Composed and arranged by Dejan Ilijic & EYOT

Recorded and mixed by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio Chicago

Mastered by Shelly Steffens at Chicago Mastering Service

The recording of this album was supported by SOKOJ - Serbian Music Authors' Organization

INNATE has 7 compositions of eclectic genres, putting jazz, rock, ambient, punk, classical and conceptual music into one and tremendously leaning on traditional music from Balkan and eastern European music. Most of them (precisely five) are in an odd time signature, thus, the listener can hear traditional scales and harmonies all over the album. It is a perfect mix of old and new, east and west, which by the way has been one of the EYOT’s signatures from the moment they arrived on the scene in 2008.

VEER - to change direction; shift, turn, or change from one course, position, inclination; you can hear melody moving and rhythm changing in the tune. When read in the band’s native language, Serbian, VEER is pronounced the same, but it becomes VIR /WHIRL/. This is of paramount importance, for this composition is dedicated to the famous archaeological site in Serbia, LEPENSKI VIR, one of the oldest traces of human settlements in the world (5300 BC).

HELM is an old Slavic word for BALKAN, and this composition has an odd timer rhythm and themes played by the guitar, bass and piano at the same time, all mixed into one melody at the end, describing in a way the intricate nature of HELM/BALKAN.

MOUNTAIN stands for an aim; to climb to a mountain’s top has been a goal of countless people, both literally and metaphorically. We all have a mountain to climb...

PERUN is the old Slavic god of thunder, like Zeus, Jupiter or Thor, so you can hear his thunders coming out from the drum solo, followed by a pagan dance at the end of the composition, only to disappear into a mystic remote place...as an ancient ritual.

CANNON OF INSOLATION is dedicated to one of the greatest Serbian scientists of all time, Milutin Milankovic, who wrote a famous scientific research “Canon of Insolation and the Ice-Age Problem”, an interdisciplinary work between mathematics, astronomy, geophysics and geology.

RAMONDA SERBICA refers to a Serbian “Phoenix” flower, which, if dried and dying, can revive with only few drops of water. Furthermore, it is dedicated to the centenary of one of the greatest tragedies in human history- the First World War, and to its heroes from Serbia and other countries. The piano solo covers a fragment of a poignant Serbian traditional song “Tamo daleko”, written in memory of the said atrocity.

INNATE - the title composition is defined as “originating in or arising from the intellect or the constitution of the mind, rather than learned through experience.” Another association correlates again to the Serbian language; namely, if read imaginatively, in Serbian, INNATE is pronounced INAT, /SPITE/, a situation when a human being, against all odds and other people’s lack of support, decides that they can do it, and that, despite everything, they are going to give 120%.