Blueprint is the sixth studio album by Dutch trance artist Ferry Corsten, released on 26 May 2017[7] though Flashover Recordings.[7][8] It is a science fiction[9]-influenced trance album with tracks containing a storyline narrated by American actor Campbell Scott.[10] The plot narrative, which is unfolded at the beginning of each song, depicts humans on Earth who begin to hear an endlessly repeating sound emitted from space and the creation of an android by a man who had deciphered the sound's hidden message.
The album features a single from Corsten's side project "Gouryella" titled "Venera (Vee's Theme)", which was the first single released to promote the album.[11] Along with "Venera (Vee's Theme)", four other singles were released with the album, "Reanimate", "Trust", "Waiting", and "Wherever You Are". Blueprint received positive reception from music critics, who praised the album's overall sound design and emotional listening experience evoked by each track.
Background
Unlike Ferry Corsten's earlier albums, Blueprint is a concept album whose concept is based on a science fiction-themed love story.[9] According to Ferry, the initial inspiration for creating a narrative-focused album came from his father reminding him of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, an album that they used to listen together. Like the main concept of Blueprint, it is a progressive rock and symphonic rock album which contains narratives from Welsh actor Richard Burton. "As a kid, I grew up looking at the vinyls with all the artwork and paintings of these aliens and stuff. I was fascinated by it!" When Ferry's father reminded him of the old album, a lightbulb went off: "You just said the magic words, I told him. You just gave me an idea,"[10] recounted Ferry.
Being a science fiction fan since his younger days, Ferry decided to base the theme of Blueprint on that very concept. "Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been a big sci-fi fan. The interest in the unknown and what lies beyond that always grabbed me. For this project I had a chance to work with both my favourite interests, sci-fi and music,"[12] said Ferry. The storyline was written by Hollywood screenwriter David Harrington Miller,[10] who was introduced to Ferry by his manager. "We hit it off very well and working together was easy and fun. The flow was fantastic," said Ferry. Blueprint contains illustrations from Canadian visual artist Oska, and is narrated by actor Campbell Scott.
Critical reception
Blueprint was met with generally positive reviews upon release. Dancing Astronaut’s Kanvar Kohli complimented the usage of voice-overs for most of the tracks and highlighted the strength of the album's science-fiction theme. He also praised Corsten for capturing the album's other-worldly sound design.[13] Shivani Murthy from The Music Essentials states that the album, "has been impeccably conceptualized and executed with absolute perfection", giving listeners an ‘‘out of the world’’ experience.[14] Shawn Russel Johnson from HuffPost described Blueprint as a "display of the artist's mastery of the trance genre", capable of manipulating the emotions of listeners with every track.[15]
