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Approved Lore Heart of Electrum (album)

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Starlin Rand

Jedi Sorcerer
Starlin Rand
Character Bio
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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
  • Media Name: Heart of Electrum (album)
  • Format: Music Album
  • Distribution: Common
  • Length: Short
  • Description: The sophomore release of the rock band Friendzoned At the Funeral, Heart of Electrum is a concept album. The album narrative revolves around a Jedi Padawan (Starlin Rand) who convinces a Sith Acolyte (Kai Bamarri) to defect during a battle. The two go on to become close friends, but their friendship is troubled by the Acolyte's dark past. In the end the Acolyte ultimately returns to his master, the Dark Lady (Amani Serys), though there is still hope that he will be redeemed.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
  • Author: Friendzoned At the Funeral
  • Publisher: Corellia Digital
  • Reception:
    • "While Friendzoned's tongue-in-cheek debut garnered a small but devoted following, their second album has received much more attention, not all of it good. But let's be real, folks. Heart of Electrum is a damned good album, and those of you crying "sellout" ought to give it a second chance.
      The decision to make their sophomore effort a concept album was apparently made by Rand not long after he met Kai Bamarri, who joined the band fresh out of Azrael Asylum. "I visited him in prison," Rand stated in an interview. "Making music started as part of his rehabilitation, as a means of expressing himself and coming out of his shell. Once he served his sentence, he needed something to get him back on his feet. I basically offered him a job." Bamarri lends a raw and passionate edge to the role of the Sith Acolyte, the rival-turned-friend of Rand's Jedi Padawan. Listeners have compared his dark, stentorian voice to the late Leon Fairmount, frontman of Expanse (although in this reviewer's opinion, he conveys angst much better than Fairmount did). I found it to be a nice counterweight to Rand's rougher vocals. In fact, much of the album's success rides on the odd combination of the funky blues rock Friendzoned is known for and the dusky grunge direction they're headed. It shouldn't work—it has no right to be this good—and yet Heart of Electrum is not only a vast improvement over its predecessor, it manages to tell its story with vigor and (pardon the pun) heart.
      Also appearing in smaller vocal roles are Silas Westgard (the Kingpin in "Loser") and Countess Amani Serys-Organa (the Dark Lady in... well, nearly every other track on the album). Yes, you read that right. First they had the Sword of the Jedi appear on their debut singing a cheesy love ballad, now they have a Countess playing a Dark Lady of the Sith. She apparently recorded her songs while pregnant with twins, too. Organa's Lady is soft and sultry, a serpentine siren crouching in the background, waiting to strike. Unlike Valery Noble's brief cameo, her presence on the album is nigh-constant, luring and taunting the tortured Acolyte. In the end, the siren song of the Dark Side seduces him. Westgard appears only once, playing a sleazy drug kingpin, but it is a memorable turn (and the heavy isotope-influenced "Loser" is the one track which sounds the most like old school Friendzoned material, oddly enough).
      The rest of the band does fantastic work, as always. Zak's electronic mixes, Laysel's guitar work, Dune's drumming are all standout here. The record is selling well, with the singles "Defender of Ossus", "I Don't Have Anything", "Loser", and the title track "Heart of Electrum" making it onto the Galactic Top 40,000. As far as I'm concerned, it's an instant classic." — Glup Shitto, music critic
    • "Another example of disgusting Jedi propaganda. Someone should kill Starlin Rand for recording this filth." — Darth Diabolis, Sith Lord
    • "Is this religious music?" — Bing Bong, music journalist
FORMAT INFORMATION

Heart of Electrum was released on a variety of platforms. Limited edition physical copies of the album were also produced for collectors, with two other variant covers: one featuring a sketch of a human heart in gold, and the other a photograph featuring a young Starlin Rand and an unknown figure with their eyes scratched out, rumored to be the real life Sith Acolyte who inspired the album. A feature-length holofilm adaptation of the album was made, with parts of the movie being aired as individual holomusic videos.

CONTENT INFORMATION

PERSONNEL:

TRACKLIST:
  1. Intro: Ours Not To Reason Why
    1. A menacing battle march depicting the Sith and Jedi forces preparing to meet on the battlefield. The Sith Acolyte expresses his doubts, even as the Dark Lady cuts through his inner monologue with a rallying cry. Mixed by Zak Dymo, the music is entirely electronic, with an industrial, machine-like rhythm.
  2. Defender of Ossus
    1. The Jedi Padawan goes forth to defend the world of Ossus from the Sith invaders. Like the previous track, it features a military motif, though the music is almost entirely organic in composition. The longest track on the album, the second half of the song features a double guitar solo performed by Rand and Laysel.
  3. Heart of Electrum
    1. The Jedi Padawan encounters the Sith Acolyte on the battlefield. Their confrontation is presented in lyrical form, eventually harmonizing once the Padawan convinces the Acolyte to defect. This track features an aggressive distorted guitar, piano, and synth.
  4. A Taste of the Good Life
    1. On Coruscant the Acolyte is welcomed by the Padawan's family, who take him in. He reveals his troubled past: the Sith attacked his homeworld when he was a child, killing his family and enslaving him. He was bought by the Dark Lady, who taught him the ways of the Sith. Now that happiness and independence is within his grasp, he is eager for a taste of the good life, even if he can still hear his old master calling to him.
  5. I Don't Have Anything
    1. A lush ballad of loss in which the Acolyte sings about the girl he left behind on Korriban. It is the first hint that the Acolyte can never be truly satisfied in the Padawan's world.
  6. Back to My Old Ways
    1. The Padawan's sordid past as a criminal gang member comes back to haunt him when an old friend comes begging for sanctuary. The friend owes money to a powerful drug lord (The Kingpin) who has sent his goons to kill him. Trying to help, both the Padawan and the Acolyte are dragged into the mess. The Padawan refuses to go back to his old ways, no matter what happens.
  7. Loser
    1. In this heavy isotope-inspired track, the Kingpin eviscerates both the Padawan and the Acolyte, brutally roasting the duo and their efforts to stop him. He warns them that if they don't have his money by the following night, he will kill them both. On the other hand, they could work for him to pay off the debt...
  8. Acolyte's Lament
    1. With a haunting choral sample looping in the background, the Acolyte carries out a plot to assassinate the Kingpin and all his henchmen, using the Dark Side to slaughter them all. After committing the grisly deed, he comes to the bitter realization that he doesn't belong in the Padawan's world, and never will. He hears the voice of the Dark Lady calling to him one final time...
  9. Shine a Little Light
    1. The Padawan is left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the Acolyte's sudden departure. He wonders about the possibility of redemption in this blues-heavy track.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Allegedly inspired by a true story, Heart of Electrum was written and recorded by Friendzoned At the Funeral shortly after the end of the Second Great Hyperspace War. The album introduces three new personnel: the vocalists Kai Bamarri, Silas Westgard, and Amani Serys-Organa. It marks the departure of pianist Princess Corazona von Cholmendeley.
 
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