Released on 05/09/2023
Available on:
This was written during a difficult time.
I had quit my job, broken up with my long time girlfriend, had various short, terrible relationships, and I was renting a room from a family friend, it was freezing cold, I had single glazing, and I was doing takeaway deliveries for £50 a night.
Another burning sermon,
Delivered by a nervous hermit,
Stressing over earnings,
The blessings never early.
I remember I’d wait around all day for 5pm to start work and I’d finish at 11 or so. It was bleak. I did like the car I drove though. 2003 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI, it had done over 300,000 miles. Still drove well, but I did put it in limp mode a few times, giving it a kicking on the parkway.
Towards the end of this project, I started using Splice, which definitely changed the way I work. I still sequence a lot of stuff from scratch, but it’s interesting to have the option of all these nice textures, i.e. nice jazz chords, already mastered and ready to chop. You can hear some early sample stuff on “Hovis’ Theme”.
In retrospect, I really regret putting “Bill Evans” as track one… I don’t think it’s a very inviting intro, and maybe people would have listened more given a different opener. That said, my marketing efforts were incredibly half-arsed, I’m not that concerned about people listening. I’m not trying to make a career of music, I just like having it on Spotify so it’s easier to listen to when I feel like it.