River

River was composed in 2006/2007

There are many recordings of this song. This particular recording was done live, in the studio with Bjørn Tore Taranger on drums, and was originally, only meant for pre production.

But I like the character of live recordings. Especially in the early stages, when a song is so fresh that the musicians don’t really know it by memory, the attention to detail is in a different place, and the spontaneity comes out in a different way. 

One of the great things about this project is that; I have great freedom to present songs in different settings and arrangements, and it is a vital part of this 5 year long album.

Sometimes I’ll choose an organic, simple live recording, where most of the arrangement is improvised, followed by a song with a dense orchestrated arrangement that took years to produce. Since most of the material has been worked on for years, I can now choose what I want. I am not restrained to songs only, but also which expression, setting, timbre I want to present. 

Even though I always approach composition as an innovator, I’ve always found the process of making all these different approaches seamless, very interesting and meaningful.  Simple against complex, authentic against surreal. The same goes for composition: dark against light, mellow against energetic and so on. I apply this on everything, from a 5 second intro, to the 5 year album that this will become. 

In that spirit, I can say that «River» was arranged to take over for «Needle Take Me Home» The songs are hugely diffeent, from melody structure, to arrangement (and recording philosophy), but the ending of «Needle» was made so that «River» could come after. And this is the first time this have been acheived. «River» with it’s rough, and swinging backing, against «Needle»’s "asymmetrical meets architectural" lines.  

It was important that «River» didn’t become a "pop song" so ironically, I spent more time finding a recording with the right atmosphere, than it would take to record it over, ten times. 

WIth me on the session:

Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger: Drums

Needle Take Me Home

Dude, where is your sting?

"Needle Take Me Home" was composed in 2006, arranged in 2007 and recorded in 2009.

On the surface, it is about drug abuse, but it's also about coping with the pressure and demands we put on ourselves (or others put on us).

The title came up as a twist to the biblical quote "death where is your sting" 

I made four different versions of the song with (slightly) different lyrics, melody variations and intensity. Some of these versions will be released in the "Needle Take Me Home" package, at a later stage. 

The idea behind the arrangement was to make it more surreal as it evolves, and change the "gravity point" of the fundamental chord progression and beat. A bit like not knowing what's up or down, or real anymore. 
A metaphor for hallucinations or dreams,  half pleasant, half nightmare, madness maybe, or a drug high.

"Tomorrow's a another day", is a great saying, but an excuse for many things. Probably the worst excuse invented. What do you think?

I wrote most of the lyrics over some nice, sunny summer days in Norway (which is rare). It was one of those songs that I started thinking about whenever I was outside relaxing (and probably a bit bored). Fittingly, I am  now writing this blog on one of the first sunny days this summer! (after months of rain). So I guess  "tomorrow's another day" came true for me today.  Hope it does for you too! 

With me on the session:
Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger: Acoustic drums

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