in which I experimented with new instrumentation and improvised percussive sounds.

Being part of this project has motivated me in so many ways, including continuing to follow along with Ian’s reporting. One of his more recent works on China’s invisible fishing armada, which was featured by NBC News and The Economist, inspired the finale of my album, “Epilogue (Truth Matters).” As I wrote this song however, I realized I wasn’t just reacting to the facts themselves, but rather the idea of reporting itself — of a journalist’s search for the truth of any story. Through this song and this album, I wanted to raise my voice to remind people that these endeavors matter.

Stephen Bennett