This 65 minute LP weaves themes of love, heartbreak, and betrayal into monolithic synth-driven space-rock, with inspiration as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, Sigur Ros, Vangelis and Pink Floyd. Writer and producer Christopher Bono utilizes his classical background to sculpt this expansive and engaging series of compositions, contrasting heavy walls of sound with ambient passages, contemporary classical and experimental electronic influences. Bono collaborated with Thomas Pridgen, whose drumming credits include the likes of The Mars Volta, Trash Talk, Suicidal Tendencies and Memorials. The album's enveloping sound also contains special contributions by ambient guitarist Anthony Molina, the multi-instrumentalist famous for playing with Mercury Rev, and otherworldly choral sections featuring vocalists Jamie Rae, Stacie Bono and Michele Kennedy. While in the midst of completing the yet unfinished Ghost Against Ghost concept album, Oia, front man Christopher Bono was unexpectedly struck by a psychologically disorienting family tragedy in the spring of 2014 forcing him back into the writing studio to process this new trauma through music.
Over the following months, Bono reflected on the confusion and internal conflict that resulted when the life he knew was ripped apart by disturbing revelations of a shocking betrayal and a Pandora's Box of dark, misaligned secrets. To dig further into the heart of the experience, he based the lyrical point of view from that of the female victim, his mother. The album also comes in two versions, the audiophile version which is more dynamic and quieter, and a louder master that appeals on a more commercial level. About the production process Bono says, "as a producer, I'm continuously exploring vintage, analogue gear and instruments contrasted with the precise benefits of modern, digital techniques and equipment. Simultaneously, as a composer, I see the pros and cons of the analogue-digital domains similarly to the differences found in writing and arranging for acoustic versus electronic instruments. In both cases there is a colourful beauty created when the different production styles and sound worlds are blended in unexpected ways."
