Building 4, North Wing was a place no one wanted to end up. The crumbling old psychiatric ward sat isolated on the far edge of a sprawling hospital complex, its shadow long and looming in the late afternoon sun. The patients inside—those who were still capable of feeling it—referred to the wing as "the cage." For others, the place had become a fog of half-forgotten days and nights, a blur of treatments and tests that never seemed to end.
The patient found himself in Room 412, staring up at the cracked ceiling. His Agitated Sleep had been a nightly battle, filled with twisted dreams he couldn't remember fully but always left him waking up in a cold sweat. He knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know how to fight it. Then came the Rude Awakening, when the nurses would burst into his room and snap him back to the harsh fluorescent reality of Building 4.
His days were a cycle of suspicion and confusion, always feeling like he was Watching the Watchtowers. The orderlies, the nurses, the doctors—they all seemed to be watching him too closely, whispering behind his back, taking notes on every twitch. And then, of course, there were Doctor's Questions, probing deeper than he was willing to go.
One day, they told him he needed Shock Treatment. He fought it, but there was no point in resisting in Building 4. The volts surged through his body, leaving his mind a cloud of static, and his thoughts scattered like ashes. He was always Under Influence, they said. Influence of what, he could never remember.
Then there was the ghost. The patient had seen it, the faint outline that hovered near his bed some nights. It didn’t scare him; in fact, there was a strange peace in its presence. He started to look forward to those moments, the Comfort of a Ghost whispering to him in the dead of night. It seemed like the only thing that wasn’t trying to control him.
But when the doors were locked and the lights dimmed, the patient plotted his Mental Escape. He would dream of slipping past the nurses, through the long corridors, and beyond the steel-reinforced windows that lined the north wing.
In the evenings, they would gather for Dinner, a cold and tasteless affair. As the sun began to set—Night is Falling I Don’t Want to Sleep—the patient dreaded the cycle starting over again. The darkness brought nightmares, but the waking hours were no better. Deep Sleep was the only thing he craved, the only time he felt truly free.
Deep down, he knew that Building 4, North Wing wasn’t just a place. It was a trap for his mind, and no matter how far he ran in his dreams, it always pulled him back.
—
"Building 4, North Wing" is a visceral experience, taking you through a labyrinthine narrative that delves into the realms of subconsciousness, introspection, and the enigmatic corridors of the mind. Prepare to embark on an enigmatic sonic odyssey, where chaos and order merge, and boundaries dissolve into ethereal echoes.
With the revival of this album, it is my sincerest hope that the remixed and remastered versions breathe new life into the essence of each composition.
Back in 2004, this was my first attempt at electronic music at a time I was mostly into piano, jazz and classical.
It was made with a Korg Wavestation, Akai s2000 maxed out with 32GB of ram, Roland TR909, and a ton of guitar pedals. I used plenty of found sounds that I was recording everywhere at the time. I recently remastered in 48-32 for what I think is a better sound.
The official release date is December 6th 2022, but as of November 30th it is already available on Bandcamp.
All the artworks for each individual track.
