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Archive for August, 2008

We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

Well, not really but I know how much Ivor loves Morrissey so I thought it a fitting title to my new blog. I’ve been meaning to write about a couple of little side projects and things that I’ve been busying myself with while the boys have been deciphering Andrew’s made up chords and scratching their heads. (Or in Rusty’s case, stroking his newly acquired mutton chops in a thoughtful way).

I have a track on the new Napoleon album that’s coming out next year. It’s a duet with Johan and it sounds like an 80’s soul ballad without a hint of irony that only the coolest scandi-pop kids can get away with. It’s ace! In fact, the whole album is going to be immense and I can’t wait for it to be let loose on the unsuspecting British record-buying public ‘cos they won’t know what’s hit them! Sadly I didn’t get over to Sweden this time to record, and had to email my bit over. Oh the wonders of modern technology. Hmmm.

They also let me out of the studio to go and spend the day with Grantura in Ruskin Park shooting the video for their new single called Down From The Mountain, for which I got a fish finger sandwich and a Jack Daniels in the pub afterwards. It was a really good day out and they managed to avoid the double-deckers whizzing past in the background and made it look like we were really out in the wilderness and not just good old Denmark Hill. The single’s currently doing the rounds on the radio and even old Terry himself played it, which is awfully exciting and we’re not at all jealous ;)

I have a copious amount of beauty sleep to catch up on as we’ve got a photo shoot on Monday, but before I hit the sack here’s my mate Janee being fabulous in the new Roll Deep vid. I love the fact that she’s taller than all of them! It’s about as infectious as Estelle’s American Boy and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for days.

Nighty-night

xx Ali

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The songwriting process

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

It’s strange the way songs come together. Sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own, as if they want or need you to write them in a certain way. Even though you try to make them go in one direction, they’ll take you in another, and you eventually arrive at a destination you can both accept, a bit like taking an unruly dog for a walk.

 

We had an example of this the other night with a new one, with the working title of “Tree Falls”. Andrew came to rehearsal with the chord sequence and the lyrics, and then Ali, Paul and Ivor helped him to put some kind of structure together. At this point it looked like being a slow one in 6/8, but that felt too similar to some of the other new songs. So they tried to do something a bit different with it, by speeding it up, and putting a slightly Latin rhythm to it, almost bossa nova.

 

I tried to get a piano part to it, but it wasn’t sitting right with me. It felt cheesy and unnatural, as if we were forcing it to wear clothes that didn’t fit. It was a conscious effort to make it sound different, and when you start going down this kind of route, it’s often frustratingly difficult to see a way round the thing that’s blocking you.

 

Then Russell suggested something different, slowing it down and changing the feel back closer to what it had been originally, and with a new bass line and drum part, it suddenly fell into place. Immediately everything felt right – a very simple organ part, and a little bit of electric piano, a bit of slide guitar, all quite sparse and atmospheric, and it all felt easy. The song sounded beautiful, along the lines of “The Last Song” from the first album, or “That Hollywood Glow”. It reminded me a little bit of “Cody” by Mogwai, but I’m not quite sure why.

 

Anyway, it’s sounding good so far, and has reinvigorated my enthusiasm. Can’t wait to get in and record it…

 

Malcolm

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