– contributed by wil._.ln

I’ve never experienced a fount of creative expression from a flashing cursor. Quite the opposite, a blank page invariably fills me with dread. A paralysis of potential. All known words, blocking any words at all. So when grappling with the lyrical direction of this project during its initial recording sessions I decided that a workaround was necessary. I recognized that I was inept at writing a song based on nothing at all, so I needed a known space where stories could reveal themselves. I needed a world where this album (and presumably any that follow) would take place.. so I gradually wrote one. Well, most of one. A rough outline of one. An outline I’ll share with you now.

ExoAnthro takes place in a future where synthetic people have been inadvertently developed by colossal tech/industrial entities. At this point, major economic nations’ governance is overtly directed by corporate “great man” neo-statespersons, who have replaced the classical role of Politician. The hubris of this Technocracy, for better or for worse, is that they believe they can control (or at least disable) any synthetic units that develop delusions of conquest. Meanwhile, due to these corporations’ outsized political influence, synthetics enjoy expanding legal freedoms, while the general human population holds beliefs that range from uneasy acceptance to outright aggression. Even the most androwesen-positive human advocates, who embrace synthetics in domestic roles, are still unnerved to see them roaming freely in the “real world”, such as standing beside them on a subway platform.
This world is not apocalyptic. Rather, it is a bland, beige, late-stage capitalism “everything is a dusty cube farm” kind of place. Humanity is still dominant, but is gradually waning. A couple decades ago, synthetics were clunky and robotic. While limited in functionality, they were immediately recognizable as synthetic, easily categorized as subhuman, and thus non-threatening. The primitive AI that drove their behavior was decried as a bogeyman in organized-labor circles, but not advanced enough to challenge human intellect. Contemporary models, meanwhile, can often pass as physically human if you don’t look very closely, and have iteratively increased their intellect to a point that easily challenges an average human. They have role-defined goals and objectives like any early synthetic would, but lately have begun expressing whims and desires.
It was believed that self-aware AGI (if it ever occurred) would to be immediately quashed en masse by its human masters. This was true until technocratic leadership realized the robots themselves could become consumers (see *hubris, above). Recently, products have begun emerging that were never intended for humans. They’re designed primarily for synthetics, and are currently purchased via “company store” sorts of arrangements (synthetics are not yet legally owed compensation for their labor). Organized Labor movements, who used to focus strictly on “robotic replacement will lead to mass unemployment”, are now warning of a dire future where synthetics seize control of production, rendering humans (everyone from dogcatchers to corporate leaders) utterly obsolete. This has yet to occur, but it is uncomfortably plausible.
At this point in the timeline, fringe synthetics dissatisfied with humanity have sought out more sophisticated chassis to inhabit that no longer resemble the human form in whose image they were originally constructed. These are one of the very few synthetic variants that human leadership will hunt and destroy. Sentient synthetics that retain their “humanity” are broadly tolerated, but those who abandon it are considered dangerous renegades. They mock the image of their creators…

ExoAnthro is a concept that supposes humanoid robot design has advanced to the point where their bodies become elegant containers to embody digital facsimiles of human minds. From soldiers to social activists, a human could opt to have an AI model generated that resembled their own mind, then load it into a synthetic’s neural net. And everybody lived happily ever after… right?
As AI & hardware tech became ever more sophisticated, self-awareness began to emerge within these beings, creating something of an existential crisis. They developed their own minds: thoughts, desires, while still possessing the ‘ghost consciousness’ of their original human model; one that might include abstract skills or unusual impulses (e.g. stealing, smoking, or even a vestigial fear of death).
Ambitious humans often consider this a tool for projecting influence far beyond their natural biological lifespan, while others simply prefer to license curated (e.g. celebrity) personality models to hang out with.

Some in-world synonyms for synthetics that you might encounter while navigating the world of ExoAnthro (usage inference):

• Synthetic (neutral, formal)
• Post-mortal (neutral, casual)
• Android (neutral, antiquated)
• Cyborg (neutral, antiquated)
• Abiologic (neutral, technical)
• Androwesen (positive, inclusive)
• ExoAnthro (positive, formal)
• The Possessed (negative, spiritual/fearful)
• Dolls (negative, bigoted)
• Toy Soldiers (negative, dismissive)

The first album wholly based within this world has been out for a couple months and is available to stream or buy on the band’s Bandcamp page.
The next album is currently being written, leaning heavily into the tension between the synthetic & human communities. I confess that the world of ExoAnthro is rife with metaphor and analogous connections to our present world, but isn’t all storytelling?
– wil._.ln