Dropping the melody an octave gave the song a different character. A vocoder effect enhanced its cold detachment, as did the Mellotron choir I ran through a guitar amp. The spoken-word coda was simply to spare you from what would’ve been a tedious melody.

Flesh-Colored Skin

I wanted a sparse three-piece combo (though I snuck in an organ) with one guitar track all the way through, a la Cream or ZZ Top, so the bass takes over the riffage during the solos. Also no vocal harmonies. Its simplicity evokes a live-band feel to match the lyrics.

Hell's House Band

Written in 1995 and demoed in 2008, this endured a major overhaul, including an extended intro, big harmonies, and even folksier instrumentation (thanks, accordion and banjo). The solo was improvised, though dozens of takes were required to arrive there.

Last Year's Prayers

The main riff was supposed to be faster, like vintage prog-rock, but the vocals insisted otherwise, hence tempo changes as a compromise. The organ and guitar tones are so similar, I gained newfound respect for Deep Purple’s mixing engineer. Its lyrics inspired the cover artwork.

Costumes

I tried to emulate "Kind of Blue"’s instrumental and sonic arrangements. Big and roomy with hard pans, Miles and Coltrane trading harmonies between your ears, and some of the tastiest guitar I’ve ever recorded. My favorite track on the album, despite being sung through a bout of bronchitis.

Miles to Go

The album needed a climactic scorcher, a “set-closer” musically and lyrically before the metaphorical encores. First time I ever played an EBow, and you can hear my enthusiasm for its unlimited sustain near the end. Best bass line I’ve ever written, too, though the blisters would disagree.

Antidote

Leonard Cohen is my favorite lyricist, and I wove together this tribute with nods to his recurring imagery and iconic phrases. Squeezing so many words into accessible melodies proved to be a major challenge. It’s also the densest mix on the record.

Finding the Light

Elastic tempo made playing in synch tough for a lone musician. The whole lullaby is a pretty cruel tease until the release of those majestic chords at the end. And yes, the fade-out loops into the beginning of the first song. Goodnight; catch you on the flip side.

somniloquy

A sample of some original cues composed for the Larkspur Underground podcast, serialized biweekly at http://larkspurunderground.com  @ 2017 Gordon Highland

Larkspur Underground

The Scientist

Larkspur Underground Theme

FLASH is the pseudonym for Gordon Highland's solo recordings. He's primarily a guitarist, but writes, records, and performs all the tracks himself in a bedroom studio. Though he's a 20+year veteran of many live bands and recording projects (most notably Winebox here on SoundCloud), "Finding the Light" is the first commercial release under his own name, available September 2015.