(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)
Here’s part 3 of the track walkthrough for my new album Quiet Storm. Enjoy, download the album if you haven’t heard it (at the link above or the one at the foot of the page) and find parts 1 & 2 of the track walkthrough too, if you haven’t read those. 🙂
12. Rain (Interlude)
This was nothing more than a simple segue between “Quiet Storm”, and the literal idea of a storm, and the next track, “Jump Off (Part II)” which has a very dark, sad feel. I thought that the rain was effective, atmospheric, and also reminds me of the interludes on Janet Jackson’s janet. album where there would be short, simple interludes of rain and wind which would keep the mood flowing.
13. Jump Off (Part II)
This song is another of my favourite songs on the album, and is one of the more personal tracks also. Lyrically, it discusses feeling like even when you fall for people, they can tell you the nicest things but by next week, you’re old news and they’re onto the next. It’s about feeling used, even if you were down for it at the time, but realising that just because someone tells you that you’re beautiful or that they love you, doesn’t mean they mean it. So in the song, I’m wondering whether even in all my dalliances over the past couple of years, I’ve let my heart get hurt all the time when it was just about sex and I should have just focused on the fun. Musically, I like the combination of the deep beats and the music box / piano over the top, which gives it a combination of darkness and fragility. Originally, the song was going to be a straightforward R&B ballad (and you can hear a snippet of the original version on my High Fashion mixtape), but having heard The-Dream’s original version of Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U.” (as well as the snippet of her version, on the fantastic Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel) I was inspired to totally revamp the track, restructuring the lyrics somewhat as well as making the music much more R&B and much more emotional and sensitive. I think it worked, and I was so pleased with the way that this track turned out.
14. Devastate Me
This song is based on a track that is allegedly an instrumental from Britney Spears’ Blackout sessions (IMO, her best album along with In The Zone), since I found it on a mixtape with lots of other songs. If you listen closely in the background, then you can hear what sounds like tiny snatches of Britney’s voice once or twice. Anyway, I liked the dark, intense feel of the track, along with its pulsing beats and menacing strings, so I just decided to write some lyrics over the top of it. The idea of feeling devastated seemed to go with the dramatic nature of the music, and lyrically the song speaks about somebody having you wrapped around their finger, and even though you might be in love with them or have formed some attachment to that person, you still know that they’re not necessarily good for you, and at any moment they could let you down or leave you in the dust, and you’ve put so much effort into loving them that you’re left with nothing – devastated. The idea of knowing this is where the line “you done tricked me twice so the shame is not on you” comes in – you know exactly what you’re letting yourself in for, you just can’t make yourself resist, however hard you try. It’s a tricky and intense situation!
15. Kissing You
This song was a really happy accident! Some of the tracks on here took months of planning and development to come to fruition production-wise, whereas this took maybe a day or so. I remember waking up in the morning and just having the refrain “Kissing you…. all I can think of is” going round and round in my brain. One of the songs that inspired the whole nocturnal, R&B/dark concept of the album (when I was deciding what kind of feel I wanted to explore for my next project) was the track “When We Kiss (Missing You)” by an old girl group, Solid Harmonie, which I used to listen to when I was about 13 or 14! So I doubt many people will recognise the sample of that song, which is what this track is based upon. The deep, sparse bass and Japanese martial-arts type yell are from that song, as well as the bridge (which sneakily uses the girls’ vocals as backing, while I sing over the top). I accentuated the oriental aspect of the production by adding some piano and shamisen to the mix, as well as extra beats towards the end. I wanted the song to be mysterious, as its about an obsession that you can’t explain or logically untangle, but something that you can’t resist and just have to follow. It’s where your heart rules your head, be it through lust or love. The song is focused on the physical (a kiss) but also the emotional, of a love arriving when you least expect it and taking over your world. The negative (as explored in “Jump Off (Part II)” and “Devastate Me”) ceding to the positive (this song and the next). Love triumphing. This song is one of the sexier songs on the record, even though it’s not really about sex. It’s one of my favourites too, as it really has that mysterious, nocturnal feel that I wanted to be the overarching theme of the album. It’s subtle, yet intense.
16. In Love
Like the last track, this song is largely built upon a girl-group sample. In this case, it’s Mis-Teeq’s “It’s Beginning To Feel Like Love”, which was an album track from Eye Candy. I liked the spacey feel of the song (a track that didn’t make it into the album or the mixtape was actually called “Space”), and I wanted to write a ballad that was very chilled, that you could relax to. I said that I thought “Secret” was possibly the most romantic track on Quiet Storm, but perhaps this gives it a run for its money. It’s just about how happy love can make you feel, and how unexpected the intensity of that happiness can be. It’s about feeling untouchable in the midst of love, and about all your pain being healed by your feelings for that other person, and their reciprocation of those feelings towards you. It’s a very optimistic, healing track lyrically, and the calmness of the production adds to that. I added in some piano (again!) in the bridge to give it a little extra kick towards the end.
17. Come Home To Me
For me, this track is definitely going to be a single from Quiet Storm. It’s very short and sweet, very immediate, and the beat is quite reggae-inspired, despite the overall feel of the production being straightforward R&B/pop. The thunder rumbling at the very start of the song fits in with the overarching idea of a “Quiet Storm”, but it also represents the lyrical motif of the song, saying that although we had storms in the past, it’s time to get over it. It’s about a lover who may have been unfaithful or made mistakes, so you had a bust-up, but now you’re ready to forgive them and give things another try. It’s about recognising that sometimes, even though we may try to be strong and independent, ultimately we have to forgive someone’s transgressions and not cut our nose off to spite our face. That’s not always the right message, and sometimes someone may do something too serious to be able to let them back in. But when it’s the little things that cause a breakup, with time you can see whether it’s really worth being alone or whether it’s better to forgive and make up. The song steals from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” towards the end, with the “forever ever ever eh eh eh” at the end – that was just a little bit of fun! The backing vocals in the second verse are also inspired from a nu-classic Janet Jackson track, “Take Care”, from her 20 Y.O. album, which IMO is one of her best works and seriously underrated – another track which infused the concept and production within my album.
The final part, iv, coming soon! Keep it locked, and thankyou all for the support once again. 🙂
(clicky) Quiet Storm (album download) (clicky)
