Ancient Infinity Orchestra - [Cosmosaic] Moments in Time (2020)

‘Moments in Time’ is the second album of the ‘Cosmosaic’ series by Ancient Infinity Orchestra. It is a prequel to ‘Things that used to be on Earth’, although it may also stand alone. The compositions paint a timeline through our planet’s history. Starting from the beginning of the universe, then to the gradual forming of stars and planets, the balance of elements and greenhouse gases, streams, rivers, plants, creatures large and small, all the way through to the emergence of human beings and the sudden, more rapid transformations of our planet. Each track represents just a few pivotal points in our Earth’s story, as we begin to look outward, back into the universe that created us and wonder its many mysteries.

Seventeen Leeds-based musicians contributed to this album, recorded at The Nave Studio, navigating a hazardous labyrinth of instruments, objects from the local scrap heaps and mounds of percussion. Tom Orrell single-handedly, used all 32 inputs that the studio possessed, capturing every angle and sound of this large ensemble: from the feet stamping, and sloshing buckets of water to the close mic’d typewriter, mobile phone interference feedback and manual panning of metal junkyard finds.

The album was recorded on the 3rd and 4th of March in 2020, which happened to be just before the national lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak. During lockdown, I found myself with plenty of time to mix the tracks and work on the post-production aspects to the album that I had in mind with Giorgos Kravvaritis (Polyscope). This included the insertion of field recordings and finding ways to create the continuous flowing structure for the album that I had imagined.

Some compositions are extremely open with little in terms of parameters: key words to reflect on, a snippet of melody, a subject matter, a specific instrumentation or a limitation to be creative within. By contrast, other compositions are specifically detailed and more thoroughly composed. The versatility of the musicians involved was essential to bring my vision of this project to life.

I have already started work on the music for the next ‘Cosmosaic’. I am hopeful that we can continue our music again soon, when it is safe to do so. Until then, I wish to thank Giorgos for all his support and patience with this project, Tom for allowing us to make the most of the time we had in the studio and lastly, I thank all the incredible musicians who took part. I am immensely grateful for this time we had together, and I am eager for this music to be heard.

- Ozzy Moysey
Ancient Infinity Orchestra