Radiohead and a prophecy about the North Sea oil and gas industry were among the inspirations behind a new cross-genre album.
Oil was written and performed by the Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet, a collaboration between a group of promising young musicians.
They decided to give their debut album a Scottish flavour after touring the country in 2015, playing seven concerts in as many days.
Their imagination was captured by the prophecies of the Brahan Seer, reputed to be Coinneach Odhar, who lived around the middle of the 17th century.
Of all the seer’s foretellings, thought to include the Battle of Culloden, his anticipation of the advent of North Sea industry proved most inspirational.
John Rittipo-Moore, the quartet’s London-based composer, said: “We had been on tour in Scotland and we loved it so we had a look at some Scottish folklore and folk tales for inspiration.
“One of the ones we read about was the prophecy that a black rain would bring riches to Aberdeen.”
Having settled on a theme for the title track, Kaleidoscope member Ian Dingle came up with a short film and Mr Rittipo-Moore wrote music to accompany the imagery.
Mr Rittipo-Moore said: “Ian is a great photographer and film maker – he had a strong vision in his head and I wrote Oil in response to the visuals he created.
“The song Oil came from the imagery Ian created and the rest of the album developed from there.”
The track shifts from acoustic to more electronic, a reflection of the rise in the number of machines in the North Sea.
And while the greater vision for the album is not just about oil, the remaining songs did develop naturally from the title track, Mr Rittipo-Moore said.
Legendary British saxophonist John Harle produced the album, which also contains a number of arrangements of film scores by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
Mr Rittipo-Moore, a fan of the iconic rock band, added: “It’s up to the listener to decide what they get from the album. It’s a vague thing to put into words, but in terms of genre, it’s bridging the gap between contemporary classical music and rock.”
The City Music Foundation − a body created to help musicians at the outset of their careers by providing them with the necessary tools, skills, experience and networks – supported the development of the album, which is out now on independent release.
Kaleidoscope, whose other members are Sally MacTaggart and Guy Passey, was named a CMF artist in 2014.