Emergence
Emergence is the first track ever made under the moniker of Streams of Europe. It’s also the only track of the album composed without any fractal software. As the beginning of the project, it’s supposed to evoke the kind of blurry landscape the world becomes during the half second you spring up from underwater.
From the Top of the Mountain to the Bottom of the Sea
This track is the second of the album and the first to be based upon a fractal-generated structure. It defined most of Streams of Europe’s current aesthetics, not only musically but also because of its long title. It’s meant to evoke the sudden stream of comprehension that links the highest and the lowest place in the world, in the blank mind of a being awakening to consciousness.
The Ripples on the Grey Sand Dunes
The third track of Meanders is slightly different from the rest of the album because of its use of (synthesized) strings. It gives a bit of humanity to a desert landscape. As the title suggests, this track describes a rainy day in a desolated open place, emphasizing the hypnotic fall of water drops on the ground.
Setting Suns at the Subterranean Lake
The fourth track of Meanders describes a recurring quiet moment in a wide underground refuge, far away from the hostility of the surface. In this place, sat at the shore of the subterranean lake, you can watch the setting sun, reflecting in the gloom through an aperture hundreds of meters above.
A live act was also built upon this track (see
Neorganics).
Gathering Storm over Stratoga
The fifth track of the album was composed with a feeling of emergency in mind. In Europe after the Rain, everyone lives after the rhythm of natural disasters. Storms are watched carefully. Stratoga is one of the very few cities that remain, built to endure devastating phenomenons such as the Rain. Its inhabitants know the only way to survive is to follow the same strict protocol they follow since the city’s foundation.
They Went Down into the Depths and never Came Back
Initially Meanders’ last track, following the chronological order in which the album was composed, this is also the last track made during this period. It deals with a group of clones going down and further down the subterranean abysses lying below the safe cave where they live. The fact they survived or not is unclear, all that we know is the communication was lost.
λήθη
This bonus track was originally only available on the CD-R edition of Meanders. In December 2008, only 10 copies were released. A little knowledge of greek language and greek mythology may help understanding what this track is about.
Meanders is Streams of Europe’s first album, first released on November the 15th, 2007. Most of the tracks are based upon fractal melodies generated and reworked through the use of various softwares. This album is a kind of soundtrack for an imaginary world, and the starting point of an upcoming independent video game.
The album’s title stands for its experimental aspect. It’s all about exploring unknown places and trying to draw a musical map linking them all, while sticking to a distant background story. Composing was like travelling down a river with many meanders and oxbow lakes: you know you’ll get closer to the sea in the end, without knowing exactly where nor when.
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Meanders by Streams of Europe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.europeaftertherain.com.
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