I thought I would take a bit of time from work today to show the birthing of a new song into this cruel world. How this will work in this format I am not so sure, but here goes. Basically, with a timebomb date of one year to record an album, the first step in accomplishing this is you know, write a song. Shouldn’t be too terrible right? I mean Ryan Adams put out 4 discs worth of music last year alone, so having 10-12 songs on a record in that same amount of time should be a delicious dreamsicle.
But like all dreamsicles, they tend to melt once you waste too much time w\ them. That is, actually following through is on actually constructing a solid song is the hard part. In years past I always started w\ the basic groove, and built harmonies and melodies on top. But this was mostly jazz-influenced music so setting the mood and establishing interesting content for improvisation was far more important to me. The solos and arrangements were driving the music and having music that sounded cool, built to a great energy and was fun to solo over was part of the live performance. This album will be a departure from that because I am trying (we are all trying) to make a more album-driven concept; something that holds up over time; something memorable.
We hinted at this with “Faded Portrait” and I still think that is our most complete ‘song’ to date. But that was written 2-3 years ago now. Times change, influences change and now that the existing members are in three cities and two countries we are basically trying to write music as three solo projects that will share our individual and collective feel. I know that the music part comes easily to me especially w\ pop\rock simplicity of chords and format so I figured if I can narrow my focus to that great 3minute pop song nugget, it can be blasted apart later in a live band setting. So my lyrical writing is the thing that needs to step it up.
I oft write\scribble lyrics down on the train or bus, or while listening to other music. But these are mostly just phrases that catch my ear. I have found that writing as much as possible in a poetic nature will eventually yield me something to work with. Often I start with the mood I am feeling at that certain point or a feeling I remember from before and I try to describe it. I am of the notion to furiously write it out w\o thinking much about how it will end up…it makes it much more raw and authentic.
At a later date, when I sit at the piano or w\ my guitar I go back and shift stanzas, phrases and melodies to fit to the song. I have noticed I get a lot of lyrical constipation when I have so much to say, but cannot quite get it out the way I want it. Its best just to leave it, move on and come back to it later.