The following is written from Shuj Roswell’s, Mark A. Cooley himself. It’s an in-depth look into the making and meaning of the second track off his newest album, “Blast Off” feat. Jordan Polovina. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as Cooley will continue to post individual editorials like this for all of the songs from the new album. Enjoy!

“Into the far unknown, I’m all alone.” The phrase repeats itself fading off into the distance as an arpeggiated synth line layered with modulated risers builds us into the drop that kicks off the song.

The “Blast Off” sample I used in the intro was discovered while attending a Phish show in 2014. It’s from a song they cover called, Martian Monster from the Disney Halloween record, Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House.

It’s interesting because both Blast Off and So Wonderful were written in 2010. I had just got my Moog Voyager synth and wanted to get away from distractions and find my musical voice for what would become, Shuj Roswell. I packed my things and went to live alone in a friends single room cabin for the summer in the Colorado mountains. That said, it is purely coincidence that the vocals start off with a theme of isolation and the unknown. However, those feelings would come around full circle by the time I started to refresh and rework the track.

The origin of this song is worth noting. While messing around with the Voyager, I came across a synth patch called space whistle. As it turns out, this entire track was built around the G-Funk whistle section in the song.

Although the track was reworked and refreshed, Blast Off was shelved for almost a decade before I approached Jordan Polovina to be featured on it.

My musical relationship with Jordan goes way back. He actually has a vocal part on the track Big Booty Bomb from my last EP, Everybody Loves The Sun. We recorded his vocal through a talk box that we had run through his cello. This is traditionally used through a guitar so that was a fun experiment. He also has performance credits for playing his cello throughout the track.

From a vocal standpoint, I’ve always been a fan or Jordan’s flow, delivery, and lyrical content. Working with him just made sense. Blast Off comes in at 158 BPM but has this halftime feel to it. I wanted someone that could come in and deliver that fast flow to juxtapose the halftime vibe and knew he was the one that could deliver.

We recorded Jordan’s vocals at Tyler Unland’s studio here in Denver. I first met Tyler in 2014 while working on my debut album at Side 3 Studios. I really loved Tyler’s attention to detail. We gave the opening vocal a little reverb then steadily increased it through each pass to give an effect like Jordan was drifting away into space. Tyler also did these subtle lo-if vocal delays in addition to some other cool edits, putting his stamp on the final mix. The track was then mastered to tape by Chris Write at Violete Recording in Boulder.

I’ve included the lyrics below and as you can see, Jordan’s vocals take us on a trip into the unknown as we Blast Off in search for Divine Moments of Truth.

https://soundcloud.com/…/blast-off-feat-jordan-polo…/s-lyBF8

Lyrics:
Into the far unknown
I’m all alone
All alone

The countdown is progressing and your spaceship is about to blast off on its voyage of discovery

Smoke and fire flies across horizons
Arriving in the end of the evening
Alive but barely breathing
The closeness of the surface is deceiving
Conceiving is believing
The information we’ve been retrieving
Will get us to where we’ve been reaching

I get the fuselage the two stars
Elevated in a way we’re gonna get to Mars
True scars
Created by the weight when I blast off (blast off)
I get the ship that made the time line rip
Flip through the mist and get through the ship
The flick of the wrist is all it’s gonna take and I don’t s breaks when I make this fly

Never get a break when the pace is to fast
I start to rust the stardust is too much sometimes I feel like I’m about to blow up
I push it to the limit hope the hull will hold up (x2)

I’ve been traveling exploring all of the far unknown
Alone in the zone the empty space is my home
Constellations pave the way to amazing places
The dawn of creation and manifestation of life and death

Fly, Fly (Fly, Fly)
In the blink of an eye
We’re gonna take off, blaze on till the days gone laced in the sky
I’m gone bye-bye in a place that you’re never gonna find on a whole different time line
on a whole different time line

Never get a break when the pace is to fast
I start to rust the stardust is too much sometimes I feel like I’m about to blow up
I push it to the limit hope the hull will hold up (x2)

I’ve been traveling exploring all of the far unknown
Alone in the zone the empty space is my home
Constellations pave the way to amazing places
The dawn of creation and manifestation of life and death

Original art by Psybe Industries

Shuj Roswell Continues To Tell All On His Newest Album, 'Setting Fire To The Stars' - Episode 2 Features "Blast Off" w/ Jordan Polovina