Final Fantasy → Spectrum, 14th Century EP
Concept
This is an EP of folk songs set in the fictional world of Spectrum, where Owen Pallett is the only deity. Spectrum is “based on a Canada that was never colonized—that is to say, it was colonized but there was never any genocide of any First Nation people.” [source]
Three of the songs are devoted to Owen by characters in Spectrum.
The EP provided a framework for Owen’s next album, Heartland. “The whole format of Spectrum setting the stage for Heartland was directly informed by H.P. Lovecraft, in the way that Cthulhu, Shoggoths and the Necronomicon by the Nadir of Al-Whatever—in every one of those Lovecraft stories, everything’s taking place in New England and then, all of a sudden, there are these signifiers that put the story not actually in New England but in the Lovecraftian universe. That was what I was hoping to do. You’d be listening to the song and there’d be one key moment where you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this song is actually taking place in this fictional world.’ Just hints.” [source]
Recording process
To produce the field recording sound, Owen and Beirut “drank a jug of this Argentinian liquor that has a lot of stimulants in it, and we went out into the woods and recorded a whole bunch of different sounds.” [source]
Cover
The photo on the cover was taken in 1909 at Bohemian Grove in California, the campground of an elite gentlemen’s club. [source]