In respect of ‘The Nine Skies’, Markus’ own awakening started predominantly through books. “I started reading, he says, like a lot!” “At home, in hotel lobbies, on flights, in the studio. I’ve always had a lingering interest in spirituality and the desire to make some sense of life. It’s something I share with people that are close to me. We like to chat about the nature of things like dharma, prajna, true-self – all that stuff. It is how - over time - the ‘Skies’ came into being. Markus has always seen Dakota not as an alias but as a persona - an identity even. “Sometimes I’m wearing Dakota’s head; other times it’s Markus Schulz’s, he says. Through that division, I’ve found the artistic space to make darker, moodier, deeper music. More exploratory and experimental gear… if that’s where my current state of mind is taking me. Atypically, the entire The Nine Skies project - concept, show, album, et al, was wrapped and complete before but a word of it was breathed. “This, expands Markus, gave me an opportunity I’d not had before. It gave me a chance to shake up my usual release pattern. So in keeping with the progressive spirit of The Nine Skies/steps, rather than coming with dozens of shows and an album’s worth of new material frontend, I brought it one stage and single at a time. I felt it would give the audiences more time to digest and absorb what is undeniably a broader concept”. Markus considers that if there’s one thing enlightenment does take, it’s time. ”Rarely, if ever, in life does something happen overnight”, he says. The release of the album’s first four singles was designed to reflect one of the possible journey arcs from darkness to enlightenment. That started with early-in-the-album track, ‘Mota Mota’ and ended with its penultimate one, ‘Spirit of the Warrior’. “It arches from one of the most ominous darkly-minded, night-black numbers I’ve written to possibly Dakota’s most uplifting, emancipating moment ever”, says Markus. The underlying theme of each of the 18 tracks on the album broadly falls into one of the Skies’ nine realms. “That, cautions Markus, is not something that’s going to be immediately apparent the first time you listen to it. Give it time though, and over subsequent spins I think, you’ll get an ever-greater feel for the transitional passage the album is taking. From Sky.One’s The Follower, transcending right the way over to the ninth Sky: Nirvana.”
Треклист (Tracklist):
♫ ♪ 1. The Nine Skies Intro ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 2. Bravo On the Go ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 3. Follow Me ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 4. Mota-Mota (With Koen Groeneveld) ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 5. Who Are You ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 6. Searching ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 7. Running Up That Hill (Feat. Bev Wild) ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 8. Eve's Doorway ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 9. Edonismo ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 10. Kismet ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 11. The Way It Is ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 12. Cafe Del Mar ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 13. The Master ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 14. Carbonado ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 15. In Search of Something Better ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 16. Future Shock ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 17. The Spirit of the Warrior ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ 18. The Ninth Sky ♫ ♪
