A "single" from my upcoming lo-fi album, "Queen of the Bell," which is out on 11/15/23.
The album was entirely recorded and EQ'd on my iphone. I started using this process in 2020 - it didn't take long for me to recognize the punk ethos of "use what you have." I got into EQing, arranging and mixing all on the phone.
Inspired by the communications theory of "Media Ecology" which gave us the slogan: "the medium is the message" - I wanted to redefine my own conditioning around the recording process and challenge the notions of "studio quality" and how technology influences our decision making in the creative process.
Medium is the message: How a message is transmitted is just as important, if not more, than the message itself. The lack of technology did not hinder the album, other than the quality at times - but it became part of the aesthetic, along with the sounds that were used through the iphone's DAW.
While the songs are steeped in these sounds, sometimes to a point of excess, I have lived with the skeletons of the songs for a while, and survived my self-destructive tendencies of eliminating all traces of any creative endeavor.
lyrics
Mom’s in the labor party
But she’s tired of working so hard
She’s been up all night, sewing her sunday best
So she could go to church and beg for mercy
From a god who’s probably forgotten her name
Cause it’s been so long since he’s shown mercy
Mom’s in the labor party
And my brother is a young conservative
Cause he’s so tired of her ways
And dad’s been mimicking the gentry
But secretly, he works at a factory
he’s lost all faith in the dignity of man
And I too, been too busy spying on my girlfriend
I’m too busy learning how to be a man
And I don’t want to wait for this century’s new plan
And don’t you love the taste of danger?
And don’t you love the taste of pain?
The food is on the table
but blood is still on the dagger
Rolling around in the muck and mire
Reading a streetcar named desire
Like Cohen, I’m a bird on the wire
And money won’t save you from yourself
And laughing gas for our very special guests
Wine and dine all the wives that you’re after
And mom’s been protesting in the street
And don’t you love the taste of danger?
And don’t you love the taste of pain?
The food is on the table
but blood is still on the dagger
credits
released September 1, 2023
Written by Drew Wardle
Mix, EQ, arrangements by Drew Wardle.
Recorded on an iphone
From upcoming album, Queen of the Bell, out on 11/15/23
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