control
I was drafting this post about Control when I had the good luck to listen to Adam Walton give the song its premiere on BBC Radio Wales. I’d been struggling to sum up the mood, but he did it perfectly: “What an elevating slow burn this is. Sumptuously produced."
The big trees
Muddy and crunchy in all the right ways
Control is the second song from Freyja’s upcoming EP ‘to stop the world turning’. You can listen to Control everywhere from 3rd July.
We worked together on the EP at StudiOwz last summer. Freyja had mentioned there was an extra song floating around, in case we had spare time, but I didn’t actually hear Control in full until the time came to write and record a part for it. Freyja, Richard and Zach had tracked their parts the day before, so my first listen was on the studio monitors with freshly recorded double-bass, grand piano and drums. I was immediately hooked on sparse groove and how it played against the the ear worm of the chorus (which loops and lingers just like the anxiety being evoked in the lyric). I improvised as the track played and found a couple of motifs that sat well in the spaces between the phrases.
One of my favourite parts about collaborating in a studio is how quickly new sounds come together. I had one more playthrough to hone my ideas Freyja and Owain dialled in the pedals to create an underwater, fuzzy tone that had a feeling of isolation and disassociation. Within 10 minutes I’d gone from never having heard the song to being ready to record. People are sometimes surprised at how quickly music comes together (the recent Beatles documentary showing the creation of Get Back being a case in point). To me it makes perfect sense. When musicians get to be in a studio where there only task is to think, write and speak music, it’s natural for it all to happen faster. Just like how learning a second language is quicker if you immerse yourself in it.
the watkins copicat
echo, sustain & atmosphere
In the end I think we captured 2 full takes, which Freyja took away for mixing. Along the way she sent me rough mixes and the part got sculpted as we discussed which parts to cut or push forward at certain moments. In my own songs I usually find there is a moment where something has to be removed from the mix. We did this in the final verse and it gave the space needed for the lyrics, but also created more impact when the guitar returned.
I’m excited for everyone to hear the finished song. When I had access to the preview links (perk of being on the track!) I would reach the end of the EP and then loop Control on repeat. Every listen revealed more nuances in the depths of the production. “Ghosts appear and fade away” to quote a lyric from another song about anxiety: Overkill by Men at Work. Yes it’s a very different vibe, but who can resist the sax and the octave leap in the third verse! To close I’ll return to Adam’s words. Although the song focuses on the dark, heavy, sometimes relentless impact of anxiety, it does feel uplifting to me. Taking turmoil that can control you and sculpting it in a song for the sake of self-expression and beauty is a sublime act of elevation. I am grateful to have played my part in it.
