all things real

... SONG BY SONG COMMENTARY BY STEVE

Death to all things real:
A short instrumental to start. I wanted to ease into the album with a
sound-scape piece. The bells are from Duns parish church in the Scottish Borders. The piano part was left over from another song and not everyone will appreciate the squeaky pedal! It was recorded really quickly during the last sessions with little time to change or re-record.
I like this way of working. As for the title, it's a self deprecation of the record. The death of all good things.

I see a darkness:
One of the greatest songs ever written!... by Will Oldham. I enjoyed
playing the song, singing and playing the harmonium. The lyrics are totally nailed. I love the humanity and the honesty the lyrics evoke.
I think we all feel these things, but getting people to talk and write about this stuff is hard! Will has the definitive version, so I wanted
to try a more layered approach.

The lost boat song:
A song with many questions - a song about doubt. I love the harmonium recording (clearly my favorite instrument) and the instrumentation as a whole worked really well. Helena's vocal really raised the song. I wanted to write a straight ahead verse, chorus, verse, chorus song, but the bridge is over two minutes and at that point the song switches from a waltz to 4/4.

Mary Margaret O 'Hara:
A short (under a minute) vocal, piano, sketch. I love the work of Canadian singer / actress Mary Margaret O 'Hara and this is a little song tribute for a great artist.

Find the way:
This one was a long time in the making. I recorded the piano and vocal in Longformacus church on a big Steinway grand. It was the only song that made it from the first sessions. A very expensive false start. The final verse ( are you finding it hard?) was superimposed from a later version. A nightmare to mix and edit, but this early version was the definitive take, with idiosyncrasies and all. A relationship song about polarity, trying to make it through, telling each other it will be alright when it so obviously isn't.
Naomi's singing sounds like a keyboard - I remember telling her,
try to sound more like a melotron.

Shelter from the storm:
It was an obvious move, turning the song upside down, deconstructing the arrangement. My version is three times slower than the original and I'm proud of that. I recorded an album of Dylan songs for my own pleasure, all the songs are slow and mournful. With Shelter I was trying to approach each verse separately, really getting into spirit of the song. I used the vocal as an instrument, really going for it in places. It builds to a big crescendo where, by the final verse,
everyone is playing.

Evening of the day:
Doug had written this song a while back and, like many of his songs,
I was a fan. We added many instruments and tried out different arrangements but ended up using mainly guitar, vocal and harmonium. It brings a different colour to the record and encouraged me to work on the song 'Tonight'. My initial starting point is usually the piano and voice so it was a shift from that mindset. Like many of the songs on the record, the dissonance is effective.
All of these instruments are ever so slightly out of tune and I love the tension that brings.

Tonight:
This song came together very quickly. I recorded everything myself in a rented cottage out in the middle of nowhere. I got to use my old Atari 1040. When I listen to this song ... not sure I should go there,
but it's another break up song.

The last remark:
I wanted a bold arrangement with the musicians going for it more.
I wasn't thinking in a folk context. The album version came from a demo guide track that I liked. It's a more studio orientated approach with many layers. We used all 24 tracks and added a tape echo and other effects during mix-down.
The time signature is weird and the chord changes are not obvious.
I ended up playing drums which was fun.

Mississippi:
I was inspired by the John Lee Hooker song "(The great flood of) Tupelo" and Nick Cave's "Tupelo".
I wrote a big song with many verses. A few months later I saw a film about the life and death of Jeff Buckley. I re-wrote the song that evening. A dark song to close. Contains the lyric: "Until the morning thief steals the humming of the Lord"
...twenty seconds of silence to close.

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