Studio Diary: Day Sixteen

Friday 11 January, 2013

Describing the day’s activity sounds a bit like the deductions in a game of Cluedo: Fran in the study with the organ; Biff in the library with the trombone; Tom in the hallway with the cowbell. Thankfully no one has murdered anyone yet.

We got a lot done. It’s been fantastic. We were joined by two guest players, Phyllida Maude-Roxby (aka Mamma Roxby) on viola/violin and Joe Moffitt on clarinet. They’ve both been working some serious magic on the songs. Long-time followers of the band will recognise Phyllida from the gorgeous string parts she contributed to our song Living In The Aftermath (on the Memoir Noir EP released in March 2012). Her work on this record is no less exceptional; indeed, we are all rather blown away.

Fran has also been busy. He was up long after everyone else in the band called it a day. Some of the stuff he’s been playing on this album is absolutely inspired, even by his standards. The man is an alchemist of the Nord keyboard.

I almost wish there was some catastrophe to report just to make this entry a little less gushing, but we’re all in excellent spirits and the songs are already sounding pretty complete. If the house caved in and we were all squashed into the floor, the record that would survive us could well be considered finished. Well, assuming that the computer hard drive could be salvaged from the debris…