Volume 1’s jazz number, “Paris Promise,” is sung by Howard McCrary as the character of Innes Ellis, who is telling the story of accidentally killing a man and escaping to Paris. Moja author Carl Gustafson wrote the song to represent a mind going crazy — one half is scared he’ll be caught, while the other half tries to pull him back to sanity by rationalizing the murder as self defense.

Lead engineer Tony Shepperd says Carl’s transportive storytelling lyrics combined with chief songwriter Natalie Litza’s detailed instrumentation and musicality makes “Paris Promise” one of those songs that truly paints a picture for listeners.

Listen as Carl and Natalie share their approach to the creating this song, understanding what this story meant to Innes as a character, and relating those concepts back to the overarching theme of the project through the music.