New World is the debut solo album by American musician, songwriter, producer and sound designer Dave Kerzner. This is Kerzner's first album since his departure from the band Sound of Contact, and was developed in 2014. The album features numerous collaborations with established artists such as Fernando Perdomo, Steve Hackett, Nick D'Virgilio, Durga McBroom and Keith Emerson. Two versions of the album were developed: a standard edition and a two-disc double album deluxe edition. The former was released in December 2014, and the latter was released in January 2015.
The album was produced and mixed by Kerzner. Most of the album was recorded remotely with reference tracks developed by Kerzner using music software technology from his sound production company Sonic Reality. The tracks were then re-recorded by other artists at remote locations and sent back to Kerzner's studio in Miami for mixing. Veteran mixing engineer Tom Lord-Alge mixed the album's first single release, "Stranded."
Concept
New World is a concept album. The story takes place in a future world consisting primarily of hazardous desert terrain where numerous biodomes of massive scale contain and protect the global populace. The album revolves around a character known as The Traveler; stranded in the desert and clinging to life, he embarks on a journey to return to the biodome from which he originates while recounting the events that led him to his fatal situation.
The story serves as an allegory for one's own spiritual and subconscious evolution. The Traveler, in his struggle for survival, undergoes a metamorphosis from the position of victim to a figure of immense capacity and conquers his own personal demons, empowered through his discovery of the light amidst a shroud of darkness and uncertainty.
Development
After leaving Sound of Contact, Kerzner decided to focus on numerous other projects including a solo album. A kickstarter campaign was launched in July 2014 to help fund the album, raising a total of nearly $32,000 in support of its development. Writing and recording for New World occurred in the meantime with many of Kerzner's supporters preferring a double album over a single album. All of the compositions were written on either piano or guitar. Inspiration was taken from such bands as Genesis, Queen, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, ELO and The Beatles, as Kerzner's approach was to offer "one foot in nostalgia, one in the modern world" and to infuse recognizable classic rock and progressive rock influences with his own songwriting style.
In order to find musicians who would assist him in recording the album, Kerzner contacted several individuals who had previously worked with him through his sound production company Sonic Reality or through other musical collaborations. Numerous musicians agreed to work on the album, including Nick D'Virgilio, Fernando Perdomo, Francis Dunnery, and Durga McBroom. D'Virgilio, a significant contributor to the album, was Kerzner's bandmate in Kevin Gilbert's band Thud. The tracks "Theta" and "My Old Friend" offer tribute to Gilbert, reuniting several of his old bandmates and acquaintances for its recording.
During the recording process for most of the album's songs, Kerzner first developed mock-up tracks for the other musicians to use as a reference. These mock-up tracks consisted of him playing all of the instruments on his keyboard using Sonic Reality's music software products and sound library. Various types of drum mock-ups were created using samples from his Nick Mason drum library and other sample libraries. The tracks were then sent to his collaborators and guest musicians for them to use as a reference when they re-recorded live versions for the album. Each musician recorded their tracks at a remote location, some in their own studios. They were also permitted to provide their own interpretation of the mock-up tracks in order to offer their own signature to their respective contributions. Drummer Simon Phillips, for example, kept this interpretative leeway in mind while recording the drums for "Crossing of Fates" at Phantom Recordings in Los Angeles. These tracks were then sent back to Kerzner in Miami for mixing at South Beach Studios.
A few songs such as "Under Control" and "Solitude" feature Kerzner playing all of the instruments including drums on the final recording. For these, he played all tracks on his keyboard using his sample library. "Crossing of Fates" was developed during a jam session with keyboardist Keith Emerson, a guest musician on the album;. the song is a tribute to Emerson and features him performing a synthesizer solo.