Cool Maritime – the project of Sean Hellfritsch – releases a new single/visualizer, “Apex,” from his forthcoming album, Big Earth Energy, out May 20th on Western Vinyl. Following the lead single, “Temporal Dryft,” the smiling album-ender “Apex” perfectly embodies the quiet triumph of conquering a long-played video game; a mix of satisfaction and accomplishment with a tinge of tragedy at the notion that this little world where so much time and effort has been spent is now fully excavated, offering no more novelties to unearth. “‘Apex’ is the final piece on the album. Because this music was composed for an imagined video game, I ask you, the listener, to imagine for yourself how the story ends,” says Hellfritsch. “When I wrote it, I was reflecting on the eternally iterative flow of nature – how it’s always changing and growing to adapt – reaching for a peak that is itself, constantly in motion. I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful and hopeful. I was also mourning the massive loss of biodiversity that increases every day. I found myself suspended between parallel feelings of deep joyful awe and profoundly overwhelming sadness.” This track evokes that moment the last programmer name scrolls past, the copyright line dissolves, the title card reemerges, and the air of curiosity is renewed, emboldened by a sense of achievement. In a similar way, Big Earth Energy begs to be heard again from the top, knowing that the details that were missed on the first pass will be gleefully revealed this time around.
Watch Cool Maritime’s Visualizer for “Apex”
Big Earth Energy plumbs the depths of his multimedia mind and naturalist heart, spinning an impressionistic narrative world off of cultural touchstones like the PC game MYST and the work of Japanese composers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, Yoichiro Yoshikawa and Studio Ghibli’s Joe Hisaishi. Using those inspirations and guided by Hellfritsch’s experience as an animator and filmmaker, Big Earth Energy is the soundtrack to a hypothetical video game with a pointedly ecological premise and a twist of psychedelic charm. In Hellfritsch’s imagined virtual journey, the player assumes the perspective of a treefrog 65 million years ago, hopping epochs with each new level, forming a comprehensive picture of the massive changes the planet has gone through over eons. The ultimate goal of the game is not to amass resources, defeat enemies, or gain power, but to fully witness the unfolding of one of the biggest systems of energy imaginable. The album is steeped in exploratory RPG intrigue, possibility, and contemplation, lovingly overlaid with Miyazaki-an sentiments and aesthetics. Its meticulous polygonal arrangements recall the computerized sheen of late 80s Japanese environmental music, using true-to-period gear. Hellfritsch’s reconnaissance of virtual reality and actual reality feels skillfully balanced as if knowing how to navigate one dimension is merely training for traversing its opposite. On Big Earth Energy, he pinpoints the discovery, escape, introversion, and imagination that are mutual of the two worlds, which he scouts as if they are the same territory.
Watch the “Temporal Dryft” Video
Pre-order Big Earth Energy
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Yuri at Pitch Perfect PR.]