My first release of 2023 was a darker, more melancholy EP to reflect the darker months of the year. I already had a few older tracks that I was planning on using on the EP but I had recently come up with a new piece which fit the bill well.
“Last Train Home” gets it's name and inspiration from a piece of music by the legendary Japanese composer, Joe Hisaishi. He wrote a piece of music called “Sixth Station” for the studio ghibli movie “Spirited Away” that shares a similar style and mood and it made me also think of feelings of retuning home late after work.
It has an uplifting opening passage which quickly turns dark and mysterious. I liked playing with the space between sound with this piece. however, in the middle, the music picks up speed which reflects the nature of the train journey home. This comes to a climatic point where the music returns to the opening motif and finishes in a sadder tone.
This piece was the last piece that I created a music video for. I had to make a decision about priorities when releasing music and the music videos fell by the wayside. This being said, I think the music video is quite atmospheric and effective. It also features a random spaceman on an empty train carriage! Don't ask!
It feels strange in a way that only a couple of pieces that were actually written this year have been released. It makes me feel like I should really sit down and create a bit more but I always seem to run out of time these days which is a shame. Even though I wrote this piece this year, I don't play it very often. I'm not sure why, maybe because it feels more like a night time piece or one for the winter. Maybe I'll be more inclined later this year again. I do like the occasional darker tune.
It was the lead track from my EP “And Then It Went Dark” and I'll be looking at the other tracks in my programme notes over the next month or so. In the meantime, have a listen with the music player below.