LIGHT
The first time Matt ran the idea for ELDB past me I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. How was he going to build a whole song around something so simple? Overcomplicating matters is one of my favourite pastimes, but I decided to let it go this once and let the man do his job. It was pretty early on in the project so I barely knew anything about his working process or compositional goals, but I was willing to learn.
I began recording my spoken part. I cannot tell you how hard it was to rid my words of expression and my persistent Lancashire accent. I even mistakenly recorded the word ‘music’ at one stage. I blame Gwen Stefani for that… After a bit of editing I managed to get the words to fit the tempo and I sent it on over.
Two days later Matt sent me a teaser for the track. I opened it tentatively. Was I about to endure an electro cheese fest..?
Oh, goodness me, I was not expecting what I got. The bass was enormous, the work on the hihats was infectious. Whatever he had done with the kick and snare, it made it just unbearable to sit still (I challenge you to listen to the track without bobbing your head or something!). He sent the second teaser the next day with the addition of some higher synth lines and other delightful details. I knew for a fact we were onto a winner.
You might say a light went on for me in that moment. I was beginning to understand who Matt was as a musician. He had delivered the goods, proven himself trustworthy. That trust is something that has carried me through some challenging times along the course of the Project.
But that wasn’t the end of the track’s development. Oh, no. As if I wasn’t stunned into silence enough already, the man kicked it up a gear once again with the next iteration.
As part of our idea for a mini album Matt had offered to make some instrumental interludes to glue our track listing together. He was experimenting with some chordal synth pad work and was happening upon some lovely dissonances. I don’t know what made him decide to add some of this into the mix for ELDB, but as soon as he did the track became a work of art for me. It wasn’t just about the ‘dancability’ or being a ‘good electro track’ any more. It was now about sounds interacting, rhythms and shapes coming in and out of phase with one another – dancing with each other. The song dances within itself.
It’s no wonder then that it makes everyone else dance too.