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Opportunity Dead On Mars

from Ceremony of Leaving by Former Lives

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about

When covid started, I often equated quarantining to living in a spaceship on another planet. That really came to head in the summer of 2020 though.

Dangerously close to Portland, there were forest fires ravaging the state. Not only were we in quarantine but now the air outside was toxic and the sky was literally red like a scene out of Blade Runner.

All of this brought back memories I had of Opportunity, a rover exploring Mars for 14 years whose last transmission to Earth kinda blew up on the internet. According to a tweet from science reporter Jacob Margolis, Opportunity's last words were essentially, "My battery's low and it's getting dark."

Anyway, I sat down to try and play some piano during one of those summer days that felt like living on Mars—trying to personify what Opportunity felt like in its final moments. I was lucky enough to capture that playing, warts and all. I just added some synths and a vocoder track as simple accompaniment—ending up with this little ambient score that serves as a transitional piece on the upcoming record.

credits

from Ceremony of Leaving, track released March 22, 2022
Written, performed, and produced in 2020 by
Sean Joseph Klassen

Mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman
Mastered by Dave McNair

Song artwork by Todd Quakenbush

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Former Lives Burlington, Vermont

Driven by a love for analog synthesizers, overdriven guitars, and bittersweet melodies, Former Lives is a collaborative, new wave-influenced project started by Sean Joseph Klassen and his dog, Bruce Beagle.

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