This week we have a much better room and it has a positive effect right from the start. We start with storming versions of Journey End To End and Anglo Saxons, some bits that sounded unsure the previous time suddenly come together and repay our faith. These two songs are most certainly gig ready.
Snowdrop is also coming along, the tricky middle 8 comes into it's own and Andy comes full circle to play the looping bass line that originally gave it a working title of Round The Back. The vocal melody may need more work though - the verse may be too deep to come over properly in a live setting. I've made a mental note to give it a good look over.
This time we managed to make room to work on more songs, so Gone To Ground got a proper working. As Alan said last time, this is one of the first songs we worked on whilst in limbo between four and three piece. We had a full song with most of the melody worked out - as well as a lyrical theme, but then we put it aside, unsure whether to go too far with it. Now we have come back to it, the speed change into the chorus is causing problems, so we concentrated on this for a bit - we're getting there. There's now a full melody and lyrics, and the song is sounding good. As Andy remarked, it has a nice, spacious feel to it.
We didn't have time to work on Pop Outing last time - which was a pity as everyone was looking forward to it. The working title for this song looks like sticking, as it brings interesting images to mind - however I do wonder what on earth such a song could be about! Anyway, considering we hadn't attempted to play it together for about 6 months (possibly longer!), it came together very easily. It does have an easy flowing quality to it, so maybe that's the reason.
I had worked on melody and lyrics for the verse prior to the practice, so it quite quickly started to sound more like a song than the sketch it previously was. More work on the chorus is required, but we all went home pleased with how far we'd brought it.
Finally, Corporate Action. Last time we had cut to the chase and gone for a straight forward punky arrangement. This time we continued in this vein, and as Alan remarked, it must be one of the fastest songs we have written (though it's not that fast!). It's exhilerating to play, it's probably all there now and just needs tightening up.
There's still a bit of work to do on these songs, but we only need a couple more and we'll be looking to do some gigs!
Neal, 13/11/02