Lucas Eldridge, who you may know from our time together in Small Miracles (he also did the amazing artwork for the band), is the drummer on the album. When I write the songs I often programme guide parts, but they really come alive when they’re handed over to a drummer and fellow songwriter. Lucas learned these parts in just a few weeks and tracked them all perfectly over 2 days in Kings Road Studio.
As I think about press releases and promoting the album, I keep returning to the question of genre. Most of the songs have origins in my voice and guitar, so folk or singer-songwriter feels like the easy choice. But the drumming infuses the songs with an intensity and dynamism that is much bigger than the intimate mixes we’re used to hearing with contemporary folk. I enjoy playing with tempo and dynamics, feeling the impact when the drums join a song that has otherwise just had soft guitars and keyboards in. The way live drums push and pull against the beat add a further colour to the mood and another layer that affects you subconsciously as you listen.
The best part is that Lucas is also a songwriter who thinks deeply and carefully about lyrics, arrangements, structure and meaning. Because these songs dealt with deeply personal and challenging lyrics, I needed someone who would tune into them and play in a way that respected the story being told.
Here are a few little snippets of Lucas in the studio. These will have to do for now, until you can hear the finished songs.
Tracking the intense, downbeat final chorus of Terminal One:
A tea towel in the hi-hats to deaden the sound for Cold Air, a track which matches a laid back hip-hop groove with finger-picked jazzy chords:
Some isolated cymbal swells to be dropped in at transitional moments:
