Welcome to the newsletter where we play another unheard track! The warm summer weather has inspired us look for some soft summer sounds to soundtrack the days, and and as we delve into archive of unheard songs, we are reminded of a writing session where we explored the pastoral paradise of acoustic driven ideas!
Following from last weeks raucous blast of off-kilter pop, this week we pick up the acoustic guitar and capture a simple idea that sits somewhere between Squire - Get Smart and Sugarplum - Blue Summer Days. Last week we went overboard connecting the sonic sculpture to a web of influences, this week we let the music speak for itself!
You can hear it here!
The song takes a candid look at a mundane experience, the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
The melody and harmony with simple acoustic guitar accompaniment and hint of ‘bossa nova’ style rhythm as an anchor is enough to sketch out ideas for an arrangement. The lyrics describe a sudden event that becomes a timeless moment of isolation. Time is no longer a logical sequence of planes but has stopped in the silence of an empty void. Together they turn disaster into celebration of self!
The song is ‘My Car Is Dead’ and comes from a sequence of intense songwriting that produced a catalogue of as yet unreleased songs based on a mix of French 60s ye-ye pop and powerpop explosion! The lyrics were not intended to be understood from a personal perspective but more as writing songs with other artists in mind, so they often take the position of male, female or a blurred gender interpretation.
The newsletter, link here, or on the picture above, compared the sounds on the Passengers On Trains song ‘Tapestry Of Fire. The Martin D-18 has a more bare-bones autumnal character, and plays the rhythm, while the Guild F-50 plays the jangly ‘musical box’ melody.
The guitar used on 'My Car Is Dead' is the familiar Guild F-50. The big yellow jumbo shape that sounds like sunshine.
You can enjoy the new track again here!
Over the next few weeks we will ‘spin the wheel’, and surprise ourselves and hopefully yourselves by debuting more new and unheard songs!
All the best!