[Thor Joachim Haga]

But would be interesting: what is the most “bombastic” album you have, what is the most “calm” album you have, your most exciting, your most dramatic, your most lingering, your most ambient, your most static….

It would, but even more interesting than that, I think, is the bit about our preferences changing over the years.

It’s not black and white, of course. It’s not like I don’t listen to upbeat music anymore. When I clean my apartment, for example, I still put on upbeat 80s synthpop or Rammstein to keep the physical energy up. And I can still take an orchestral adventure score or two. But I’ve veered more and more towards the calm and textural. That is — I DID do that until the tinnitus worsening in May. After that, I’ve found that the best option is somewhere inbetween. Not too calm and vague, but not too action-oriented either.

I read an article quite recently (can’t remember where, annoyingly) about the chemistry of our brain changing as we get older, wherein energetic music can feel aggravating now, while soothing music is more in line with pleasure and a feeling of balance.

You can hear it in artists’/composers’ works too. When I was a teenager, I didn’t understand how Bruce Springsteen could release such a slow album as THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, or Mark Knofler with GOLDEN HEART. Why couldn’t they just release the kind of tuneful, dance-able music of their earlier years? Now, of course, I can understand musical evolution or maturity in a whole other way. Love those albums now.