1. Bots on the Brain 5:23 (excerpt link)

  2. Early AM 3:07

  3. Bermuda At Night 3:54 (excerpt link)

  4. Build 4:31 (excerpt link)

  5. Whatever That Was 3:37

  6. Where the Years 3:09

  7. Retrospective 4:24

  8. August 1989 2:30

  9. Forth 3:42

    All songs: (c) 2025 by George Despres

Photo of George in his home studio.

The Songs of Foundation:

Bots On the Brain is influenced by the merging of human and artificial intelligence (coincidentally and partially employed in the composition of some of the songs), with emphasis on the relentless march of human-robotic intelligence, for better or worse. The string section in the drop climax reflects the human side reaching out for resolution.

Early AM is a semi-low-fidelity, foggy mood piece squarely in the Chill genre, reflecting the dreamy late/early hours before a bad upcoming hangover.

Bermuda At Night evokes the cricket-like, singsong impression of the tree frogs that provide a lulling chorus during evenings on the island.

Build blends a syncopated rhythm section and synthesizer segments composed about 25 years ago with an overlay of gradually mounting electronic sensibilities and complimentary mood tracks. The 35-year old Korg M1 keyboard employed and recorded on the original composition is used in this recording, including an alternative sitar preset and melody. As with Forth, the title and content of this song is reflective of the three-EP/album vision, Foundation, Rise and Capstone: We build, grow, look forward and backward, and accumulate as we go along. Not an original or earth-shattering impression, but definitely a universal one.

Whatever That Was is a shamelessly adolescent, uptempo, trance/rave/EDM romp, with a brief drop climax. Also perfect for exercise videos, remixes and perhaps even monster movies.

Where the Years supports a key theme of the upcoming Foundation album, representing the impact of the passage of time; our interpretation of time segments in our lives; history, now, future impressions, and our broader reflections on time and place in general.

Retrospective is an homage to 1970s funk and classic synthesizer and other legacy sounds, while maintaining a faithfulness to the Chill genre.

August 1989 is the month that I met Madeline, my now wife of 30+ years. This encounter led to the most transformative decisions of my life.

Forth, originally titled “Fourth” to represent the fourth newly recorded song for the upcoming album, is influenced by how humans tenaciously plod and journey along, encountering various things along the way. It employs an uncommonly straight rock beat/piano rhythm section and moderate tempo under a deep house umbrella, placing it outside easy sub-genre categorization.