Fireflies

Fireflies was inspired by an experience during a year of travelling around the world in 2003. I had left behind my career, home and everyday life during a very difficult period, travelling through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

In New Zealand, another traveller and I abseiled deep underground with a local Māori guide, then continued through the tunnels by black-water rafting. We had no idea what lay ahead, and eventually reached a huge cavern where our guide asked us to switch off our head torches. I remember feeling distinctly uneasy about being so far underground and completely in the dark, but there was no choice except to trust the experience.

Then the darkness came.

Almost immediately, the cavern began to glow with millions of tiny lights. It was completely unexpected and utterly beautiful. I have never seen anything like it before or since, and more than twenty years later I can still close my eyes and see that cavern filled with light.

Fireflies grew from that memory. The music tries to capture not simply the beauty of those tiny lights, but the sense of wonder that came from discovering them in the darkness.