29/03/2012
It’s been ages since I last wrote. I think it’s because we’re now so deep in the work and recording process that I don’t know where to even begin to write about it. Not sure what’s up and down.
It’s already 10 days since Dennis went back to hometown Aarhus, leaving me and Helgi with lots of guitar tracks to start going over, picking the right ones, making decisions for each song.
We’re now working on 16 songs / ideas, trying to finish all of them over the next month – bit by bit…
Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, strings, horns, synths, sounds – the options are endless and the art is usually to try and keep it simple and to the point. I’m sure you can imagine that it’s tempting to play around and keep adding beautiful, nice, fun, interesting elements – why not? How do you know when it’s done? But all these elements quickly start melting together into a bland and uninteresting soup of good ideas.
The days are far too short at the moment. NOTHING else going on. All the usual every-day habits are gone for the time being – except one good ol’ morning classic:
But no evenings in front of the tv. No brunching in cafes. No keeping up with what’s going on in the world. No dinner parties and guests. No make-up. Not much fresh air.
I can’t even really explain why it takes so long, why it’s so all-consuming, why everything else has to step to one side… It’s just, kinda overwhelming. Maybe because it’s all so feely-feely.
Surprisingly the writing is the least feely-feely part. That’s where I’m at home.
But being in the studio, recording, bringing the songs to life, that’s where it starts driving me slightly crazy. The details, nuances, gut feelings, inexplicable dynamics and acoustics that start to take control.
For instance I’ve been trying to record an acoustic song – just me and the guitar – for the past couple of days.
I recorded a casual but well-sounding demo right after I had written it in January and I just can’t nail it again. The first demo had it. It had IT! The energy. The right kind of storytelling. The balance. The warmth. And the cold in the right places. The problem is I’ve changed the lyrics slightly since then so I do need to nail it again.
I promised myself I’d be really relaxed and easy-going with the record, though, and that’s what I am… :)
11/03/2012
Dennis, who I’ve worked closely with on ALL my previous records, has joined us in Reykjavik to spend a week on guitars and whatever else comes to mind.
Here lunch time jamming on the mandola, for example:
I managed to record some temporary vocals before he arrived and already a few of the tracks are starting to show some size.
While the guys are playing around with guitars, I’m still busy writing. I still have a lot of recorded music without words and melodies. Backwards writing for a change. I wish I was writing a novel and wasn’t restricted to the very few words you can squeeze into around 12 songs.
I’m sitting at the back of the studio, listening in, Helgi on the buttons, Dennis in the live room playing a loud and wicked guitar.
06/03/2012
Has it been… What, 12 days?
I guess I lost myself for a bit. We’ve been so busy. Put down a large amount of basic tracks; drums and bass mainly. SO many different vibes – loud and fast, slow and quiet. Just playing around. It’s been amazing to get all this done – the start of something. But it’s even more obvious now that it really is just the beginning. There’s a long way to go!
I crawled out of the studio for a grey morning at The Blue Lagoon.
Followed by what will be a daily occurrence from now on – a walk in the neighbourhood with big headphones on, every now and again singing like a mad person.
I live by the beautiful ocean and mountains and yet, a reminiscence of my city life, I prefer to walk the villa roads, looking at houses, gardens, windows, people.
Terrible weather on this walk – not quite snow, not quite rain. Slush. Cold. Heavy storm from North East.
But it was my first walk with all the new music collected on one playlist. The virgin journey. I had to keep walking and listen through to the end, even if I would pick up a bad cold on the way.
Almost all of it is very basic and I’m still working on melodies and words for all the songs, and trying to suss out what could be the over-all “musical story” of this album.
Came home shaking but nothing an evening in the armchair by the window couldn’t fix. Working on the lyrics for a song called “Moon To Let”. A song about leaving this Earth and moving into space.
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