NASA’s Perseverance rover had barely touched its wheels down onto the surface of Mars before the audio it was beaming back to Earth was turned into a music track.
Norwegian electronica producer Niilas (otherwise known as Peder Niilas Tårnesvik) quickly released ‘Perseverance’ (no prizes for guessing where the name came from) and, in doing so, claims to be “the first artist ever to sample the sounds of our neighbouring planet and future second home of Mars”.
The artwork for the single is based on imagery from the rover’s Terrain-Relative Navigation technology as it manoeuvres around the Jezero Crater on Mars in search of microbial life.
The track is under three minutes (maybe Martian radio programmers also want to keep tracks sharply focused) but it does not sound too different from many instrumental and electronic tracks out there. Until, that is, you read the back story.
“The track started with layering the Mars-sample onto different drums and background noise,” explains Niilas. “The noise shines throughout the track, weaving along with the percussion. I added a bassline and melodies that are based off real instruments but played and arranged in a digital way. Creating a feeling of familiarity in an alien way. I’ve also vocoded the noise to the melody, creating a truly interplanetary unique feel. This can be heard isolated in the outro, like melodics dripping from a Martian cloud.”
He adds, “‘Perseverance’ is my interpretation of a cosy at home track for the future Mars-colonies. I wanted to create a melody that someone’s grandmother could be humming in her kitchen, something we all remember fondly from our childhood. Referring to nostalgia to a situation that does not exist yet or feeling at home in the most inhospitable place we’ve reached.”
We hope someone now creates a space-themed megamix that uses this alongside ‘Telstar’ by The Tornados, ‘Nightflight To Venus’ by Boney M, ‘Clouds Across The Moon’ by the Rah Band and ‘Spacelab’ by Kraftwerk. Probably best to leave out Modest Mouse’s ‘Space Travel Is Boring’.
