This has been a labour of love and an exercise in musicianship , recording and mixing.
Everything was recorded from scratch and played by yours truly.
It's a monster - 5 piece brass parts, synth solos (made up of three different synth patches), piano solos, 2 guitar solos, organ parts, percussion, 3 part harmonies and much more. I have learned so much doing this and I'm just hoping some of it will rub off in my own song writing and recording lol!

Toto - Rosanna - Full Cover

Last year, when the world slowed down, I found myself looking inwards and remembering the past. I see my friendships shift in shape, my relationships ebb and flow, and the ground I’m standing on is moving beneath my feet. This record is an introspective dive, pinpointing the moment I recognised a consistency within me that fights to contradict my life in stasis. Beneath the skin deep layers there is an engine: sometimes idle, but never stalling. This motor propels me with a musical momentum. It compels me to speak my truth, words encircled in melody.

I asked my friend Hannah to draw this concept.

On October 30th, I’ll be releasing a 12 track collection. The music is about 50/50 unreleased and remastered versions singles I’ve published over the last year or so. One song is totally re-recorded to feature the beautiful singing of my good talented friend Sanja Cin.  

The process of recording this music is much indebted to a number of longterm collaborating partners:

Firstly, all of the drums and percussion instruments that you hear were lent to me freely by Aidan Poland. Without unrestricted access to his beautiful drum kit, I never could have captured these rhythms.

All of the keyboards and synthesised FX were produced using equipment loaned to me by Matt G. With the exception of tinkering in humble bedroom studio setup, all of the sounds were captured using Matt’s space where I had unfiltered access to microphones, a computer workstation, and most importantly: silence.

The entire record has been subjected to the fine-toothed audio engineering prowess of my good friend David McLaughlin. Dave took my tangled mess of a record and made it shine bright. 

Special thanks also goes to Maria Toase,, who recorded me acoustically when I was somewhat lost, wandering between disbeliefs, and reminded me to believe in myself. The acoustic music from that session form the bones of the track “Killing Time” paired with instrumental layers that I added almost a year later. 

We all walk a path but rarely do we watch where we are going. Without these individuals’ advice and collaboration I would never have achieved what, for me, is a monumental line in the sand along the shores of my dreamworld.

The Thread Connecting Us

Music video here: https://youtu.be/jxvZpVCwQ1g
This song is based on a true story of how I nearly wandered off the edge of a mountain whilst lost in the mist!

Lyrics:
THIS FRAGILE LIFE
Misty mountain peaks and winding trails
Getting off the beaten track
Camera in my backpack
Purple heather clothes these ancient fells
All the heavy rain last night
Made the river quite a sight  

I almost wandered off the edge today
 Zero visibility
Location was a mystery
Stumbling in the mist I’d lost my way 
Lonely in the cloud 
A silent deadly weather shroud

CHORUS
Life is so fragile
And I had to face it
There in an instant 
Looking me in the eye
Love is what binds us
 Keeps us together
 And I wasn’t ready
No time to say goodbye

VERSE3
 The mist dissolved into a cobalt blue I heard children sing below
And in the hills a rainbow
Somehow transported to a better place
And right there on the village green 
A game of soccer was the scene

MIDDLE	
And all I did was think about you
Unaware of all I’d been through
I only had this picture of you
So much more we’re wanting to do, wanting to do

This Fragile Life

Updated version with more synth lines and a funky rhythm in the chorus.

A moaning Israelite is sick of the desert and giving Moses grief.
But don't worry Moses tells him how it is... but you have to wait for the bridge section for that!

Lyrics:
BETTER OFF AS SLAVES

Riding the storm, dust in our eyes
Sand whipped up in leaden skies
Tired faces, nothing but sand
How many years in this hostile land

Under brutal rulers, we worked to the bone
Now we’re free but where is home?
In the heat of the day onward we go
Why we’re here, well it’s hard to know

We were better off as slaves than here
Camping like nomads all the time
Now everything is crystal clear
The Promised land’s a figment of your mind

Rebekah is just about holding on
One month past since our first born son
A crying child didn’t ask for this life
I beg to go back for the sake of my wife

BRIDGE
One foot in and one foot out
I’m tired of all this faith-less doubt
We’ve been called and we must go
To the land where milk and honey flow

© Copyright 2022. Words and music by Andy Prosser

Better Off As Slaves (remastered)

Andy Prosser

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