Track-by-track unveiling of Edenthorn’s new album ‘Exist’

By Mark Johnson

Edenthorn will release their new album ‘Exist’ on April 20 and we have an exclusive early stream of the record, plus a track-by-track commentary from the band.

1. Out of the Dark

This song was written as a kind of sequel to our previous album title track ‘The Maze’, beginning with the opening line “I’ve been through a maze”. The theme is the feeling of coming ‘Out of the Dark’ aka the darkness that surrounds you when you’re in a mental rut, be it depression or anxiety or general bad times in your life. The idea of realising there is light at the end of the tunnel and “if I had only known” that there was a way out, that it was a temporary emotional experience, then maybe I would’ve been more hopeful during that “bad time”.

2. Heart’s Still Beating

After experiencing a lot of death in the family in the last few years, the lyrics in this song are basically saying, I want to make the most of my life. I have a gift in that I have a heart that still beats, I still get to live and enjoy my life and “nothing matters more than this”.

3. Power

The theme in this song is that time doesn’t stop, we are all getting older every minute and in my life I’ve learnt a lot and been through a lot but I am now in a good place and I have a passion and a purpose/reason to live and that gives me the ‘power’ I need to go on every day.

4. Mind like a Minefield

This is influenced by the experiences that we’ve all had with anxiety and panic attacks and generally stressing and overthinking things. The idea of battling with yourself and your mind, a war within yourself/your mind. But the positive message is “I will defeat it, I can beat it, In the end I will win” the war within.

5. Live In the Now

This is a positive message saying that we must let go of the past, and people who are no longer a part of our lives for whatever reason and to accept things change in life and time and we must ‘Live in the Now’ and the present and not look back or forward so much. Live in the now and allow life to happen.

6. The Noise In My Head

The idea of this song is to accept that we life in dangerous times, and the news and the world can worry us all but we must continue to live our lives how we do, not live in fear and block all of that negative stuff out with good thoughts and positive things. It’s also the idea that keeping music in my ears, along with good thoughts and doing what we love gives me “the noise in my head” that will drown out the negative ‘noise’ outside.

7. The Unknown

This song is all about taking chances and not worrying about what ‘could’ happen. Refusing to have a fear of the unknown, be it things going wrong, or the fear of death and what comes next. We only have so long, so whatever we want in life we must go for it and not fear ‘The Unknown’.

8. Black Cloud

The idea of a bad person or ‘thing’ in your life that does not serve you in any kind of positive light. It could be a negative person, bad relationship, or an addiction or a bad habit or family member who is a black cloud over your head and learning to walk away from them/it.

9. Where Did You Go?

This was written during the time when my Nanna was dying and coming to terms with this. How one minute this person full of life is around and the next minute they’re taken away from you. It’s also the feeling I had after she passed away, I couldn’t get my head around ‘where’ she had gone. Hence the title ‘Where Did You Go?’

10. Garden of Heaven

This was also written around the time of coming to terms with death and hoping that the loved one (in my case my Nanna) was in fact in heaven and still able to see/hear me here in the living world and the hope that she can ‘hear me’ as I sing this song for her.

11. Speak to Me

This song ties in with ‘Where Did You Go?’ and ‘Garden of Heaven’ and is more of an instrumental track but the lyrics present are kind of a conversation or an attempt to connect with the dead and telling them if you can hear me, if you’re out there ‘speak to me’, connect with me somehow.