With Love, Catatonia

It's been two months between posts, something I'd really like to not let happen. I wanted to do a review for the new Shakey Graves album, Can't Wake Up, when it was released - I even listened to it several times in a row (not that that was much of a chore) in preparation - but I never seemed to have the time or energy. I've been having problems with being low-energy lately, but I've also been really focused on the new EP. Really, I wrote five songs in two months, and each is one that I've been really proud of and excited to share with people. The third month, I gave myself time to tweak it, experiment with it, and edit it. With Dialectical Observations, and since then, I've come to the realization that I can put a really quality product out there if I give myself around that amount of time to play around. And after listening to With Love, Catatonia obsessively before its release, I've come to the conclusion that there's absolutely nothing I want to change now. Maybe by the time of my next full-length album... I'd rather not say "never," and who knows what the next album will bring. Anyway, I've decided that a full-length album with the best-fitting material from Neoclassism and With Love, Catatonia is next. So far, it's shaping up to have a similar feel to Dialectical Observations, but I'd rather not go into it with a goal in mind for its sound. Such as with Neoclassism, I'd like to let the songs decide for themselves.

Speaking of Neoclassism - isn't it odd that it's follow-up would have a more "neoclassical" sound? After Dialectical, I thought I'd be continuing down a more ambient/neoclassical path, but no, Neoclassism decided it would be in a more post-industrial vein, sounding similar to my fourth album, Revolutions. Then With Love, Catatonia seemed to pick up where Dialectical left off, with something more ambient-pop and focused on string arrangements. Okay, the strings thing isn't evident in the first song, "Cataphany," which is more straightforward trip-hop, guided by a repeated succession of piano notes. Putting in cello was more of an afterthought, though it started with the bowed bass. I really wanted a deep bass sound, and I succeeded with something that throbs, and has some interesting riffs. And the beats...I love the beats. I think I pulled off something wonderfully "post-industrial pop." It puts me in an optimistic mood with an easy-to-get-into groove.

I'd been reading Gregory Maguire's After Alice (which is kind of flat for a Gregory Maguire book, by the way) and it wraps up with the musings of a fictionalized Charles Darwin:

"I was musing on the notion of cataphany...from the Greek 'cata,' meaning down, and 'phantazein,' to make visible. Also the root of 'fantasy,' don't you know.  'Cataphany': an insight, a revelation of underness... Let me put it more scientifically. If separate species develop skills that help them survive, and if those attributes are favored which best benefit the individual and its native population, to what possible end might we supposed has arisen...that particular capacity of the human being known as the imagination?"

This little speech resonated with me more than the rest of the book did, and you may have noticed that I have a thing for made-up words. I jotted down the word and decided it had to be the title of a song. And so, the music itself, when coupled with the title, means to me the optimism that can be achieved through imagination. It was a sort of revelation in itself, musically achieved. I was really eager to share this song, but I exercised restraint. In fact, I held off on sharing so much as a preview of any of these songs, except for "Puzzlebox" to Patreon patrons, which was actually the first song written for this EP. By virtue of its experimentalism, it seemed more fitting for a finale than an opener. I used "Cataphany" to try and set a tone for the overall EP instead.

The optimism continues in "Revel," which has the fastest pace, and continues a bit with the throbbing bass, in portions of the song, at least. This song was composed on guitar rather than piano, something I've never really done before; it eschews piano entirely, making it a rarity. Actually, it began with the opening strings, which were in part inspired by Dialectical Observations' "Less Sinister Cousins." They were intended to set an epic tone, but instead became relegated to the background by additional strings and guitar, and mostly the beats. Oh, the beats. Trying something different - instead of layering drum machines and kits, I switch between three. This creates different "styles." "Hip-Hop," "House," and "Classic." In a 3/4 time signature rather than a 4/4, it creates an off-kilter feel to each. But somehow it's continually danceable, with each flowing effortlessly into the other, rather than creating a dissonance. These, and the cello, are at the core of "Revel," raveling it together into a cohesive whole. And it's the beats that provided the song name. It reminded me of the "hip-hop" beats uncharacteristically used in the faerie revels taking place in an after-hours mall foodcourt in the book Widdershins, by Charles de Lint - you may have noticed that de Lint influences me quite a bit. Anyway, with the juxtaposition of the beats, flute, and string quartet, I thought this might be used in a revel at an urban faerie court.

I electronically transitioned (though this song was written prior) into piano overtaken by more strings in "Power Time Gravity Love." It began with a cello melody composed over piano arpeggios, then I removed the piano when it felt jarring next to the flowing of the cello and viola. I tried without really succeeding to mimic the feel of the beats used in "Cataphany." The light pulsing tapped out doesn't quite tonally match, and more incongruous industrial clanging and hissing is used for a more epic effect. There's a lot of industrial and electronic elements here, but I faded them into the background. In the end, this song is about the flowing grace of a streaming cello melody that is then reexamined every which way. The initial piano chords are echoed by acoustic guitar for a lighter tone. I was head-over-heels about that cello melody, and had a lot of fun trying it a few different ways, and then on different strings. At last, to wrap it up, it seemed fitting to pluck the melody at its essence on an echoing electric guitar. 

The title for this song comes from the musing of a character in the novel Cloud Atlas (I love both the book and the movie) that the most influential forces in our lives are invisible. This seemed nothing short of a revelation to me, and I had to jot it down. Don't ask me why I attached it to this song. These things often decide for themselves and seem to be out of my hands.

"Misplaced Romanticism" is the oldest song on the EP. It was considered for Neoclassism, in fact, but it never felt quite right, and instead became a bonus track on the Patreon-exclusive Artist's Edition. It's gone through a few iterations since, with my tinkering trying to perfect it, and never quite succeeding. I became a bit obsessed with trying to get it right, and get it onto With Love, Catatonia. The piano never changed - that's where its essence lies, especially in that opening, tinkling melody. Some of the strings seemed solid enough to be set in stone. It was mostly the cello that felt wrong. It kept causing a bit of discord, and I couldn't isolate what it was. I copied song files and tried different things with it so many times that I've lost track. I'd seem to have it...and still, it would sound wrong. I think sometimes I overcomplicated it. In the end, this might be the closest to the original I've recorded in a long time, with just two-or-three notes changed. This is different from the Neoclassism version. I feel, after listening to it several times, that this is the right version. Maybe I'm just sick of changing it, but I'm pretty sure I finally got it. It sounds pretty solid to me. This was the second-to-last song finished (I tried some experiments with "Power Time Gravity Love" up to the last couple of days) and the first written. Some songs just take longer than others. I think the quickest to be written was actually "Puzzlebox."

For as complicated as "Puzzlebox" is, it's amazing how quickly it came out, and that it never changed. Initially, I just wanted to sustain a strings chord, with a staccato burst at the end. Who knew where it would go wrong there? Then I started tapping a synth along with it, but realized they were in different time signatures. And the following piano was in yet a third time signature. Could I really synchronize all three in an interlocking, harmonizing structure? Well, the first step would be to not write anything overly complex. The concept of the song was complex enough. Deep breath...let's keep things simple, but compelling. Now the beats were compelling, and I think by themselves could hold a listener's attention. There's no real melody here. Everything is just pieces fitting together, sometimes in absentia, but mostly adding one layer on top of another. Each layer was fun for me to work with, and I was mesmerized by how, after 64 (I think) bars, it all came back together. I wanted to do this twice, and keep things interesting, so a couple of odd synths and a two-note flute came into play. Then, after 128 bars (again, I'm recollecting from a few months ago) it all came together again, and I closed it with a single chord, which added an acoustic guitar that had been nowhere else in the song. Afterward, I kept describing this as a "puzzle box" of a song, though it's original name was "Bells for Him," in a nod to Tori Amos. Then, I shrugged and thought, if I'm going to describe it this way, why not just name it "Puzzlebox"?

This is a relatively "minimalist" album, in that most of the songs don't contain the sixteen-or-more layers of instrumentation that I normally use. It felt a little more graceful and less cacophonous that way. There's nothing truly epic here, more relaxing and at times even light-hearted, than anything else. That's why I've come to describe it as "a gentle start to your morning, a soothing lullaby, or a deep breath in between." After the relentless pace of Neoclassism, I seem to have explored the complete opposite end of my post-industrial spectrum.

With Love, Catatonia is available on (links will be highlighted as they become available) Spotify, YouTube, Google Play, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, TIDAL, Napster, and something called iHeartRadio that I've never heard of before. Oh well, it's nice to be on new things! Oh, and I haven't even begun to tell you about the label I've signed on with, or my desperate need for Patreon patrons (I'm at zero right now) and the (I think) soon availability of Nothing Left To Lose through Rehegoo Music! Well, more on that later, probably when Nothing Left To Lose is actually released.

Until then, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined.