Striving or Settled
Wednesday 29 April 2015
“I’d rather be striving than settled.
I’d rather be moving than static.”
These sound like romantic, idealistic words. They are perhaps dreams that many of us have. But when it gets down to it, being unsettled is hard. Being on the move is hard. 
I am currently truly without a permanent address. We gave up our flat in Hong Kong. My family moved house in England. And in the USA we are tourists. When we came through immigration, I was absolutely stumped as to what to write as my “home” address...
Song of the Week
Tuesday 28 April 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
Stay Gold - First Aid Kit
This song is a little bit of an oxymoron. I have another favourite song by Sting that is this kind of oxymoron - it’s one of the saddest songs about failing as a father, but set to a deceptively uptempo country lilt.
Stay Gold is also wonderfully uplifting and upbeat. But it is about that one of the hardest questions that artists often face:
“What if our hard work ends in despair,
What if the road won’t take me there?”
The challenge is to stay gold. Stay true.
www.thisisfirstaidkit.com
This song is a little bit of an oxymoron. I have another favourite song by Sting that is this kind of oxymoron - it’s one of the saddest songs about failing as a father, but set to a deceptively uptempo country lilt.
Stay Gold is also wonderfully uplifting and upbeat. But it is about that one of the hardest questions that artists often face:
“What if our hard work ends in despair,
What if the road won’t take me there?”
The challenge is to stay gold. Stay true.
www.thisisfirstaidkit.com
Lyrics - Is It OK?
Thursday 23 April 2015 LyricsLyrics
I have had a few people ask me for the lyrics for the songs on the album - so I’ll post them one by one over the next couple of weeks. Let me know your thoughts and which parts of the different songs speak to you.
I’ll start with “Is It OK?” - a deeply painful and personal song for me, about dreams and gifts and what they’re for and what responsibility I have. I wrote this song over a long period of time, which is quite unusual for me; usually songs come quickly. But this one was a long process, and I think it has a depth that is more evident than in my other work:
So much tension in the air some days,
So many avenues that I could walk down to bring around some change,
So I look myself right in the back of the black of the darkness of my eye,
And question myself to find what lies beneath the most telling of my smiles.
Is it OK to retain such a precious amount of gold and hold it in your hands for so long without letting go?
Is it OK to resist its light?
Does it make it beautiful?
Oh I struggle to live out my numbered days with a cause,
So many questions getting thrown up in the face of everything I thought I had been taught,
So many weeks and oh through the months and on and on I slowly persevere with my song,
Without and ounce of certainty that I'm the one to whom it truly should belong,
Is it OK to be scared of the very thing that makes your fragile little heart expand and leap and start to sing?
Is it OK to resist its light?
Does it make it beautiful?
Because you are more than I could ever be,
Your allure and attraction are a source of danger and struggle to me,
You are always out reach, just beyond my touch, you're a little out of sight,
You're a turmoil, a weight, a taunt always bringing darkness over light,
Oh the temptation that you bring, the silver web you slowly spin,
You grab a hold of me and you slowly squeeze until I can hardly breathe,
And you're all I see.
Is it OK to covet you? To want you more than I thought any human heart could ever want.
Is it OK to dream of you? To add the colour to our scenes and the sights and the smells and all the beautiful things that we would see.
Is it OK to believe in you, to believe in you?
Does it make you real?
No.
I’ll start with “Is It OK?” - a deeply painful and personal song for me, about dreams and gifts and what they’re for and what responsibility I have. I wrote this song over a long period of time, which is quite unusual for me; usually songs come quickly. But this one was a long process, and I think it has a depth that is more evident than in my other work:
So much tension in the air some days,
So many avenues that I could walk down to bring around some change,
So I look myself right in the back of the black of the darkness of my eye,
And question myself to find what lies beneath the most telling of my smiles.
Is it OK to retain such a precious amount of gold and hold it in your hands for so long without letting go?
Is it OK to resist its light?
Does it make it beautiful?
Oh I struggle to live out my numbered days with a cause,
So many questions getting thrown up in the face of everything I thought I had been taught,
So many weeks and oh through the months and on and on I slowly persevere with my song,
Without and ounce of certainty that I'm the one to whom it truly should belong,
Is it OK to be scared of the very thing that makes your fragile little heart expand and leap and start to sing?
Is it OK to resist its light?
Does it make it beautiful?
Because you are more than I could ever be,
Your allure and attraction are a source of danger and struggle to me,
You are always out reach, just beyond my touch, you're a little out of sight,
You're a turmoil, a weight, a taunt always bringing darkness over light,
Oh the temptation that you bring, the silver web you slowly spin,
You grab a hold of me and you slowly squeeze until I can hardly breathe,
And you're all I see.
Is it OK to covet you? To want you more than I thought any human heart could ever want.
Is it OK to dream of you? To add the colour to our scenes and the sights and the smells and all the beautiful things that we would see.
Is it OK to believe in you, to believe in you?
Does it make you real?
No.
Open Mic, Open Heart
Wednesday 22 April 2015
So I’m here: in the place where men and women from across the globe come to try and make their dreams a reality.
New York City. In some ways it feels cliché, trying to get started with music in the Big Apple. In some ways it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack... except that I’m the needle... and I don’t know who is doing the searching...
Song of the Week
Saturday 18 April 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
If You Wait - London Grammar
Well, this is a little bit of a leaving song since it has been a week of leaving. Amazing, yearning vocals, longing lyrics.
“And if you wait, if you wait
I will trust in time that we will meet again
If you wait”
I won’t lie... it made me a little teary as I was thinking of all the goodbyes.
Well, this is a little bit of a leaving song since it has been a week of leaving. Amazing, yearning vocals, longing lyrics.
“And if you wait, if you wait
I will trust in time that we will meet again
If you wait”
I won’t lie... it made me a little teary as I was thinking of all the goodbyes.
Lyrics - Slow Down in Hong Kong
Wednesday 15 April 2015 LyricsLyrics
The dust settles, the dry air clears.
After months of stirring, we’re unfurling here.
The dust settles, I am still.
I am still in turmoil every second that passes my windowsill...
Read More...
After months of stirring, we’re unfurling here.
The dust settles, I am still.
I am still in turmoil every second that passes my windowsill...
Read More...
Time To Sail
Sunday 12 April 2015 LyricsNews
The Sail On Album is almost here!
In some ways it has been a long time coming. In some ways, we made it so quickly that I don’t feel I’ve really even got to know it as a collection of songs yet. But I am overjoyed to share it with you...
Read More...
In some ways it has been a long time coming. In some ways, we made it so quickly that I don’t feel I’ve really even got to know it as a collection of songs yet. But I am overjoyed to share it with you...
Read More...
Song of the Week
Saturday 11 April 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
Jolene - Ray Lamontange
I often talk about exploring issues through songwriting, and Jolene does that in a soul-searchingly honest way. This song contains some of my favourite ever melodies; I could listen over and over. His voice is both powerful and broken at the same time.
I often talk about exploring issues through songwriting, and Jolene does that in a soul-searchingly honest way. This song contains some of my favourite ever melodies; I could listen over and over. His voice is both powerful and broken at the same time.
Lyrics - In You
Thursday 09 April 2015 LyricsLyrics
If you would ask me if I’m naked, I would have to say yes,
If you would ask if I am full, then it’s a no.
I’m not enough to make a shadow.
Even the sun won’t look at me, he’s disappointed,
Water won’t splash for me, the ripples aren’tt worth it.
I carry no weight or substance.
If I don’t carry you.
If I am not in you.
You, you underneath my feet, the reinforced concrete,
The strong refining heat, transforming obsolete,
In the driver’s seat, reversing incomplete,
Making my ends meet. Oh you carry. me.
If you would ask if I am full, then it’s a no.
I’m not enough to make a shadow.
Even the sun won’t look at me, he’s disappointed,
Water won’t splash for me, the ripples aren’tt worth it.
I carry no weight or substance.
If I don’t carry you.
If I am not in you.
You, you underneath my feet, the reinforced concrete,
The strong refining heat, transforming obsolete,
In the driver’s seat, reversing incomplete,
Making my ends meet. Oh you carry. me.
Direction
Tuesday 07 April 2015 LyricsNews
We are coming close to the date of our departure for the USA. And the album launch. And trying to get everything finished up with our Hong Kong roles before we leave.
But yesterday we took some time to work on a music video. As much as I have worked around cameras and help produce videos very often, I still get pretty nervous when I have to stand in front of the camera. What do you do with your hands?! ...
Read More...
But yesterday we took some time to work on a music video. As much as I have worked around cameras and help produce videos very often, I still get pretty nervous when I have to stand in front of the camera. What do you do with your hands?! ...
Read More...
Song of The Week
Sunday 05 April 2015 LyricsSong of the Week
Metronomic - Emily Saunders
I have just discovered Emily Saunders, and her vocal versatility is just astounding! We are having a lazy Easter weekend, and Emily’s Metronomic from her new album Outsiders Insiders is the perfect soundtrack as the sun streams through our window and we sip our tea. Her voice has both strength and vulnerability, her use of latin-rhythms and playful melodies are Easter’s new life in song.
I have just discovered Emily Saunders, and her vocal versatility is just astounding! We are having a lazy Easter weekend, and Emily’s Metronomic from her new album Outsiders Insiders is the perfect soundtrack as the sun streams through our window and we sip our tea. Her voice has both strength and vulnerability, her use of latin-rhythms and playful melodies are Easter’s new life in song.
Stage Left, Stage Right.
Thursday 02 April 2015
Being on stage is my life’s most beautiful oxymoron. It is a place of immense joy; I feel my most me, I feel home, like a fish in the water, like the key that fits just right, unlocking doors to great chambers, shedding light, bringing life. This is what I was born to do.
But there is another side to the stage. Being on stage is also a place of immense pressure, frustration and uncertainty...
Read More...
But there is another side to the stage. Being on stage is also a place of immense pressure, frustration and uncertainty...
Read More...