As I wait to board a flight to Norway, it is finally time to reflect on what has been an extremely busy summer!
My last update covered my 30th birthday and the recording of further music towards a new album which will most likely be out towards the end of 2018...
It is exciting to be writing songs again. While I recorded Hypnotise, I had a drought of around 10 months where no matter what I tried, no song would come out... As an artist it is incredibly frustrating and I think that the pressure I have put on myself to better Hypnotise may have been a contributory factor in my inability to write anything!
I finally broke my writing duck in March/April and although I have yet to record the song I wrote, it opened the floodgates and I appear to be in quite a rich vein of songwriting form just now! To date, I have written 8 towards the new album and 4 of these have been recorded with Ali (with some spectacular results!!)
I spent the full day at the studio yesterday producing two songs that couldn't really be more different! The first "Blink Of An Eye" was written following the suicide of Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. Whilst I was never a huge fan of their work, his death really struck a chord with me as he ended up following one of my musical idols to the grave. In many ways, the song is a tribute to Chris Cornell who influenced so many and possessed the finest voice of an already blessed generation of vocalists, but also explores the question of what is going through the minds of others. In short, we never know what internal demons a person is fighting and acknowledging that we are powerless at times is quite important as maybe this realisation will encourage people to ask for help at their darkest moments.
The second song, in stark contrast is possibly the most upbeat song I have ever written! As a producer who has created a lot of pop records as well, the combination of styles really showed Ali in his element and I always get a huge sense of pride when he hears my demo and instantly knows where the song is going! The difference from the original demo is huge and I am really enjoying the variety in the music we are creating at the moment. The song is driven throughout by drums and an open, clean sound which really opens up in the chorus... "Tonight" is definitely one to watch out for!
Away from recording, a lot of the summer has really been focused on video and I can promise there is a lot to come! Firstly, I have released the first of several live recordings from Viva Musica festival in Manchester and have received quite positive responses so far! It was a really fantastic day and the link below is well worth a listen...
We are also in the process of planning a video for the second single from Hypnotise which will be "Questions"... expect this towards winter time and expect something quite unique!
Until then, I am off to Norway for a bit to see a Viking music festival and hopefully find a place to play ?
