Songs I rest to. We Are The Designers
We Are The Designers: Jacob Shea & Jasha Klebe with Hans Zimmer | Planet Earth II
Like most musicians, I went through a Hans Zimmer phase. That moment where you first really hear what an orchestra can do - that huge, expansive, cinematic sound that just makes you feel something like nothing else can. It's hard to describe to someone who hasn't felt it, but if you know, you know.
We Are The Designers is track 48 on the Planet Earth II soundtrack - the penultimate track on the whole album - composed by Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe of Bleeding Fingers Music, with themes by Hans Zimmer. It was written for the Cities episode of the series, reflecting how human beings actively shape and design the environments around them. And for me, it just sticks out above everything else on that record.
I actually came across it before the soundtrack was even officially released. Someone had filmed a clip from inside a control room - just a mobile phone recording of the orchestra being tracked at Air Studios in Lyndhurst Road, London - and it came across my feed and completely stopped me. There's something about that kind of clip that I find so wonderful. The raw power of it. The orchestra filling the room, the control room atmosphere, someone just quietly capturing it. I loved the finished studio version, obviously, but that live clip is something else entirely. I still watch it now.
I'll put the video in below - I think you'll understand immediately.
And then years later, I actually got to record there myself with my great friend Ben Selley - who mixes and masters all of the rest. volumes - at Air Studios. The same studio. Knowing how special that place is, how lucky we were to be there, and having this music so connected to it in my head. That felt like a full circle moment.
The rest this song brings me is different to most. It's not the soft, gentle kind of rest. It's more like a calm confidence. If I ever find myself feeling a little lost, or not quite myself, this is one of the pieces I reach for. It lifts me. It steadies me. And for me, that is absolutely a form of rest.
Parts of this track also inspired one of my orchestral pieces - a composition that has no relation to rest. at all, but one I'm proud of. I released it as a live stream recording a few years back. It's one of those things where you hear something so powerful and it finds its way into your own work without you even realising it. I'm glad it did.
We Are The Designers. Track 48. Right near the end, almost like it was saved for last. That feels right to me.
Lewis x
rest. by Lewis Bolland is a series of calming felt piano music releases written for sleep, relaxation, studying, and the quiet moments in between. If you enjoy modern classical and ambient piano music from artists like Ludovico Einaudi, Gibran Alcocer, Max Ricter, and Alexis Ffrench, rest. was made with you in mind.
Whether you are looking for piano music to help with insomnia, anxiety, focus, or just a calmer day, all volumes are available to stream now on Spotify and Apple Music. Shop restalso has a growing collection of digital art prints and wellbeing worksheets designed to help you slow down and rest a little more.
You can listen to all of the rest. volumes by clicking here.
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