Bear McCreary's concept album-graphic novel hybrid "The Singularity" released earlier this year, and the team behind the project spoke with The Direct at New York Comic Con about its development.
McCreary, an Emmy-winning composer, collaborated on what his website calls "an epic rock concept album, graphic novel, and concert experience" with filmmaker and comic writer Kyle Higgins, who was the project's creative director.
"The Singularity" tells the story of Blue Eyes, who is stuck in a cycle of living, loving, losing, then dying, before being reborn and it all starting again.
Its album component features many artists such as Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, and the companion graphic novel was written by Matt Groom and illustrated by a variety of artists such as Ramón K. Pérez.
The Singularity Album Creators Discuss Development Process
Bear McCreary and his collaborators on "The Singularity" concept album and graphic-novel spoke with The Direct's Gillian Blum at New York Comic Con about the development of the ambitious project.
McCreary, who composed Rings of Power, said that when making "The Singularity," he felt "inspired" by the world of Lord of the Rings, since it features "music [as] an authentic part of a fictional world."
He explained that in "a fictional world," there must be "a musicality that goes with it," and that this was a concept J.R.R. Tolkien understood:
"I think it all kind of goes back to 'Lord of the Rings.' For me, it's a project that inspired me, it's a project that has music baked into it, even in the books, and it's a project I'm working on now with 'Rings of Power.' But it was something that made me think about how music being an authentic part of a fictional world makes that world more believable.
We can't imagine our world without music, right? So when you're thinking about making a fictional world, you almost have to have a musicality that goes with it. J.R.R. Tolkien, when he wrote these books, understood this, and people that have adapted the books have understood this. "
For "The Singularity," McCreary explained, he wanted to flip this idea of building music into a written world by "[starting] with the music:"
Part of me when I made my solo record 'The Singularity' wanted to know, well, what if we started with the music? Tolkien started with the language, right? He was a linguist. I'm a musician. So I started writing music that made me feel like I'm going to another world. And then once this record came together, I got together with Matt Groom, this incredible writer for comic books, and we actually made a story that takes place in other universes. But it all started with the music.
Meanwhile, Rufus Wainwright was excited to join the project since he "[came] from a folk music background." With McCreary having incorporated in "that, sort of, ancient folk ... mystical spirit" into "The Singularity," his involvement "made sense:"
"I come from a folk music background. My parents were folk music musicians, and I actually just made a folk record ... And, yeah, so I think Bear [McCreary] wrote it with that, sort of, ancient folk, you know, mystical spirit in mind and, and I kind of grew up with that. So, yeah, it made sense."
McCreary also brought in his longtime friend Kyle Higgins to be the project's artistic director. Higgins shared that in working on "The Singularity," he really got to see "how interactive it [the process] was," explaining that there was a "feedback loop" between the album and the comic elements:
"[The most surprising part of development was] probably how interactive it was. You know, there were aspects of the album that certainly shaped the narrative of the comic, but then there were aspects of the narrative of the comic that then, as in a feedback loop, ended up shaping different elements of the album."
The Singularity Comic Creation Explained By Creators
The other element of "The Singularity" is this companion comic, which Higgins helped coordinate with the project's musical element.
Mat Groom, the writer of the comic, said that it was important to them that they "do something pretty new" with "The Singularity," particularly with "that direct link" between the album and comic components:
"We were really trying to do something pretty new, especially in terms of how the album integrated with the comic and that direct link."
Groom added that "there were definitely artists" they identified that they "knew would ... represent the vibe" the team was looking for — all of whom ended up working on "The Singularity" by the end. Some of these artists included Rod Reis and Ramón K. Pérez:
"There were definitely artists that we knew would sort of represent the vibe of what we wanted to do. And we ended up going to those people for the project, [and] they said, 'Yes' — Rod Reis being one of those. Ramón [K. Pérez], obviously, was huge. And that, sort of, helped us explain to Bear [McCreary] the, sort of, like, visual stroke and expressiveness we wanted for the book. And yeah, we're very fortunate to work with basically all the people that we had on our mood board for the project, which is great."
As for Pérez himself, he worked on bringing together all the work of the many other artists on the project, while, of course, contributing his own art in the process. Like McCreary, he questioned what it would mean to "play with comics and panels,, and make them feel like music:"
"I love playing with the genres like mashing up music and comics, because, like, comics is a silent medium, like you can't really go, 'Here's the soundtrack.' So how do I play with comics and panels and make them feel like music?"
Pérez also designed the story's main character, which he called "one of the easiest character designs of [his] career."
He took inspiration from Lee Pace, who did the character's voice on the album, and drew essentially him "but in the vibe of the character." He said that after "a couple of notes," the team "hit the ground running with that:"
"I did a couple of sketches of Lee Pace, but kind of in the vibe of the character — a little bit longer hair, a beard — and he [presumably McCreary] was like, 'Yeah.' And then he just had a couple of notes with clothing and, like, length of hair over the different ages in the story. And yeah, we hit the ground running with that. So that was, like, one of the easiest character designs of my career."
The full interviews can be watched here:
"The Singularity" album is available to stream on various music platforms including Spotify and Apple Music, with physical copies (Vinyl and CD) available for purchase. The companion comic is also available for purchase on Image Comics' website.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
