You can see many tributes and memories of Paul here
You can hear the interview and performance in its entirety below
]]>
I am hugely excited about the release and about the albums sound and feel. It has been a long time coming but feels like the extra time put into its production has been well worth it…
accompanying the release will be updates to the website, including lyrics to all the albums, an updated members section and other goodies…stay tuned for that…
I would like to thank all the people that have shown interest in hearing the new baby and can’t wait to hear the feedback…
Dave
]]>
The songs performed are the first ever live performance of Satellites Asleep from Hard Road Home and a reworking of Seconds Minutes And Days from Nothin’ In The Rearview…
]]>Long Black Dress is a moody song driven by a picked 12 string. It is punctuated by piano and some sparse electric guitar. It is topped off by some beautiful and haunting backing vocals by Michelle O’Reilly. It was one of the first songs recorded for the album and has been the source of much debate in terms of its instrumentation. With his mix, Bruce has pulled out a miracle and managed to cater to both of us…..
Long Black Dress
She answered the door in a long black dress
We both knew what we were doin’ there
Mr and Mrs and a made up name
We both had our reason but it wasn’t the same
When she answered the door in a long black dress
I spoke no words as I went to her slow
I knew what to do and I knew where to go
I knew when to rush and just when to linger
We were naked but for the bands on our fingers
When I spoke no words as I went to her slow
And that long black dress shimmered so slow
as it fell to the floor like a long black shadow
Taking me down down down down down
She rose to me like a beautiful tide
Holding each others breathe as I slid inside
The stakes were high and so well known
But we were getting to heights of our own
When she rose to me like a beautiful tide
And that long black dress shimmered so slow
As it fell to the floor like a long black shadow
Taking me down down down down down
]]>
Michelle sang absolutely beautifully bringing to the songs a femininity and beauty in her own unmistakable way. Even Bruce gave some of his largely untapped singing talents on backing vocals as well.
]]>
It looks like the album will have 12 tracks, with all but one track being brand new. Yours To Keep is a much older song that some of you will be familiar with, given the full band treatment with some wonderful drumming from Paul Barker and some really beautiful guitar work from Rod Jonusas.
]]>
Tilt Toward The Sun
There was a time when we were young
When we clung to our ideals
We chased the dream down song by song
And we were damn hot on its heels
We were so sure and we didn’t understand
We were young women and men
And the days they were longer
Take us back and make it so
We can take our time and take it slow
Where did all those yesterdays go
Hold our breathe and let it fill our lungs
Oh how youth is wasted on the young
But we had our time, it was a good long run
And now we tilt toward the sun
All the fear that heartbreak brings
All the beauty time strips away
But we were the bright and burniong things
And nothing would stand in our way
And compromise is admitting defeat
When the world is at your feet
But the world it kept coming
Little less hair and a little more weight
School times and deadlines and a little heartache
Crows feet eyes and aching knees
So why does the spirit still feel seventeen?
So when all is said and done
If you didn’t know us well
Just some photos and some songs
And the stories that we tell
And where we stopped and noticed it all gone
Well I can’t put my finger on
We just woke up older
Take us back and make it so
We can take our time and take it slow
Where did all those yesterdays go
Hold our breathe and let it fill our lungs
Oh how youth is wasted on the young
But we had our time, it was a good long run
And now we tilt toward the sun
Getting to the stage where you have a title for an album is a pretty important part of the process. Now that there is a name, it is real…the name often informs decisions around cover art, its look and feel, as well as making it harder to ignore a release date. At this stage the worst case scenario is a February 2011 release. We will definitely be working toward an earlier release than that though.
So where are we up to? Well….
It is likely to be a 12 or 13 track album with one old old song and the rest new ones. The title track I finished writing two nights ago. Its a song whose music has been around for a couple of months but undertook a complete rewrite of the lyrics after a wonderful conversation I had after a Usual Suspects gig with one of my most favourite people in the world, Scott Timbs. Scotty and I have known each other forever and we spent some time talking about the mystery of getting older, and wishing that when we were 17 that we knew what we know now.
After that conversation I spent the next three days writing and rewriting the lyrics for the song and the line “..and now we tilt toward the sun..” fell out. I did a very quick recording of the song with just an acoustic guitar and vocal - sent it Bruce, and we have a title track….
And then it hit me that the songs have a thread that links them. That thread is the theme of challenges, the stories, the baggage and the wisdom we collect as we get older. The song Tilt Toward The Sun wraps that up. I will post the lyrics to this song in a couple of days.
There is still some tracking to do and then the mixing starts. While Bruce is mixing I usually start to get some ideas together about how the cover art will look, hopefully start rehearsing up a band, and generally doing anything that stops me from asking Bruce a thousand times a day if he is finished yet. The mixing though can take a couple of months. During this time we may also do a couple of photo shoots for the album, as well as compiling the liner notes, credits and all that stuff.
Once it is mixed, myself, Bruce, Dan and the other players on the album get together and listen intently to the songs and we try to decide which songs don’t get on the album. This is often a very animated process…one of us always ends up, well, swearing at someone else….then, pretty quickly, it all comes together. We choose album art and move towards the art and the discs being printed…and then we will be good to go.
I am really excited about Tilt Toward The Sun. The songs tell stories that I hope you will relate to, and enjoy.
More soon…
]]>
Friday night The Usual Suspects played our favourite haunt, The Royal Hotel in Springwood. There were seombirthdays and it waslast gig hat Steve “Geneva” Lacey will do with us for a few weeks so we were all in a pretty good mood. It was a huge night with lots of laughs and time spent with friends.
Saturday afternoon was spent writing and recording with Drew Johnston as we build up ideas and arrangements for the songs on our collaborative project. We get along really well and work very smoothly. We started tracking two of Drews songs that are among my favourite. It was nice to drive for a change rather than doing the playing.
Sunday and Monday were spent working through the songs for album #4. I get a little manic when I am on my own and immersed in the absolute fun of making music. There was a lot of beautiful Blue Mountains rain, a power outtage that forced me to start to completely rewrite lyrics for one of the songs and a little bit of inspiration from our new Siamese kitten - Henry.
So all in all a big big weekend.
]]>