Written by Vince Gray & Ernie Gray.  Performed & Produced by the Gray Brothers.  Ernie Gray says, "Vince and I are both fans of the band Grizzly Bear, and we wanted to pull off something that had big vocals.  He wrote the piece and asked me to take lead vocal duties. The minor to major lift with 3 part legato vocal harmonies in 6/8 time is not something you hear on many rock records.  This was a challenging piece to pull off with so many long notes. "

We original considered taking a non-lyrical approach.  We ended up going with a Carnivale theme.  My inspiration was of all things, Woody Allen’s movie, Midnight In Paris - but otherwise it could be anything.  It’s your dream.

Carnivale

Written by Ernie Gray.  Performed & Produced by the Gray Brothers.  Ernie Gray says, "I’m indirectly influenced by the works of filmmaker Terence Malick, and this song attempts to suggest the same sort of imagery and feeling that Malick evokes in his films.  This is essentially eschatological poetry."

Ghost Mind

Written by Adam Gray & Ernie Gray.  Ernie Gray say, "Adam wrote the core parts and Vince and I contributed sections and lyrics.  This one embodies the feeling that comes with getting older, wiser, becoming a father, a husband and realizing that you don’t know all the answers.  It’s about leaving behind those impatient, impulsive and zealous tendencies of youth and learning to trust yourself to trust others."

Within Without

Written By Vince and Ernie Gray.  Ernie says, "This is the real “sleeper hit” on the album… Vince wasn’t sure about this one at first, but it turned out to have a great vibe. The rest of album has a very spacious sound, and I like the contrast here where the drums and soundstage is dry and tight.  Vince has this incredible instinct for jazzy progressions, and like all of us, a penchant for major 7ths.  
Lyrically, the song is critiquing faith.  I can’t speak for Vince, but I think he addressing the fundamental question of infinity.  He’s pointing out that what certain belief systems attach to the notion of infinity as divinity is in fact, limiting the wonder and possibility of the infinite. "

Never Forever

Written by Vince Gray & Ernie Gray.  Performed & Produced by the Gray Brothers.  Ernie says, "This was actually recorded as part of the Verath sessions in Nashville and Atlanta.  Vince wrote sang and played just about everything except for percussion while I engineered.  He was playing the tune for me on guitar one night but didn’t have any lyrics.  I remembered I had a lyric from 3-4 years ago that didn’t have music and it just fit right in with the whole vibe.

It’s the story of lovers living under a repressive regime who are trying to emigrate by night, and the mixed emotions of leaving their home and loved ones for a better life."

The Crossing

Written by Adam Gray & Ernie Gray.  Performed & Produced by the Gray Brothers.  "It’s from the point of view of a character who can’t stop hitting the bars.  It’s somewhat autobiographical and ironically about as far away from Adam’s current lifestyle as possible.  But it could also be about compulsion in any form.  Tenacity runs in the family.  Force of Habit is a turn of phrase our family uses often, so it’s a good fit."

Force Of Habit

Written by Ernie Gray.  Performed & Produced by the Gray Brothers.   Ernie says, "The subject matter here is esoteric.  It’s an abstract thread about getting to those places where you let go, but are aware - that gnosis point.   The objective is to become freer and less attached to desires without becoming 'trapped' in any particular method or idea of how to get there.  Once you cross the river, you don’t carry the boat with you, you leave it behind."

The Effect

Written by Ernie Gray. Performed & Produced by The Gray Brothers. Ernie says, "What I love about soul groups from 60s and 70s is that it was common for a male to take the high tenor/alto part and really do a sultry, sexy thing -- almost androgynous. I mean, think of all the doo wop and vocal groups where the boys would do the high voice: Smokey, Ronnie Isley, Marvin Gaye, and recently, guys like Prince, D’Angelo. This style is something I’ve been sort of working on over the past few years. It’s a very challenging thing to pull off live.

The sound of the recording is intentionally very raw and lo-fi. It’s straight four mono tracks with some reverbs. I was trying to capture the sound of some local recording studio in 1967, which is similar to the stuff I used to record when I was kid on a little fostex 4-track. "