22º Halo

Release date: October 26, 2017 (just about…)Cover artwork for 22º Halo by Pedestrian zero - pencil burst of blue rays around a red sun with silhouetted birds

This track took longer than expected to get out. And to write as it goes.

I had lined up Cec Harding and her close friend Michaela Cartmell, who haven’t sung together on record before. I wanted to write something suitable (which involved a lot of bad falsetto on my part when recording demos) and asked my daughter for a suggestion on topic. Her first response was ‘music’. This was followed by several other suggestions, but I stuck with the first.

It seemed simple at first, but presented similar challenges to writing Village on a Hill. (It was also easier to write in another way, but that’s another story.) It’s not so easy to write a song like this without being super cheesy or trite. I might have achieved it. Time will tell.

We did this one slightly differently in terms of production. I wanted it to be piano-driven. Which meant getting someone who could actually play. I went to my friend Adam from Seeker and asked if he could record the piano based on my horrifying demo so that we could record the drums to his playing. This he did, and did very well.

I had initially envisioned a Ben Folds type vibe with piano, bass and vocals, so I decided I would attempt the bass. However, when the first mixes came back, it wasn’t quite working. Having just had him in the studio for another song, I asked Karl Addy if he could fill in the gaps. This he did, and very well.

I plonked in some extra backing vocals, and we were done. Finally.