So initially I'd come up with this piece of music that did something for me (really wish I'd used some kind of noisegate on the buzzy-as guitar though).

I'd read somewhere that fact that a person whose parents die is called an orphan, a person whose spouse dies is called a widow/er but there's no term for someone who loses a child.  That really hit me, having had one or two friends who had been through that horrible experience.

For some reason I got it into my head that I should be the one to write a song about this, and even asked a friend to contribute some lyrics.  In hindsight it was really tone deaf to try and get someone to express their very personal and painful story just so I could write a song, so I shelved it for a while.

A while later I decided to repurpose it in the context of being a parent myself.  While I kept the chorus lyric idea, I ended up re-writing everything else going with the old adage of 'write what you know' rather than trying to act like I know what someone else has been through.

Limehouse - Black & White Hangover

Heart Of My Heart

The working title for this song was "Eb + all the chords" due to the difference in melodic variety between the verse and chords.

I knew for a long time that this song would be called "Orange Rhyme".  A play on 'orange rind' and the old thing of nothing rhyming with orange.  The latter seemed like a good metaphor for loneliness or sadness, this word cast away with no mate.

Limehouse - Sounds Like Technicolour

Orange Rhyme

I had most of the music for this one sitting around for a year or two (not a long time for me to be honest), largely built on the main/opening riff that I just kept finding myself playing.

One night I was sat out on the deck, it was raining and the city's lights just seemed to be blending into the surrounding darkness.  That mixed with the sound of the rain, it was all pretty peaceful.  The words came pretty quickly after that.

In hindsight I feel as though the vocal should have been softer, to get that 'rainy day' vibe.  But that's how it came out and I decided to roll with it.

Limehouse - Crisp

The Rain

I came up with the music for this while we were in the process of packing up and moving house.  My recording gear was already packed away and stored at my sister's house so I did a quick recording on my phone.

We went into lockdown so it took a while before before I was reunited with my gear but eventually I got a chance to lay the music down.  Nothing was really coming to me lyrically but I had an idea about the vocal melody (a touch of Alain Johannes perhaps).

After Neve was born I was playing a few things for her on guitar and I started playing this and she just started smiling and laughing, so it was decided.

Neve's Song

I'd noticed a lot of indie films had this very specific kind of soundtrack sound.  Perky little tracks with either a ukulele or an acoustic guitar played in that style.  Often with a glockenspiel, maybe a whistle and just very cute.

I wasn't really a fan of the sound but for some reason felt driven to do my own version.  It all came together pretty quickly.  

With the bass, I used to have this thing about bass guitar when I was a teen that I'd be so-so about players working quite high up the neck, like "hey that's the guitar's tonal range, stay in your lane" which is ridiculous because you're limiting yourself to a fraction of what your instrument can do.  Anyway with this song I tried to lean into more of a Paul McCartney bass sound, bouncy and melodic but definitely not pussyfooting around.

When it came to the lyrical content, as soon as I started listening to the music it became clear that this would be a song about my daughter and our relationship.  Most of the lines in this song are things that she has said to me at some point or other, and it was supremely gratifying when I was listening to the first mix of this that she came and listened and afterwards hugged me and said "I really like this song".

The title contains a couple of things that she likes, but I also thought it sounded like an indie-pop kind of song title or band name.  So further leaning.

The Butterfly And The Dinosaur

I wrote the music for this one before I even knew what any of the ukulele chords were.  Kind of a "I don't know ukulele, but I know what I like" sort of thing.

When it came to words, I'd mulling on the music every so often over the space of 3 years or so when one day the opening lines popped into my head and it went from there.

I loved that when I was listening to the mix of this in my wife's presence (she also features vocally for one word) she made a comment about the opening line and the song immediately sought to rebut her.

There are no original sentiments expressed here (thus the title) but that doesn't make it any less honest and true.

Trite And True

So the name of this track came because I was going through tracks on my recording device and I suddenly found this one which I'd apparently come up with and recorded a rough version of and then promptly forgot.

It was like a present from myself to myself (it has happened once since then, so my brain must not be what it was) and I picked it up and ran with it.

Limehouse - A Dark in the Light

Surprise

Callous Casual

So I went through quite a big Gnarls Barkley stage (still hope that they'll manage a third album sometime), I liked this thing they'd often do where they had quite upbeat music but then paired with quite dark, downbeat lyrics, so I decided to do something similar.  

It has come out sounding less like Gnarls and more like the Ducktales theme tune... I'm fine with that.  The lyrics are not about a person but something else that, I'm sure anyone who has experienced it will understand.

Limehouse - Bedroom Love Songs

Worst Best Friend

I had come up with the main chords for the song with just general noodling on the guitar, including experimenting with some different chord sequences.

I started to see the song as a potential duet, and was quite keen to try and work with other people as and when I could, so I got in touch with a friend, Jayde, who I had heard singing and felt sure she could do the smokey jazzy vibrato croon that would work for this song.  

The two main issues I faced were (a) when I came to do harmony vocals, I never have a problem doubling and harmonising my own vocals because I know my own pacing and delivery.... trying to match someone else's was tricky, and (b) her voice is much better than mine so I had to fight the urge to bury my vocal deep in the mix and hide behind hers.

Lightning Strikes Twice (w/Jayde Walker)

Always love a bit of tango and the 7/4 timing makes the music feel like it's just in constant motion.  With the choruses I wanted almost an explosion of vocals so they kind of expanded outwards.  The section towards the end was loosely inspired by a new Mike Patton track "Chansons D'Amour".   A song of respect.

Profondo Rosso

The closing track on my "Sounds Like Technicolour" album.   All tracks with colour themed titles and trying to do grandiose and/or slightly different things as far as arrangements and production thingees.

I've actually had most of the parts of this song sitting in my head in various shapes for probably close to a decade, in fact I've had the basic guitar, bass, drums part recorded for nearly that long.  Not sure what's held it back, whether I was just distracted with other songs or if it was just the idea that a river as a metaphor for life doesn't always hold up to the closest scrutiny.  Probably best not to probe it too deeply.  Just let the current take you.

Black & White Into Grey

This is sort of about not appreciating happiness and wholeness.   When I was young I always liked the idea of having glasses... until my eyesight got to the point that I started to need them and I found them annoying and worried about my sight getting worse.

When I was younger I also felt like people with some emotional damage must be more interesting somehow, probably fuelled by looking at the musicians I was interested in.   That fascination with damage though doesn't really bear out though as you get older and start to accumulate your own.

Limehouse

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