I wanted something really romantic but upbeat on the album. Of course it’s still very angsty, as is our way but pretty uplifting too. For a long time this song was only known as ‘Ahhhhhhhh” with no lyrics for the chorus, just a ‘ahhh-ahhh-ah-ahhh’ which eventually morphed into the words “Our Heart” and gave the song a much better sense of place.
It started with another descending piano line, although this one was more from a Brian Wilson production (The Honeys’ ‘He’s a Doll’) than the other Bobbie Gentry stalkers on the album. There’s some really subtle rhythmic differences on each line in the verse – one of those things that you’d probably never notice, but was quite important to keep the song moving along.
Lyrically it centers around the line “I exist, but that’s it, without you”. It’s kind of paraphrasing Scott Walker in his amazing documentary, 30th Century Man, where a French journalist asked what he’d been doing in an eleven year gap between albums. Scott replies “I’ve existed. That’s it” which I though was brilliantly vague whilst absolutely nailing the point at the same time.
The last forty seconds are probably my favourite bit on the album. Sometimes there’s a massive gulf between what goes on in my head and what ends up as the finished piece but this was exactly as I imagined it. The end section is edited together from about three minutes of improvisation by the boys so it has a lovely non-linear feel, spiraling away into the distance in a similar way to ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ by The Smiths, lots of interwoven guitar lines and clattering drum fills. In fact when I was mastering, the engineer said “He’s playing lead drums there” which is about right.
The Stockholm Strings are in fine form here as ever, particularly on the instrumental break where I wanted a ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ crossed with Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ dancing strings feel. You should hear them naked; stunning.
For me, the end of this song is the embodiment of the feeling you get when you’re first in love, those early days when your heart’s about pounding its way out of your chest and nothing can touch you. Total certainty and uncertainty at the same, thrilling time.
nb. Blog written coming back from Leicester, after a fun gig and with an angry belly from cheap pizza.
I think we all ended up really liking this one even though it nearly didn’t make it on the album. It was neck and neck with ‘Cryin’ In The Morning’ all the way, but won out in the back of the van coming back from a festival in Wales. Again it just felt more natural and kept up the intensity of the rest of the record.
There’s all sorts of stuff on this one. About 5 or 6 guitars including one through a spinning Leslie speaker, a mandolin. an electric flute thing, The Stockholm Strings again, piano, drums and bass of course and plenty of percussion but oddly not that much in the way of vocals.
Melodically it’s inspired by The Smiths ‘Stretch Out And Wait’ and an old Irish ballad called ‘Galway Shawl’ which is a really beautiful, aching song and something I used to hear a fair bit in the pubs of Glasgow.
It’s about the curse! Well that’s a bit strong, it’s another ‘Coming of Age’ style song and in a round about way about being a writer, and the weird conclusions you come to when people love a song of yours that is about a particularly painful subject for you, or to realise that what you’re best at is communicating feelings of sadness and isolation for other people to enjoy. It’s an odd concept and I’m very happy to be in this position but it’s weird feeling sometimes.
Of course the rest of the song is just about sadness and isolation! and being worn down by it. I wanted to make it a little like the old William Blake poems of an ancient fire and brimstone England. In fact the title I think sounds like an old hymn book and my favourite line is ‘Where angels collide, in danger I dwell’ and I haven’t got much more to say on the matter, apart from I wish it was a real flute instead of an electric one
We did all of Ivors guitars here on a blazing hot weekend in May. We were slightly mis informed about which studio we were going to be in, and ended up having to have some fairly dramatically long wires coming down the corridor for from the amp to Ivor. Anyway we made some good progress on the first day before listening to it the following morning and completely scrapping pretty much everything bar Love3 and starting it all again. Luckily Ivor is extremely quick on the recording front and we powered through the second day, getting almost everything down. By far the most fun of the weekend was doing the Psychedelic closer the album with every effect pedal urned to stun, but I particularly liked being in Brixton as it only took me ten minutes to ride my bike home.
5. 2Bit Recordings, Deptford
This is my mate Andy Jones’ (of Lord Large and Big Babies fame) place where we recorded all of my guitars, Stephen Large’s manic organ and the three piece horn section for ‘Love3′, ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Like a Shame..’ and ‘Could Be I Don’t Belong Anywhere’.
Andy is an amazing person and a fount of musical knowledge. tell him the record you like and he’ll be able to list all the equipment used on said record, where to get hold of the equipment and find some supreme musicians to help you play it. Honestly he knows everyone.
He has a fantastic little studio in Deptford too with loads of old gear (old valve pre-amps, space echoes, effects pedals etc.) and on his suggestion, we hired in a 1950’s Selmer Zodiac guitar amp which has crocodile effect skin a Knight Rider-esque glowing tube pulsating across the top of it. Apart from it’s looks it also sounds amazing and was the perfect vintage accompaniment to Misty, my old Gretsch Nashville.
Part 3 of studio list (yes there’s more!) continues in the nest installment
I haven’t got much to say about this one really apart from it’s a breezy West Coast number that’s in keeping with the ‘Coming of Age’/ loss of innocence theme. When you’re young things seem simple but you hit a point (for me about 17) when you start to question everything and things go a little mad. This can be equally confusing and liberating and brings a whole host of exciting and troublesome experiences. Throw a bit of ambition into the mix and that’s when the halcyon days of childhood end and ‘trouble begins’.
Ivor spent an obscene amount of money a new pedal specifically for the solo on this one (and quite right too) and the organ that Art plays was bought for twenty quid from a rough estate in Oxted.
It’s a fun song and a brief bit of sunshine (all be it with the usual inherent LS miserablism) and got it’s place on the album as some light relief before the next onslaught.
So because I’ve not got a great deal of insight on this one, I thought I’d give a little rundown on the many studios where we recorded this album.
I think in a previous incarnation this was owned by Pink Floyd and has been a mainstream studio for a long time with many famous artists passing through it’s doors and some complete unknowns such as yours truly, for our first two singles. We recorded the basic rhythm tracks and most of the guitars for ‘Woah Billy!’ ‘White Russian Doll’ ‘Up in Flames’ ‘Upon Hilly Fields’ and ‘That’s Where Trouble Begins’ here. This was also the place where Rusty’s bass amp went up in flames. It was the first session and the last thing we did before breaking up for Christmas in 2008. We were ably assisted by our old friend ‘Dead Pan’ Kris Mclaren whose idea it was to do the gritty second drum kit overdub in the breakdown of ‘WRD’ and not mine as previously stated.
Amazing, wonderful magical studio with microphones so unique that they are built with metal fashioned before 1940 so as not be contaminated by H-bomb radiation. Set by a river frozen enough for folks to race cars on it and one of the most tranquil places I’ve ever been. We recorded all the strings for the album over two sessions here in the safe hands of Johan ’Poolman’ Kronlund also known as El Diablo, one of the most considered gentleman you will ever meet and producer of Ruffa Lane artistes Montt Mardié and Napoleon. Some people say the silences between his words are painful but I get along with that just fine. While I was there, the owner of the studio popped in to tell us he’d just bought a castle which gives you an idea of the quality of the studio.
The Stockholm Strings are some of the most lovely people I have ever met and extremely talented to boot. Listening to the strings go down on ‘A Coming Of Age’ and ‘Warm Water’ in particular was an experience I will cherish forever and I got to push faders on the desk they mixed Britney Spears ‘Toxic’ on.
I think we were the first through the door here as producer Brendan Lynch (Paul Weller, Primal Scream) had just taken the over the place and installed his amazing ‘60s Neve mixing desk inside. We did the bass and drum tracks for every song here (re-recording the rhythm tracks that we’d done at Brittania Row as we’d got a better sound). It was a fairly frantic two days at Lynch Mob, but well worth it. It’s a cool place that has a 1970’s atmosphere about it and overlooks a cemetery. We got an insight into what makes a great producer when Brendan came in to listen to a run through of ‘Woah Billy!’ B-side ‘Why Can’t Everyone Be Nice For a Change’ which was proving really troublesome. He listened for a bit, said ‘Sounds really nice, maybe turn the hi-hat down a little’. We did one more take and nailed it there and then in his presence. Engineering on this one was Mancunian Dan Hulme who’s done some sterling work with The Coral and Candie Payne and is thoroughly good company even if he did make us go snare drum hunting for three hours.
The studio run down will continue in the next instalment, maybe not today, possibly tomorrow but soon and for the rest of your life.
8. Ain’t Nothin’ Like A Shame (To Bring It All Back Home)
Party Time! Or not, whichever way you look at it. It’s a happy song with nasty words. The very simple premise is about when someone does you wrong, you can hide it away when you’re not in contact with that person, but as soon as you see them, all the pain, the fear and the anger comes flooding back. I won’t be being any more specific.
I think it started off as a bit of a Gram Parsons style country ballad but burst into life when Mr Atkins added the Paul Simon marching drum beat. Also if I remember rightly, Ivors twangy guitar line was a rough tryout for a bass line at first before realizing that it was brilliant just the way it was. My rhythm guitar part was put through an old Roland Space Echo at my friend Andy Jones’ (of Lord Large) studio for the authentic Ska/Dub whack.
We recorded the horns too in the same studio (on the same day as ‘Love3’ and ‘Could Be I Don’t Belong Anywhere’. I properly blagged that one and only turned up to the studio with a vague idea in my head. In the end I wrote the part on the spot which was pretty terrifying but it turned out to be the best horn part on the album (probably because it’s nice and simple).
Frankly it’s a weird song. It’s a bit ska, a little bit country, a bit Stax, a bit doo-wop, a bit Talking Heads, add some Scott Joplin, The Clash, sneak a bit of The Ronettes in there too.
It’s the closest we’ve come to a ‘groove’ so for me it’s quite a step forward for us musically.
I did record a smashing glass sound effect for the ‘sound of breaking glass, breaking in my chest’ line. But after umm-ing and ahh-ing, fate decreed it wasn’t going when I manged to delete it, just before going to New York for the final mix sessions. I’m still finding shards in our studio though.
My defining memory of this track is when Art did a full gospel call and answer vocal track for this. That’s him at the end of the song ‘wa hoo hoo hoo’ ing. In the end it felt a bit gimmicky so we left all but the end bit out, but maybe we’ll do an alternate version one day with the full Terry treatment “Don’t be ALONE. Don’t Be ALONE girl. It’s ALL-RIIIGHT’. I was on the control room floor crying with laughter.
I imagine it would work really well on summers afternoon but seeing as sunshine has been hard to find lately (at least in the UK) but I hope it makes the listener feel happy…or really angry like I was when I wrote it!
