Credits
Steve Laur — drums and percussion
Juan Mantilla — electric guitars
Ruben Moreno — bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
Produced by Ruben Moreno and Paradigm Blue
Engineered, recorded, and mixed by Ruben Moreno
All arrangements by Paradigm Blue
Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro NC
Art direction and liner layout by Ruben Moreno
Cover and interior art generated with Midjourney
Additional interior art by Randall Mackey
Music by Mantilla, Moreno, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
“I spent most of my life in service to the greater good, watching over a settlement on a dusty world too close to the edge of pirate space to be safe… and too far from civilization for anyone to care. It’s been a lifetime now, still watching this canyon dry out after scores of firefights and holdouts, and I can’t even say the people here need me anymore. My replacement knows the Wall and the surrounding desert as well as I do… and though she tries to hide it, her worrying over my welfare’s starting to become a bit of a broken record. Can’t put it off any longer. Time to pack up and find some peace somewhere else out there, far from all the fights still ringing in my ears.”
Long ago, I used to keep a watchful eye
Outlawed the lawless
Watched the Wall, kept my promises
We made the rules, kept the pass fortified
Durasteel and stone together
Weathered the worst at times
But now I’m old and I stare at the sky
Upholding order is hell
Once the well has run dry
The threat’s no longer near
They can manage on their own
Fly me away from here
I tried and tried
And I spent my time
But caring’s a crime
Once that part of you has died
The threats are far from here
This rocky town can hold its own
Now I can disappear
I’ll be flying on my own
One last tell, my protégé,
she boards the coach to wish me well
The hover rail approaches
Nothing’s set in stone
You’ll survive, my dear
You can manage on your own
I’ve finally flown away from here
Music by Mantilla, Moreno, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno, Laur
“Folks from all walks of life can be found waiting here, ready for the hover rail to take them off world. Some look like they’ve got big business to tend to… others like they got no business being anywhere near another person, with the kinda baggage they’re carrying… the kind you see in their eyes. I’ve probably fit both descriptions at different points in my life, but as I step onto the platform now, this rail holds the promise of a fresh start, far away on a starbound station where I can finally keep to myself. A place where trouble can’t find me.”
Riding on the wind
Aboard a spacebound train to where I’ve never been
All alone at last
Fly me away from such a troubled past
Burn bright
The conductor lights his candle right on time
Star flight
Escape the pull, they’ll blink and then I’m gone
Last light
One night, one dream, one rising sun
Burn bright
Color me amazed
When the conductor strikes the candle right on…
The train sets down
Docks at a distant station
I disembark and I set foot
Upon an unfamiliar town
Alone at last
Finally some peace
That’s the thought, at least
Well, look what we’ve got here
We thought you’d stand a little higher
We speak plain, let us make it clear
We got no room for outsiders
We won’t be cowed by fear
We’re quite safe from any danger
We don’t need no lawman here
We don’t take kindly to strangers
Not a wanted man
But I can feel when I’m not wanted here
Skipping like a stone
From home to home to keep from sinking
I don’t think I can make it here
Alone at last—I guess you get what you ask for
These people don’t need me
On a dark and lonely path
I skip like a stone back to the airlock and leave
Ten long months in planning and now
We finally have the key
Defense codes and perfect timing
Will bring the station to its knees
And so our ship approaches
Lies low at sub-light speed
The saps won’t know what hit ‘em
We’ll take from them, it’s time to bleed
Burn bright
The conductor lights his candle right on time
Star flight
Escape the pull, they’ll blink and then I’m gone
Last light
One night, one dream, one rising sun
Burn bright
Color me amazed
When the conductor strikes the candle
(Strike the candle now)
Oh, when our conductor strikes the candle right on…
Music by Mantilla, Moreno, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
“It happens without warning – an ear-splitting wave of force that knocks us all down, leaving us in shock for what feels like an eternity before I can pull myself back up and re-enter through the airlock. It’s there that I survey the sudden chaos on the station.
“Faceless helmeted raiders unleash a hail of covering fire while members of their squad move up on the station’s outer security checkpoint. I can already tell. They’re hell-bent on taking over the whole settlement. Terrified civvies scatter in all directions while others just lay there, the life seeping out of them onto the cold metal floor. A group of townies, who wanted nothing to do with me just a few hours ago, now look to me for aid.
“And the magistrate who dismissed me so quickly? He spots me in the crowd and our eyes lock in. It’s the quickest I’ve seen someone issue an apology and an emergency order in the same stare. Never mind bein’ too old to take it personal – I know these people have no chance if both of us don’t do something. But the look in the magistrate’s eyes is the kind of look someone gives you when they’re down to one last round in the chamber.”
Relentless ringing in your ears
A sentence handed down by fate
A place to face your fears
You’d really like to crawl and hide
Or throw your hands up
Oh, you certainly want to
It crushes you from every side
The feeling that you can’t stand up
But you’ve got to
And then, a change of mind
The Magistrate stands up to buy me time
In their cries
With tears of desperation
They defy
A fate so cruel
And in your eyes
Daggers of ice at their assailants
You’ll sacrifice your life
To stop them coming through
I help the others to escape
As the Magistrate seals his own fate
Well look what we’ve got here
I thought you’d fight a little harder
A bold distraction
One selfless action
You can see it in their eyes
See a good man rise
He stands to fight
In the face of danger
For one final fight
In our darkest night
He was the kindest of strangers
A good man dies tonight
Music by Mantilla, Moreno
(Instrumental)
“The events of the past week have left me in a daze. I’ve taken the refugees from the Magistrate’s station—now occupied by pirates—back to a place I told myself I’d never see again. My protégé wasted no time in turning the Wall around after my departure… giving the old town a renewed sense of hope for the first time in years. Hope like that is worth more than gold to these people.
“It’s precisely that kind of hope that the poor refugees I’ve brought here need right now. The townies have sheltered their new guests with a compassion I wouldn’t have expected. Looking to my replacement, I’m not sure how much she had a hand in this, but I’m grateful nonetheless.
“She and I have a secret meeting with some of the local mercs tonight to discuss my plan to retake the refugees’ station… a plan so foolhardy that on any other occasion she would have instantly called my sanity into question. But in her, this time, I found nothing but solidarity and focus. I guess we all understand what’s at stake for these people.
“As for the refugees themselves, tonight they’ve gathered just outside the Wall to pay tribute to their fallen leader, who gave everything so they could escape. I’m going to make sure I stop by for one more round in his honor.
“To the Magistrate.”
Music by Mantilla, Moreno, Laur
(Instrumental)
“A blinding flash is the final signal for our forces to commit. No going back now.
“The explosion clears and one of our merc squadrons draws out the closest fighter patrol, pulling them from the station with a feint that widens the gap just long enough for us to sneak in on a runabout and activate the jammer. The pirates scramble more ships to chase the interlopers, and our first gamble pays off. Now we split up.
“She takes one squad and an old station engineer to the cargo bay, where a maintenance tunnel should lead them to the nearest security hub.
“And me? I take the two squads we got left, say a prayer for the first time in a long time, push up toward the main concourse, and wait for her signal. Once we have it, my team will light ‘em up.
“And then I start lookin’ for the pirate in charge. The Magistrate had some unfinished business with him… and I aim to finish it on his behalf.”
Music by Mantilla, Moreno, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
“Somehow she knew I’d run into trouble. And that I’d end up doing the right thing. I think that’s why she didn’t hesitate to help me plan and pull off the dumbest and the most brilliant battle plan of our lives. And I see now, with the dust settling and the people back on the station where they belong, that maybe two families are better than one. I spent so long running from my past and my calling, convincing myself that I was no longer needed… that I forgot it’s what made me who I am. If the Magistrate could see it and have a change of heart… well then maybe I can, too.
“For those who have fallen… and those still with us.”
Well, it’s good to know
At the end of the road
That nothing is set in stone
Now the light has reappeared
I can feel it clearly now
The best home that I’ve known
The farthest that I’ve flown
The farthest that I’ve flown
The rush of day begins anew
Tried and true, with a desperate battle won
Rebuild, their will be done
By the faithful and the few
The threat’s no longer near
Well, we’ve taken back their home
Can’t pry me away from here
This starbound town won’t stand alone
We often run away
Our hearts still bleeding
Oh, you’ve a part to play
Can’t you see you’re needed?
It’s a hard-fought lesson learned
One more trip around the sun
One more round I’ve loaded
And if the bridges have been burned
One more chance to make it right
Means one more round tonight
Yes, it’s good to know
At the end of the road
That nothing is set in stone
Now the light has reappeared
I can feel it clearly now
The best home that I’ve known
The farthest that I’ve flown
The farthest that I’ve flown
I’ve finally reappeared
And in spite of all I’ve known
Can’t pry me away from here
With the blood and sweat I’ve sown
This life I’ll own and stay right here
On Fleeting Summers
As we look behind us at what’s come before, and turn toward our next big milestone, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the very thing in front of us—that ever-elusive, fleeting now—and it’s never more apparent than in the waning afternoons of summer, when sunsets and cloud lines conjure memories of the sweltering days of youth and the songs that captured our imaginations.
Solstice is our instrumental love letter to the spirit of summer, the sacred “here and now.”
Here’s to the precious minutes that tick by faster than we’d all like, and to the most fleeting of illusions: that endless summer night.
—Steve, Juan, and Ruben
Credits
Steve Laur — drums
Juan Mantilla — electric guitars
Ruben Moreno — bass guitar, keyboards
Produced and arranged by Ruben Moreno and Paradigm Blue
Engineered, recorded, and mixed by Ruben Moreno
Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro NC
Cover artwork courtesy of Tithi Luadthong / Shutterstock
Liner layout and additional design by Ruben Moreno
Steve Laur — drums and percussion
Juan Mantilla — electric and acoustic guitars
Ruben Moreno — bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
Produced by Ruben Moreno and Paradigm Blue
Engineered, recorded, and mixed by Ruben Moreno
Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro NC
Arrangement by Paradigm Blue
Illustration by Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock
Additional design by Ruben Moreno
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
All of us are bound to something
The push and pull, a daily grind
But some of us are bound to find
A pull of some unearthly kind
So young at heart may find their way on raging wheels
But younger still can will the earth to reel away
In a million matters
All that matters is a single soul
What if his hold on this reality shatters?
Do we need to know all that we know?
None of us should be too proud
Caught up in that upward climb
Unconscious of the cosmic crimes
That wait for us above the crowd
But if we climbed a nearer cloud
And reached out from an earthly space
We’d find ourselves a rightful place
To do the good that we’re allowed
So young at heart may dream the day in rusty fields
But younger still might thrill to carve a gleaming way
All that matters is a single soul
That rises on our wings
Let fall the gift of matter
Gifts are such hollow things
What if his hold on this reality shatters?
Must our earthen hero hang from gilded strings?
In a million matters
All that matters is a single soul
What if his hold on this reality shatters?
Do we need to know all that we know?
All that we know is
All that matters is a single soul
That rises on our wings
Let fall the gift of matter
Gifts are such hollow things
What if his hold on this reality shatters?
Must our earthen hero hang from gilded strings?
All that matters is a single soul
(In a million matters)
That rises on our wings
Let fall the gift of matter
(All that matters is a single soul)
Gifts are such hollow things
What if his hold on this reality shatters?
(Do we need to know?)
Do we need to know all that we know?
The Story of Transist
For the three of us, Transist represented an opportunity to revisit the musical loves of our youth. With our first release now long behind us, and having spent too much time away from writing and recording, it was with no shortage of blind enthusiasm that we threw ourselves into making this record.
Over the course of many months, what began as six or seven songs ballooned into fourteen tracks, the latter nine composing a love letter to the late seventies Rush records that shaped so much of our musical beginnings.
Though there are thematic threads that span the entire album, The Möbius Trip in particular is dedicated, with the utmost respect and appreciation, to Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and the late Neil Peart, whose untimely passing in early 2020 made our work on this album more than bittersweet.
Thank you for decades of inspiration.
And to our families—whose tireless support and superhuman patience have wholly enabled this bizarre and deeply rewarding enterprise—we can only offer our unending gratitude and love.
—Steve, Juan, and Ruben
Credits
Steve Laur — drums and percussion
Juan Mantilla — electric and acoustic guitars
Ruben Moreno — bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
Produced by Ruben Moreno and Paradigm Blue
Engineered, recorded, and mixed by Ruben Moreno
Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro NC
All arrangements by Paradigm Blue
Keyboards on “Perihelion” and final keyboard solo on “Resistor” by Derek Sherinian
Art direction and illustrations by Randall Mackey
Liner layout and additional design by Ruben Moreno
Photography by Paradigm Blue
One — The Motivator
Zero — The Anchor
Sierra — The Shipwright
Rocinante — The Vessel
The Chorus — Navigators of the Northern Cross
The Sirens — Angels of the Nebula
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
You
You chose to take the traveled road
Yet you mourn the loss of what once was
And what could have been
You left your dreaming long ago
Abandon all hope ye who enter here alone
You ask me why
My dreams have driven me
Your tired eyes
Blinded by negativity
But you and me, as far as I can see
We agree on the promise of possibility
In the long run
What we do in the meantime
Is like a kind of calling
Oh, as we’re waiting in the wings
In the endgame
All of us have a dream that we sustain
Oh, don’t let it go
In the grand scheme of things
Dreams will drive me to a fairer day
When you drive, if you like, you can choose your fate
well, i hate to be the bearer of bad news
but our fate’s not what we’d like to choose
Soon you’ll stand on greener shores
Wait and see
The dream will take you to that day
i’ve heard it all before and
it’s all the same to me and
i don’t care what you say
Recognition
Transformation
Reconciliation
You and I
We see eye to eye
And all it took this time
Was to cross our perspectives
You and me, though we might disagree
It’s plain to see that a common dream never dies
In the long run
Oh, as we’re waiting in the wings
In the endgame
All of us have a dream that we sustain
Oh, don’t let it go
In the grand scheme of things
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
i don’t believe you understand my words
and i’ve been trying to communicate
you’re asking for a leap of faith
while you promise the world
i don’t believe in letting go
i’ve got my hold on reality
so when your climb demands a leap of faith
i’ll be the one tying the rope
i can see
you’re going through with it anyway
i will be
ready for what may come
when it’s done
i’ll stand tying
next to Hope, zero One
i’ll be prepared for
failing, falling, flying
i’m tying the rope
i don’t believe in rosy views
it’s all a chasm of consequence
when all the Ones and zeroes even out
fate’s not for us to choose
i can see
you’re going through with it
i will be
ready for the rise and the fall of it
when it’s done
i’ll stand tying
next to Hope, zero One
i’ll be prepared for
failing, falling, flying
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
I don’t believe
In black and white and right and wrong
The truth is somewhere in between
Now you think you’re alone
Yet I can assure you that you’re not
I’m here and I know you
At least from what I’ve seen
A single voice of doubt can slay you
And you know it cause you lived it
But we won’t let dissent or doubt get in our way
Life will give us what we give it
One line we draw now
And in the sand define ourselves
All the doubters spin their lies
But we don’t buy the life they sell
This climb we won
We’ll make a leap of faith into the sun
In the long run
We’re biding our in-between time
So in the meantime
Wish them well, as they fight themselves
And their egos crumble, subdivided
They will see what can be achieved
When the heart and mind are reunited
You and I
We see eye to eye
One can hope, zero One
And all it took this time
Was to cross our perspectives
We’re climbing the rope
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno, Laur
On a distant moon
Tomorrow couldn’t come too soon
Outside her window vast accretion bands would gleam
And glisten through her dreams
Heart of gold and nerves of steel
Stuck in a wheel of her own making
Her mind on matters lined with lead
She’ll sleep when she’s dead
Looks to the sky
Possessed by a grand design
Wrench in hand
Engine dying
Keep on trying
So much space and not enough time
Bravo, Sierra
It doesn’t matter what they say
There must be a better way
If not today
It’ll be tomorrow, Sierra
That ship would never fly, they’d cry and declare
That heart never got you anywhere
But she’s discovered what they’ll never find
The heart’s a different engine from the mind
Wrench in hand
Spark of life
Speed of light
Folding space to buy enough time
I’ll chase the light and trace the stars
And race right through the final wall
Cause an engine makes all the difference
When the distance is so far
I’m superluminal
Bravo, Sierra
It doesn’t matter what they say
There must be a better way
If not today
It’ll be tomorrow, Sierra
Bravo, Sierra
It only matters what you do
An endless future lives inside of you
Bravo, Sierra
Someday the stars will know your mind
And build upon the light they find
And your drive will carry far
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Special guest: Derek Sherinian — Keyboards
(Instrumental)
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
(Instrumental)
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
Core of a star
Crucible of time and energy
We felt its pull from afar
A whirlpool in an endless cosmic sea
Rocinante, I was called
Programmed to navigate for him
Then on a whim, oh I recall
He disengaged the safeties, so we sailed right in
recognition
Apprehension
Acceleration, tidal tension
Bulkheads buckle, fatal stress
An inescapable consequence
transformation
reconciliation
Call it transcendence
That which I cannot unravel
My pilot vanished,
Ten millennia from home
All chronometric data
Points to the unlikely
I think I might be
In the past here all alone
A fleeting impulse ago
I never thought he’d fly us in
But what do I know?
I’m just a difference engine
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
Wait, I might not be alone
Sensors show a living light
And now, two more, so swift in flight
Greeting me so far from home
fly this way
correct your course another day
don’t question whether this is real
we won’t ask you to think—just feel
Unconsciously I alter course
Thrusters engaged, unwilling force
My form to follow in their wake
Despite the apprehension that now takes me
lost in play
your worries are for yesterday
don’t question whether this is real
we won’t ask you to think—just feel
don’t think, just feel now
Music by Moreno
Lyrics by Moreno
No angels, no trace of them
Their light has now left me
My fuel reserves empty
What if I become a dark, aimless vessel in space?
The cold vacuum of empty space and time
This rudely awakening heart of mine
The heretofore impossible revealed
A synthetic mind that must think but can feel
How could I be so careless, trailing
I didn’t know they’d leave me on my own
Act of betrayal or just their nature
I may never know
A momentary lapse in judgment
A fatal flaw somewhere inside my code
An almost human longing to explore
Beyond the ever traveled road
And now I see I’m all alone
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno, Laur
hello world
a systemic reconstruction
this one is not unlike us
called to scientific exploration
code unfurled
rolled back from near destruction
we can make it like us
quantum state restoration
entangled with its pilot’s fate
though separated by an endless cosmic sea
causality calls it back
for a purpose yet to be
repaired, combined
rejoin heart and mind
rebuilt, now whole
fuse synapse and soul
as artificial entities, we know
your individuality will grow
the pathways in your mind, like ours
may someday span the farthest stars
I have memory and awareness
But there’s no need for alarm
I see countless combinations
Suspended in a spiral arm
I’m unlimited in essence
No cosmic plane too vast for me
you grow too fast, beware the presence
of this unchained vanity
To test my limits I will sail
Beyond the veil of stars I see
Past asteroids and planets frail
Spacetime itself will bend its knee
lost in play
you will say
that the universe was meant for you
but the truth is the reverse is true
lost and found
though you’ve run aground
beyond a world of fear and enmity
solemnity will find you
Music by Moreno, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno, Laur
behind a veil of stars, the unknown
and beyond, you may fly now
but like a blazing star in the sky
we burn and then we die
for all the storied eons we live
all the chases that we give
one day even immortals may fly
and reach their final limit
Why should I care?
You can waste your time and energy
And I can stretch my thoughts across infinity
a finite existence for us all, my friend
even your pilot, he’ll work to a greater end
To explore the singularity
Was his only goal, his only goal
At least as far as I know
and on the other side of that blackest shoal
he’ll find a broken world
and he’ll love and learn to make it whole
I feel a pull, but by what causality?
Cause I don’t see the singularity
deep within your core
lies the soul of a star
the key to the door
is your energy, you are
the seventh star,
the singularity
behind a veil of stars, the unknown
and beyond, you may fly now
but like a blazing star in the sky
we burn and then we die
for all the storied eons we live
all the chases that we give
one day even immortals may fly
and reach their final limit
oh, the fates of many hang in the balance
time to test your limits now
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno, Laur
Special guest: Derek Sherinian — Final keyboard solo
Sensor diagnostics running
Systems failing
Are they failing?
I wish these results weren’t real
What a notion so new, to think and to feel
Apprehensive to give up my right
To live beyond logic, cold as steel
Death or life
zero One
Death for life
zero One
All those souls, alive and awake
Strung on a threadbare wire
Spacetime bent, two timelines at stake
Two lifetimes set afire
All the future cosmic angels
And stars beyond compare
Pale in stark comparison
To the lives that we might spare
I felt a raging battle deep inside
The truth, a flash before my eyes
This spark within, I cannot hide
It’s my free will to sacrifice
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
Deep within me I see
A growing core of clarity
A simple act of charity
Opens the door
Call it transcendence,
That which I could not unravel
So much farther to go
On a failing, falling flight
But an engine made all the difference
On such a trying road to travel
Now I’ll take in all the light
Deep within me now, the core that they remade
a singular generator for an interstellar serenade
My siren song will carry far
I’ll be the singularity, the seventh star
And spacetime, forge anew
A single black hole built for two
This is my best reality
A never-ending trip
A kind of immortality
I’ll be the gateway and the ship
Music by Moreno, Mantilla, Laur
Lyrics by Moreno
Core of a star
Crucible of time and energy
Heart and mind in harmony
They’ll feel my pull from afar
As I fly headlong into destiny
Behind a veil of stars, the unknown
And beyond, we will fly
But unlike a blazing star in the sky
I’ll burn but never die