Where are we?

Since I’m so wonderful with this at the moment, here’s what you need to know.

Recorded May/Released June track (released in July, obvs)

Struggle Street by Roo’s Radio

Recorded June/Released July track (recorded in July, obvs)

Hair Trigger by Pedestrian zero

I reckon that gets you up to date. Other stores are of course available. Probably.

In other news, there are two more singles in the bag. They’re both Pedestrian zero. The first, When did you lose your way? should be with you in the next week or so (don’t forget to subscribe to the mailing list if you haven’t already). The following single, 22º Halo, was recorded today and will arrive in due course. It’s a banger by the way 😛

‘K we’re done. Have a great week.

Lyrics – Hair trigger

I just realised that it was a thing once-upon-a-time that I would type lyrics of as yet unreleased songs into this box on this webpage and hit ‘Publish’ and then you would read them. Well my friends it is now a thing again!

Before I hit you with the lyrics to a song which literally got recorded today (and literally got written this week – oops), I’d better give you a run-down of what has been up.

There’s been a longer than usual break in releases, for which I apologise. But it’s about to get good really soon. We recorded a new Roo’s Radio track back in May and it’s very very close to release (we’re just sorting out the artwork). Then we took a break in June because of various things. This means that there will be two songs recorded in July, to catch up. So there’ll be three songs along in a closer space of time than you’re used to. Which will make up for the bigger gap I hope.

Anyway, once again I wasn’t as organised as I had hoped I might be, so I’ve ended up writing and recording a song in less than a week. I’ve generally been pleased when this has happened in the past. And I think I am again. So without further ado, please enjoy (or not. But hopefully do) the lyrics to Hair Trigger

Hair trigger
Just what is this supposed to be? It’s really not enough to be setting me off
This barely veiled hostility; a dagger right in front of me – tell me to stop
Just tell me one more time
And I will try

Just what were you expecting me to say?
I would have had this any other way
Believe me it’s not easy, believe me it’s not straight
Believe me I’m not done with this today

With all of my excuses, all the apathy and enmity burning me up
I’m finding less and less of who I want to be and I’ve had enough
I think I’ve had my fill
And I won’t lie

Does it really make it better?

Lyrics – Colours to the mast

New music is coming this week! For once I’m waiting to release a track. It’ll be out on Saturday. I wrote it for a friend’s wedding, and that’s the day of the wedding.

Colours to the mast is the most acoustic thing we’ve done so far. No drums, just acoustic, vocals and keys.

This is also probably the most soppy thing I’ve done, but I kinda like it. Hopefully you will too. Here are the lyrics. See you Saturday!

Colours to the mast
Oh yesterday’s ghost
Was smarter than me
Or so he would think (think this through)
But he didn’t know you

And now it’s plain to see
And this really isn’t like me…

But I’ll nail my colours to the mast
I’ve found someone I can sing to
And you make me better than myself
So I’ll be drinking only to you

So let’s go my love
And find a new way
I could wish I’d met you sooner (sooner than soon)
But then maybe I wouldn’t have met you at all

Cause it all led to this
When you take my hand and we kiss

Well I’ll nail my colours to the mast
I’ve found someone I can sing to
Cause you make me better than myself
So I’ll be drinking only to you

And now when I go, I’ll be going with you
And I’ll carry your heart in my heart

Lyrics – Jump cut

Oh hi guys!

I ‘member this site. I’ve got two good newses. There’s a new song coming pretty soon – more of which just now. Also I’m actually playing a gig tomorrow. Bit weird not being in the studio but having to do this stuff on my own. I’m equal parts looking forward to it and dreading it. Been a while since I’ve done a gig gig without some help from more talented people.

Anyways. The song which should be with you soonish is called Jump cut. I’m jumping back into mildly political waters. It was strange to have been recording it the week everything went down in America, let me tell you. Not planned, but it felt relevant. Despite being written around 4 years ago.

The key line here is about everyone being so sure. I’ve spent a lot of time being very unsure about most things. I find it hard to get on board with people who think they’ve got it all sewn up. Probably mostly because I feel like they’re bluffing. They might not be, but most of us are.

So anyway. Have a little read and whet your whistle for the coming music. Oh and beware. Swearsies.

Jump cut
Caught on film, so I guess there’s no room for doubt
Words you said are all there and we all know the score
Take another look are you sure that that’s what was there
Can you even trust your own memory?

Not sure if I know any more who to trust, what to listen for
Don’t know who’s advice I can take, ‘cos everyone is so fucking sure
There are cracks in the pavement; there’s a light in the window that’s been on for days
In all honesty I’m just tired and all I want is to find a way out of this maze

Are they only telling you everything you ever wanted to hear?
Can you even tell if the things we see are dissimilar?
Feels like something is missing, I’m not even sure what it was
Can you please tell me what just happened

Find a way

Find a little reason to get over yourself
Find the missing moment find a brighter new day
I don’t think they’re telling you the truth at least not all of it
We’ve got to tear the wall down and escape and find a better way

Lyrics – All the stars I have given

Good afternoon to you. Or evening/morning/mid-morning/dead-of-night, depending on when you manage to read this. But it’s afternoon in the here and now for me.

Before telling you about the next song coming up, I will, as is customary, give you a bit of a heads up as to where I am with everything. This song, All the stars I have given is mastered and ready to go. Just waiting on artwork and also leaving a little gap after Holding Out Hope. Recording is also finished for the next song, Jump Cut, which is currently being mixed. Once again, you can see, I’m a bit behind with studio journals and so on. Ah well. We’ll get there eventually no doubt.

Anyway, to business. This was quite a fun little exercise in pressure. I didn’t really have anything I fancied doing when it came to recording number 10. I also wanted some saxophone on the track, and none of the tracks I had quite fit. So I wrote one. All told, it was 13 days from the song being written to receiving the final master. Fun. I’ll talk more about it when I release it.

This is a little love song basically. Here’s the lyrics:

All the stars I have given
Well lately I have taken to throwing caution to the wind
And if they had not told me I wouldn’t know where to begin
See over and over again I’ve had my moments
And I’m trying not to let me get the better of myself

And if it’s all the same to you then I’ll just keep right on
And if it’s all the same to you I’m not too far gone

It’s when I realise I don’t care if you say anything
I know I’m further on than I possibly ever have been
And if it takes everything and if it takes all day
Then honestly it’s still a pleasure doing business with you

And if I cannot be the person I imagined I would be
Can I at least be a little more than me

Lyrics – But That’s Just Me…

Man, am I ever behind. We were in the studio for September’s track this weekend past and here I’m posting lyrics for August’s recording. Gosh. Well. We’ll get there. At some point. The track that got recorded in August is a chirpy, almost country-like rock song about being in a relationship.

It’s (for the most part) not autobiographical – as you’d hope. I made up a couple and wrote about them. It’s currently being mastered, so hopefully you’ll be able to hear it relatively soon.

But That’s Just Me…

Stake your claim I don’t want to be
Another stain on your destiny
Was never gonna be a tragedy
I don’t think things through like I ought to
But that’s just me

The weather’s fine think it’s gonna be
A perfect day in your memory
Wipe the slate retain your sanity
I don’t take my time like I’m told to
But that’s just me

Say what you like say it’s all for the best I don’t think you understand me
Let’s do what we like without regard for the mess always room to move to plan b
Well that’s you and that’s me
It’s just how it’s gonna be
But it’s a crazy ride and I like it

I bet you think you got a bead on me
You got a theory on the mystery
It’s not because I don’t like honesty
I just like you beating round the wrong bush
Yeah but that’s just me
That’s just me
But that’s just me
oh that’s just me

Say what you like say it’s all for the best I don’t think you understand me
Let’s do what we like without regard for the mess always room to move to plan b
Well that’s you and that’s me
It’s just how it’s gonna be
But it’s a crazy ride and I like it

You and me we’re climbing up the walls together
running round and round but you know I think
It’s gonna take just a little more time for us to figure this out

Lyrics – Someone Else’s Problem

Hey hey campers.

I’m getting a little out of sorts. Or at least out of order. But one thing I know, I usually post lyrics to the next song around the same time that we go and record the thing. And one thing I did not do with this song is post the lyrics around the same time that we went and recorded the thing.

So here they are. I guess it could seem like I’m getting a little, er, preachy. Honestly it’s just timing. Once again I wrote this a few years ago. But now seemed to be a good time to release it. I decided to add a middle eight and wrote this in what felt like not enough time. I think I like it, but time will tell.

You don’t need me to tell you this is self-explanatory, so I won’t. Oh wait, I did. Bother. What I will say is that this song kind of comes out of me mishearing a lyric in Sadako by 3dBs Down. Anyways, here y’go:

Someone Else’s Problem
Without wishing to get too heavy-handed
I’d like to suggest that the boat in which we’ve all just been landed
Is listing quite badly to port or to starboard
I never really took the time to learn to tell them apart
Oh, but that’s not the point I digress
It’d probably be a good idea to lend a hand with this mess
If that’s not too inconvenient
Let’s hope when we get to the root of it the problem is easy to mend.
Without starting again

Hold up – do you mind?
You’re demanding this of me
When I know my rights
And I won’t be left behind
We’ll all stand in line
To get all that we deserve
Why not change your mind?
Why not take the other side?

So here’s what I’m wanting to say
It’s been said so many times that I think it might just be a cliché
If there’s one thing you could try
You should try being somebody else, and if you do in reply
They might have a quick go at being you
Perhaps when you’re back cutting slack might not be so hard to do
Can I say it again?
Not that it’s likely to help it’s always someone else’s problem
Maybe I’m spent

If you can sit there in the trappings of your comfortable life
And still surround yourself with hatred and bitterness
If you can’t muster just the smallest spark of empathy
And still think only about what you can get for yourself
Then it’s not someone else’s problem

Lyrics – Flotsam & jetsam

Everything’s gone a bit out of sync, but as it turns out, that’s probably better. Usually I post lyrics for the next song either just before or just after going into the studio. Then it’s not so long a wait until the music follows. But this month’s song is a bit of a 7 minute beast, and we weren’t able to complete the recording portion until last Saturday. The editing and mixing are getting there I think, but there’s still a little bit of a wait to go.

But since you want to know, we went into the studio on 18 June to record a song that I’ve been looking forward to doing something with for a while, Flotsam & jetsam.

As with a few songs I’ve released recently, this was written around 2012. Unlike most songs I release this is something of a story. Imagine, if you will, a future where it starts raining. And just doesn’t stop. The song is written from the point of view of those living through that. It’s about dealing with the fallout where you didn’t plan ahead. Or believe that the worst could come to pass.

It’s probably equal parts metaphor and literal. I hope we don’t screw up the climate to the point where we look back and shake our heads at our greed and carelessness. I hope we don’t screw up civilisation to the point where we look back and shake our heads at our greed and carelessness. As a species we don’t have a particularly good record on either point. But I hope.

Musician-wise, I was able to scrounge up 3/4 of Roo’s Radio, but not a full complement. So Paul plays drums, Ally plays bass and Claire is singing lead vocals on the verses, which worked really nicely. A long time ago we toyed with this song as strangeday – and I’m not ruling out a strangeday version in the future – and Aaron was mucking about with some really nice atmospheric guitar. I couldn’t hear the song without this addition, so I duly enlisted his services.

And the results so far are sounding pretty huge. Given the number of partial plays for normal length songs, I don’t hold out huge hopes that it’s going to fare better, but we’re pretty pleased with it.

Here’s the lyrics for posterity and what not.

Flotsam & jetsam
Doesn’t seem so long ago
The sky turned black; the thunder rolled
And then the wind began to blow
And the heavens opened

We never thought to build to last
Nor dreamed that it could come to pass
Lowland turns to floodplain fast
It may be senseless hoping

Dull as dirt the rising tide
It’s perilous to step outside
Face the day, refuse to cry
Our bitterness but a token

But we sit and watch the waters rise
Turn and face the rain filled skies

Drag our feet, remember when
A summer’s day could feel like ten
There used to be a wound to mend
Now there’s nothing left unbroken

And now I sit on my back step
and watch the waters rise
And now I sit, head in hands
and watch the waters rise

Lyrics – dog Tired

So we’re in the studio. I totes forgot to prelude it by telling you about the song and posting the lyrics.

So sorry.

Today we’re recording the first blues song I ever did write. I doubt I have the right. I’m not exactly a blues aficionado. I always think of the bit in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn tells Bilbo it’s his look out if he has the cheek to write songs about Gil-galad in the house of Elrond. </nerd>

Anyway.

I think this one revolves around the line “what if there are fights you’re born to lose”. We get so much in films and so on about destiny and everything working out right. And sometimes things don’t work out. Not a sparkling piece of insightful observation, I’ll grant you.

What if no matter how you went about a situation you were going to fail? Probably you should still go for it. Depends on your perspective I guess. The point being, if you fail, you shouldn’t berate yourself too hard or entertain endless what ifs.

I actually came up with the title of the song by mishearing Radiohead‘s Myxomatosis. It’s not as if Thom’s diction is the clearest in rock. Turns out the lyric is “I don’t know why I feel so tongue tied”, not “dog tired”. Hell I’ll take it. At least I didn’t write a song called Twitch and salivate. Although…

As well as Paul and myself (standard), we’ve also got Ant Martin back in and the one and only Jack Lewis (Mister Jack Lewis if you please!) for the first time. Very exciting stuff.

I’ll chuck a few pics out at some point no doubt.

And here are the lyrics:

dog Tired
Hung my head found a way
To double down on yesterday
If I keep throwing words around
If I could just hold out and run to ground
That most elusive of all men
The king of black eyed fools again
I’ve been indecisive, I’ve been unkind
Mercy me I think I’ve been so blind

Tell me just exactly what’s a man to do
What if there are fights you’re born to lose?
What if I could have done it different from the start…
But what’s the point of “ifs” they’ll only tear you apart

Holding forth as if by this
Strength of belief I could dismiss
All opposition, all antipathy
But it begs the question, who are we?
And honestly I still don’t know
Whether to stay or up and go
Apprehensive of all that is required
And all of my days feeling so dog tired

Every now and then I’ll catch a glimpse
Of the life that I could lead and I’m convinced
That here to there and there to here and back again
Would take more out of me than I have to spend

About a song – Dream again

As it was recently the anniversary of Shakespeare‘s death, it came to my mind to tell you about this little song o’ mine.

Dream again was written in September 2012. The original title was Dream again (Caliban’s song) and it was inspired by and built around Caliban’s speech from Act 3, Scene 2 of The Tempest. I even directly quoted it in the chorus.

I’m not going to claim an in depth knowledge of the play and its symbolism, so in some ways perhaps it was foolish to write a song inspired by it. However, I was rather taken with the speech when it was featured in the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics as well as with discussions about the nature of the character in the play. In particular I liked that despite being described as a monster, there are hints that he is better than that.

I’ve written a few songs that touch on the idea that we all have the potential to be great as well as monstrous. I think acknowledging this is helpful on a personal level and also helpful in being empathetic towards others whose motives we might not initially understand.

So this is kind of an introspective take on that idea. Vaguely from Caliban’s point of view as imagined by me. I’m pretty pleased with the words to this one, actually. In particular I like the ocean/brine twist on the phrase “can’t see the wood for the trees”.

This seemed a fairly obvious choice for a Roo’s Radio song, and I thought Claire’s voice would be a good fit. We moved the key around a bit before it felt right. This was one of our earlier songs – check out this 2013 video of us performing it – which was finished pre-album, so it was a fairly solid option when it came to putting the album together. It fits really well with some of the other songs in terms of meaning (However, Way out) as well as following on directly from Clouded’s theme quite nicely (given that Clouded is about being lost at sea and The Tempest starts with a shipwreck).

My bandmates and Paul took it to a whole ‘nother level, as always. I particularly love Paul and Ally’s rhythm and Cec’s harmony. As well as Claire’s beautifully sung vocal, naturally.

Dream again
Oh! these thoughts of mine,
I’m having difficulty telling
all the ocean from the brine
I thought I saw a better me
I walked a world apart
But then discovered that it couldn’t be

These voices are whispering to me

Looking in your eyes
I find I’m fallen down but then
I wake to realise
There’s nothing in me now
That would sooner leave it all
and exit with a crooked bow

These voices are whispering to me

And when I waked
I cried to dream again
Opened my eyes
Remembering the light

Faith, I know not where
I am heading and I’m not sure
why you’d ever care
If all it ever took
Was one small bite then dare I
take a second look?

These voices are whispering to me
Tempting me; offering the sky

And when I waked
I cried to dream again
Opened my eyes
Remembering the light
Shutting them tight
I tried to dream but then,
Facing the day, I move on
With fading memories of night