Kittin makes one telling sentence her mantra at the start of Cosmos: “I’m exactly where I should be, exactly where I always wanted to be.” More than just a mission statement, it quickly deflects any questions about why the album is such a welcome departure from her more dance-oriented material. Airy and atmospheric, it’s the sound of searching one’s soul and finding even deeper forms of expression several decades into a long and storied career.
Or as the producer/singer puts it, “With Cosmos, everything is energy. We go back to the core with curiosity and freedom.”
To put this all into perspective, Kittin shared the personal mood board she made around recording sessions. Free your mind and the rest will follow….
Metaphysics – Quantum Physics – Science – Philosophy
Spirituality – Art – Poetry – Existential Questions
Everything is energy.
Back to the core.
Curiosity. Freedom.
Free of pop and dance floor diktats: no chorus no verse no 4/4 beats.
Just chords, organic atmospheres and textures.
A research on the sound reflecting soul and mind, art and science.
Voice as an instrument like any other.
A continuous soundtrack with no break no silence.
An odyssey.
An ode to the most classical form of electronic music.
The book that obsessed me as a kid.
Carl Sagan’s student and disciple.
COSMIC ADDRESS
When you find your place, your space, in this life, simply where you belong.
Home. Roots. Starting and arrival point of the Journey.
Literally our postal address and country code.
Earth, Solar System, Orion arm, Milky Way, Local Group.
Virgo supercluster, Laniakea, Universe, Multiverse.
ARE YOU THERE?
A song for the Aliens.
For the other intelligent life forms out there.
Because without a doubt, why would we be alone?
Will you give us a sign when it’s too late?
Save us all from ourselves?
Being probably too primitives to get an answer.
QUESTION EVERYTHING
Artists and scientists.
Eternal vision quest through introspection and open mind.
Evolution, curiosity as a constructive counter force to doubt.
Aphex Twin and Einstein meeting.
It surprises me how disinterested we are about physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. It’s a crazy world out there. Be curious. —Stephen Hawking
ELEVATE
Elevate ourselves as Human Kind.
Humanism. Resilience. Obstination. Ethic.
Consciousness. Goodwill. Gratitude. The Big Picture.
Positive thinking and eternal optimism.
ATOMS
Everything is Energy.
Perpetual chemical reactions.
Explosion, expansion, multiplication.
Life and Death.
The infinitely small to the infinitely big to understand who we are.
Each cell and living creature is a universe in the multiverse.
And it’s quite a miracle.
MULTIVERSE
Looking at the sky, the Milky Way, the endless number of universes: Multiverse.
Counting selected astral corps.
From the smallest to the largest known, at a vertiginous scale.
How small we are; how precious is our world.
The need to understand mysteries to know ourselves.
LAST DAY ON EARTH
After observing, ready to take off.
What would you do on your last day if you had to leave Earth forever?
DEEP SPACE STATION
The future space station for Deep Space explorations.
Next destination being Mars.
SCANNER
Away from home.
Are we brave enough to face ourselves, as we are?
Who are we?
How far do we have to go, inside and out?
The fine line between opening the heart and protecting ourselves.
We reflect on this journey we may never return from.
The past, the pain, in order to forgive and move on.
#METOO
You finally find yourself, know yourself.
You’ve gone beyond your fears, your own limitations.
You have learned self-respect, self-confidence.
You have the power to say NO.
A major life achievement—the hardest thing to do.
For many women, who never had the right to express themselves.
And still can’t today.
The Present.
WHITE MAGIC
What will be left?
Our actions. Not our words.
Goodwill. Being good. Doing good.
Love.
The strongest power, the meaning of life.
Spiritual pagan culture killed by the modern world.
Since the beginning of times they looked up to the sky.
To the stars, spirits, and ancestors for guidance.
White magic as healing.
UTOPIA
Back home or lost in space, wherever you are, you are fulfilled.
You can die now.
Credits in no particular order: Richard D. James, Autechre, Boards of Canada, Biosphere, KLF, Monolake, Global Communication, Bola, B12, Black Dog, Mika Vainio, Mike Paradinas, The Orb, Sun Electric, John Beltran, Beaumont Hannant, Detroit Escalator Co., Jello, The Future Sound of London, Christian Kleine, Scanner, Clark, Modeselektor, Apparat, Moderat, Arovane, L’Usine, Bohren und Der Club of Gore, Thomas P Heckmann and anyone I may have forgot…
