A short, simple track with clean guitar melodies inspired by Oceansize and Radiohead's In Rainbows album.  I wanted to make the song longer (progressive rock will do that to you), but after lots of efforts I realised that the song actually was fine as it was, and extending it would have been detrimental to it.  Sometimes short and sweet is the way to go.

Come What May

I wrote and recorded this track several years ago, and this has not changed from the original recording.  Only the structure, chords and drums were planned for the song.  During recording, I spent a day going through every sound on my electric piano and when I found a sound I liked, quickly figured out a melody for it and where it would go in the song.  Sadly I no longer have the original files, so it would not be possible to replicate this song as it sounds now, but I think that adds to its charm.

Affinity

This is the song I'm most proud of on 'The Bridge'.  It's a progressive song that has many sections, but I think that none of them overstay their welcome - I do not like it when progressive metal songs go on long instrumental tangents that have very little to do with the rest of the song musically.  A Turkish Oud and an Egyptian Doumbek were used in this song, to add authenticity to the Arabic feel.

I AM

The melody for this track was written years ago, along with the basic hook of 'It always fucking rains in England', but I only put complete lyrics to it recently.  This feels like a song that would go down well in most English pubs.

English Summer [Explicit Lyrics]

Most of this song was written a few years ago for a band I was in at the time, but I was never happy with the chorus.  Recently I changed it and am far happier with the result.  The guitar solo at the end was improvised, although it took me several takes to get one I was happy with.

Chzo's Song

I am very fond of the bass on this song, and Jason Wall did an excellent job of bringing the bass to life for the recordings.  The bass work during the main guitar solo was improvised and came out even better than I'd hoped.

Lost At Sea [Explicit Lyrics]

I wanted to do a rock cover of a soft pop song, and decided that 1000 Miles fit the bill perfectly, as it is well known, and most people like the song whether they like to admit it or not.  I am very happy with the how arrangement of the song came out, although I was unable to achieve the heavy, fat tone I wanted for the breakdown with the equipment I have currently.

1000 Miles [Vanessa Carlton cover]

This is probably the most commercial-sounding track on the album, despite it being in 5/4 time for the whole song.  This is song is all about that bass, and Jason Wall did an excellent job of performing this and finding the perfect tone for the song.

Five By Five

The title track for the album is quite an odd one, as it is heavily influenced by songs from 3 quite different bands - Faith No More, Nevermore and Radiohead.  Fans of Faith No More and Nevermore in particular will be able to tell which songs are being channelled here, but I think the eclectic mix gives this song its own identity despite the influences being worn on its sleeve.

The Bridge

This was the last song written for the album, and originally I just wanted it to serve as an opener for the album (hence the big chord at the beginning.  The intro of 'The Bridge' is good, but does not feel like an opening song.  I wrote this song quite quickly, but it's become one of my favourite songs on the album.  I think it's also a reflection of my changing tastes from metal/progressive to a more dancey, contemporary sound.

The Lieberkuhn Project

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