Jordi Francis - The Brightest Star (2018)

"The Brightest Star" is Jordi Francis' debut album and a culmination of the last two years of a journey through losing his mother. From hopelessness to success, each song explores the very different and raw emotions he experiences through different phases over the past two years.

The first track, "Face The Silence" was his debut single, released a month and a half after his mother had passed; an attempt to encourage himself to carry on. Stuck in a globe of grief and unable to see a way out and with the feeling of having nothing left to lose, he tried to carve his own ladder by reminding himself of what he knows is the way forward, deep down - "take a step outside your door, feel the sunlight, walk the shore."

"The Last Survivor", the second track on the album signifies the emotions faced as the reality began to really set in. The feeling of loneliness, as if he was the only person on the planet surrounded by ruins of things that once were. The days seemed to be endless and he couldn't seem to connect with anybody, even himself. At this point, he couldn't remember what he was like before.

The next track in the album is "Lullaby From A Distant Land", a song he first wrote in 2011 and later recorded in 2013 with his collaborative partner Merry for their duo project, Forest Elves. Jordi decided to revisit this piece as it held a special place in his heart - it represented for him the comfort of friendship and warmth of those close to him and those from afar; the people that helped him to pick himself up and to carry on.

Fourth on the album comes "Elysium", exploring through melodies and harmonies the desire to find himself once again and not wanting to be lost any longer. Despite such strong emotions of grief hindering him, being able to tap into a strength inside that he didn't know he had within him helped him push forward and become a stronger person and once again find happiness.

"Altai", the fifth song of the album, represents the upward momentum he found as he began dedicating his efforts and energy to positivity and opportunity. He began to appreciate the world around him once again and strive to do new things; to travel and to explore and once again, take in the beauty of the world that he once loved.

And then there was "Wings", a song he wrote in his own language, Etherean. This song is somewhat of a 'sister track' to "The Last Survivor". Jordi had once again been exploring his own productivity and keeping himself as occupied as he could, but still found being introspective difficult. Exploring his own creativity, he brought two genres that shouldn't fuse together to create something 'ethnotronic'.

The seventh track of the album is "Anima", another song written in Etherean. When Jordi was in the midst of a competition with the deadline to create a song the very next day, he went to sleep prepared to quit when he awoke. This melody came to him in his dreams and when he woke up, he grabbed his phone and quickly recorded it so that he didn't forget it as his mind began to spring into action. This song embodies the feeling that everything will turn out fine in the end.

"War & Peace" is a tribute to friendship, collaboration and selflessness. The desire to uplift those around him as they had done for him. Another track created for the annual 'Audio Deathmatch' competition on Newgrounds, he found himself up against his friends, yet decided to feature his competitor in his track (on the xylophone) instead.

The penultimate track is "Deep Blue", an introspective song that reflects on the ebbs and flows of the recent past. How that feeling of loss that once dominated somehow turned into a new strength, and what that will mean for the future.

"Chapter II: Believe" is the final song, and is a message to that man that found himself in that pit of grief and despair only months before, and to all those that find themselves in that same hole. This is an anthem to the strength of hope and perseverance - "and I'll walk along that shore, whenever sadness follows me."

From the first track to the last, this album follows the journey of a young man's path from hopeless grief to infallible strength.

"A huge thank you to my mother's brother Pedro Lourenço for mastering the album, to Jonathan Habens and Jack Oliver for the photography and graphic design of the album cover, to Alexander Nyman and Merry Berry for collaborating on some of the songs, and most importantly to my family and friends for encouraging me to make this a reality."