Azriel Hope: Music for The Rise of a King

Music, as well as pictures, is another thing that inspires me to write, often lingering in my head for days and days on end. I always write with music in my mind. This is the music that inspired Rise of a King.

Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to why I listen to certain songs, but they just bring it out of me...whatever it is I need.

So for the Rise of a King, the story is dark, it's lonely and it's hopeful. So songs that expressed longing were the ones that drew me in. For whatever reason, I was obsessed with the Greatest Showman...so here are the two that stayed with me hard!

Rewrite the Stars. I feel like this is Drayden being romantic. He wants what he wants, even though it might be for the wrong reasons...he still is hopeful about it.

The next one is also from the Greatest Showman.

Never Enough. For this song, the context comes from Rayelynn's point of view. No matter what Drayden offers her and all that he tries to woo her with will never be enough because she loves Farrow. Love is deep and inexplicable and hers runs to the depths of her soul and though she learns to love Drayden...he will never be enough.

So as the story progresses, Drayden darkens...and I, without giving too much away of the story, I see Closer by Nine Inch Nails being kind of the vibe Drayden is working within the end...and it's super dark but still loving....ish.

Another storyline is Anastasia's where she must carry some of the weight that Farrow bears by necessity because Farrow is so lovelorn he is almost ineffective. She herself begins to feel overwhelming love and it overcomes her to the point she's not sure what she is anymore...it's beautiful and transformative and for some reason, this song spoke to me...I love how vulnerable it makes her.