O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!

So begin the lyrics to the European Union’s anthem “Ode To Joy”… but, yes! Yes! THESE sounds, my friends. These are the sounds you want for your latest Euro Noir film, TV drama, video game or documentary score.

Amara II is what will, to paraphrase Marie Kondo, “spark joy” in your next musical venture.

Okay, enough senseless prattling. It’s been a while hasn’t it? My last Omnisphere library, Colossus IV, was released in May of 2020, and a lot has happened since then. Lord, yes.

A few months ago I determined that I needed to get an Omnisphere soundset out before the end of 2023. I had three in progress, all sequels to existing releases: Amara, Colossus and Pangaea. I rimuniated over which one to finish first, punted the idea out across my social media for feedback and finally made the decision:

Amara II.

The inspiration wasn’t hard to come by, I absolutely love watching European TV detective series and am always energised by the music and sound design within those shows. Whether it’s set in my native UK, the Nordic countries or somewhere more continental, the dark, brooding mix of neo-classical composition, analogue synths and organic instruments that permeates this genre is very much in my wheelhouse.

I often get asked to do bespoke work in this area and it’s always a pleasure to do so. Having said that, all the sounds in Amara II (bar maybe half a dozen?) were made originally for this library.

So, I’ve spent a few months listening to soundtracks, playing with ideas, seeing where the whole project takes me and put together 400 patches that will jump you, as a composer, right into the heart of the Euro Noir action and emotion.

This sequel features all the rugged loops and sequences you’d expect, alongside a whole host of wistful and tense pads and textures. But, this time, I’ve added in a few more keyboards, guitars, hybrid instruments and polyphonic synths to provide those truly powerful melodic moments that make all the difference.

There’s more than enough scope for a third installment of Amara to come into existence, if the demand is there for it, so I hope you enjoy using Amara II enough to see more of this series.