Marcus Strickland Twi-Life - The Universe's Wildest Dream (2023) Hi Res

The Universe’s Wildest Dream, the latest release from Marcus Strickland Twi-Life, is an eclectic Afro-Futuristic soundtrack, geared towards raising awareness of the miraculous Planet Earth through Pan-African aesthetics, bringing together many genres of black music. “I figure if there’s any message that can recruit more Earthlings to acknowledge, comprehend and take action towards global warming and sustainability, it is the realization that we may be the only planet that harbors life, that we are probably the universe’s wildest dream,” says Strickland. Comprised of works Marcus wrote during the 2020 New York City lockdown, the sound (shaped by production from both Marcus Strickland & Charles Haynes), lyrics and titles resonate with the spiritual realm and praise our existence within this vast universe.

"Prayer" - treated as a transmission, this track is a meditation on the imperative to preserve our precious existence in this vast universe. It was originally recorded as an IG post by Marcus on Bass Clarinet during the 2020 lockdown. Why does Earth need a prayer? While some Earthling politicians deny Global Warming for the sake of continuing harmful, yet lucrative fuel burning activities, other wealthy Earthlings feel now is the appropriate time to invest into creating more debt for fellow humans: a one-way trip to Mars, financed by a loan that will be paid off through iron mining once acclimated to the artificial atmosphere projected to be in place by then. This leads to the next track...

"Dust Ball Fantasy" - features the incomparable voice & guitar of Lionel Loueke. "When I handed Lionel the track I told him the title is poking fun at the likes of Elon Musk, who feel that Mars (a planet with no known sign of life or even a natural way to sustain life) is a worthy investment of human lives, time, resources and money." In response to that description Lionel wrote and sang lyrics to this song in his native tongue Fon (from Benin): "Let's stay here and take care of the Earth. Life enjoyment is right here."

"Bird Call" - is an inspiration from the five note bird call of the Mourning Dove that created a nest right across from my window during the 2020 lockdown. I made a field recording of the bird call, and created this song which starts with those same five notes. This is my ode to natural resources, of which one is sound frequencies and their relationships to each other. Music, a force powerful enough to jolt the memory of Alzheimer's patients, was here before humans were even a part of Earth's existence, and I am grateful for it. Sustainability is the key, and it has been demonstrated through the indigenous people of this planet. Colonization & capitalism brought forth unsustainable usage of this planet’s miraculous resources in addition to the suffering of countless indigenous people worldwide.

"Matter" - in the vastness of the universe, matter together with energy forms the basis of all objective phenomena. On this track the amazing Christie Dashiell, is heard walking away from a Black Lives Matter protest, singing the message that despite all that has been designed to oppress and annihilate Black Lives, we are still here. To matter is to take up space, to have significance. It is the least that an object or being could assert, yet when "Black Lives Matter" is uttered it provokes unrest or even threat to Earthlings who are not yet comfortable with that specification. This is the crux of why such a declaration was created in the first place: a dark skinned human asking to breathe, a dark skinned teenager walking on a sidewalk, a dark skinned man/ woman pulled over for a simple traffic violation, should not meet death as a result of those actions no more than a light skinned human. Yet, in addition to the specified lack of value placed on Black Lives around the world, the perpetrators are all too often systemically protected from retribution.

"Infinity" - features the insightful words of Ras Stimulant who asserts that spiritual discipline is needed to tap into our DNA's knowledge of the Universe. The realization of how small, yet connected we are to the Universe has time and time again been seen as a path towards enlightenment by the sages and prophets of our planet. There is us and then there is "Infinity", an acknowledgment of our relationship to the macro.

"You and I, an Anomaly" - the thought that we could very well be the aliens that we seek elsewhere, that Earth is our spaceship and nature is our technology can be quite frightening. But, we all have plenty of company here on Earth - a blessing that comes with an inevitable by-product: relationships. Relationships usually start mysterious, get into a groove, and become volatile to various degrees. I wrote this song to mimic that progression.

"Amygdala" - at times I feel that using the heart as a metaphor for our feelings can make us forget that emotions are a form of intelligence, so much so that they are located in the center of the brain, sandwiched between the location of our memories. I feel emotions are the most human part about us, and serve as evidence of purpose, a divine intelligence, a creator. This song was inspired by the dancing of Madaline Riley in an amazing short film captured by director Petra Richterová. The close ups of Madaline's facial expressions and movements take the viewer through a quite thorough range of human emotions, and I made sure to record my solo over it while watching the film.

"Joy for Jupiter" - this song was written quite long ago after I fought a bout of writer's block. I felt it embodied the joy of my new found freedom to write again, and it found its place years later as this record's conclusive track. Concentration on the macro brings me joy, and that's what got me through the pandemic lockdown of 2020. If there's anything making you gloomy just remind your self that there's a huge planet with 79 moons protecting inner planets such as Earth from comets and asteroids with it's gravitational field. In other words, "it's not the end of the world".