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