Presenting “Coagulate”, the first track from my new album, which is coming this summer.
The lyrics speak to the ever-growing division between people these days, especially fueled by politics and social media. It asks us to love each other, despite our differences, which are actually very minor and often petty.
“The men upstairs, they want us to fight / so they can win / but what gives them the right?”
The ‘men upstairs’ are the powers that be, who set us against each other with rhetoric and fear mongering, so we remain divided/ Otherwise, we might just band together and take away their power.
Continuing my foray into electronic music, the song is almost entirely drums and organ, with some strings as well as the main vocal. The organ is soaked in echo for a very atmospheric sound.
The drum beat was the result of a happy accident. Some time ago, I dug out an old Roland TR-505 drum machine I’d used in high school and college to make recordings. I had lost the power supply, so I co-opted one from another device. When I plugged it in, it worked, but had glitches. Luckily, some of the beats I’d created ages ago were still in the 505’s memory, albeit slightly corrupted. The beat you hear on “Coagulate” is a reproduction of one of those beats, which I used when writing the song along with the ancient drum machine.
I hope you enjoy this first taste of my new album. More to come soon!
– AS
