Do You Know The Way To San José?

Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. It has been three months since my last blog.

Time is doing funny things to me. Whilst the recording seems to be taking an age, the days and weeks and months are whizzing by. I guess it’s because we’re taking such enormous painstaking care over this record, and like Frankenstein’s monster, it’s beginning to take on a life of its own, getting bigger and grander and more lush by the day. It seems we keep upping the ante, and the brilliant thing about making a second record is that suddenly, some really good musicians want to work with you. I mean world class. Really. Not so brilliant is that you start to question your own abilities, and after 14 hour sessions, singing non-stop guide vocals, you don’t sound too hot!

It’s my second cup of strong black coffee and Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2, and then it’s down to the practice studio. I’ve started collecting vintage sheet music on eBay – Dionne, Bacharach, Sandie – that kind of thing, and apart from the scores looking really pretty and framable, I’m going to sit down with Barbara, our dusty old upright, and see if I can’t bash out a few tunes (on the proviso, of course, that reading music is a lot like riding a bike, and you never forget…). The gee-tar boys are in the big studio today and I need to keep singing.

I had a quick listen to ‘Ain’t Nothing Like a Shame’ last night, with Art Terry on keys and Steve Large on Hammond, and I got a proper shiver. Wow, I can’t believe this is our record, it sounds amazing. And really danceable – always a good sign if your feet can’t keep still. This keeps me going through these dark days of studio hibernation. It’s going to be immense. According to Andrew’s colourful spreadsheet (Andrew? Spreadsheets?), we’ll be done by the end of June, and then, dear friends it’s lastminute.com and the first plane out of here to lie comatose on a sunny beach.

Thank you for sticking with us – it’ll be worth it, really.

Right, I have a date with Burt, and I’ve now had three black coffees. I’m buzzing.

See you on the other side. Xx Ali