Today was the first day I had to wear a hoodie to smoke and read outside, signaling that Summer has truly ended and Fall is here. And it has been nearly fourteen months since my last full-length album, Dialectical Observations. It used to be that I released albums and EPs at a steady clip, even full-length albums multiple times a year, but now I spend more time with my songs, mostly more time in the editing process. I don't just fire out rough drafts and then alter them later on with a string of Alternate Spins; I try to publish only final drafts. Sometimes I'll try something different later, but I'd like to think of every song as solid before I put it out there. And that translates to the EPs and albums. Everything is much more deliberate, and so the steps to this albums, Neoclassism and With Love, Catatonia, were also far apart.
I try to release my works on dates of significant importance to me. Neoclassism was on the anniversary of my debut EP; With Love, Catatonia was on my brother's birthday. First I was hoping to release this album on the anniversary of Dialectical Observations, but that wasn't at all likely; I needed at least another month. So I hoped to have it out on my birthday, August 31st. That also seemed unlikely, but as it turned out, I could have. However, I had already announced the September 21st release date. Why September 21st? Because that was the first date to pop into my head. Not for any special reason, it was just my first thought, and it gave me the breathing room that I've come to desire surrounding my releases. It gives me more time to spend with them, to make last-minute changes, to really focus on the editing process. But I didn't do much editing following my birthday. I listened to it what seemed like hundreds of times, and I hardly changed a thing. It seemed solid. I was confident of it. And I'm happy with the final product, and very happy to share it.
The reasons it took so long to compose aren't limited to a more deliberate songwriting process; I also have had less time to devote to music. This is a good thing. I'm more able-bodied than I've been in a long time. When I started self-publishing music, I was largely couch-bound following an intense hospitalization, and I felt like I had nothing left to lose, and there was nothing for it - why not put my art out there? And that started the ball rolling on what I hoped to be a career as a solo composer. I've turned it into a career - it's my real work. Everything else is secondary. But there is now more to my life than this. Foremost is that I'm able to help out around a small "farm," lending my septuagenarian parents a hand. I'm still adjusting and desensitizing to a severe case of neuropathy; I can't take walking for granted and my hands are destroyed by simple labor. Earlier I was weeding the vegetable garden, and now it hurts to type slowly. But I can do it, and that's the important thing. It means I probably don't have a future as a performing musician, but I can compose, and I love it.
For this album, I composed five all-new, original tunes. First among them was "Android with a God Complex," stemming from a half-finished song that I'd been blocked on for quite a while. I started it even before writing With Love, Catatonia, maybe even before Neoclassism. I mean, it goes way back. I'd recorded an intro, strings arrangements, an acoustic guitar line, and some wild beats, all of which I loved. But I couldn't figure out what to do next, and I was stuck on the bass line. I couldn't write one that fit. And it wasn't until I gave up on it that the song started to move forward. I quit banging my head against that wall and discovered what came next by experimenting with some synths. There was already a clearly electronic whine going through it all, but in absence of a bass riff, I added in some buzzing bass synth, which has admittedly become a favorite of mine, and you'll find it in others of my recent songs. But with that and my recurring electronic soprano "vocals," I found an interim that allowed for further variations of the strings arrangements and acoustic guitar that I'd already written. And the vocals take center stage for a moment, as does some electric guitar, and I had the pieces of a whole song that just needed some further accompaniment, some editing, and some rearranging.
When naming this song, I tried a couple titles inspired by the strings arrangements, such as "Tetrarchy" (in reference to the string quartet and its focus of the overall tune) but I'd jotted down "Android with a God Complex" as a thought for a song title a while ago. I'd really been wanting to use it, and it seemed drawn to this song. Ir had seemed more appropriate that the title be used for something a bit more electronic, but I finally gave in. The electronics underscoring the more organic sounds, and momentarily take center stage, seemed appropriate enough to suggest an anthropomorphic artificial intelligence.
I should mention that the title was originally inspired by the character David in the films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Now, I'd also had this beat I'd composed that I loved - some banging around with some clinking and clanging on my "Chinese" drum kit - but was having a hard time accompanying it with anything more. I'd tried some synths inspired after what I'd used in "The Tranquil Isles," overlaid with either strings and electric guitar, or piano, and named them "Blame the Meds," with different versions. The title was attached to the beats; the versions were various failed attempts. I say "failed" because I never really wanted to share them. At best, they'd be rarities available to Patreon patrons. But I wasn't too enamored with them.
Fast forward to a time when I had a simple acoustic guitar riff stuck in my head that I recorded, then dicked around with. My "vocals" made a return, and organically transitioned to a flowing cello. I harmonized with it, then layered them all together for a finale, and I had a whole song written, though very minimalist. I felt compelled to add further tracks of instrumentation, but didn't know what, really. Something rhythmic. I already had some subtle rhythmic synths in there, but I wanted something that suggested a beat. But I wasn't sure I really wanted a beat; maybe something a bit more eccentric, for an already eccentric song. That's when it hit me - a random whim to try the "Blame the Meds" beats underneath. So I did, and wha'd'ya know? It worked perfectly. But this wasn't going to be another "Blame the Meds." No, it was going to be "A Neon Blue Soul."
When I felt the album deserved a piano intro, I thought of a short, melancholy piano ditty I'd recorded one night. What should follow? Well, it seemed that segueing into that eccentric beat was the way to go. So "The Lonely Pianist" (as my melancholy ditty came to be known) and "Neon Blue" stuck as the way to kick off the album.
"Heart of Hearts" was one of those songs that seemed to come all at once, and was written in a very short time. So was "Probing." They just sort of flooded out, starting out with riffs that got stuck in my head, both on keys (though I switched "Heart"s' keys to a "strings" synth), and every accompaniment and next movement, every progression, came organically and almost immediately. Of course, I spent a lot of time editing each, but the rough drafts came quickly. And the titles kind of just popped into my head.
I knew "Power Time Gravity Love" wouldn't be included on the album unless I made some changes, so I devoted some time to closely reexamining it. I edited some of the beats. I tried rewriting some of the viola and violin. Nothing impressed me. Nothing was really working. So I said "to hell with it" and scrapped everything but the cello and synths. It was time for a complete overhaul. I started from scratch on the beats, and it was upon doing that, and letting the first iteration of the cello melody be solo, that things started to come together. The new beats started off inspired by the old, but then I found myself inspired by both "The Last Waltz" and "Winter's Salve (Siren's Call)." I went with something that was a bit hip-hoppy and also a bit of a march. I was really into it. And as I wrote it, I also made another go at the viola and violin, and they just sort of occurred to me. It was like, once I got on a roll, everything started to finally come together!
What I ended up with, I didn't want to simply call an "Alternate Spin," because I had, like, 75% new material. No, I transposed two words in the title to signify that it was almost a different entity - and "Gravity Time Power Love" was assembled and just awaiting the editing process, which was somewhat grueling (I went through about nine drafts) but, I think, worth it.
"Misplaced Romanticism" always had some uncertainties, but I really wanted it on the album. There was an alternate way I was hearing the cello in my head, and I thought it worked as well as the other, so I went ahead and recorded it to share it. I was really uncertain of the viola part. I played around with it and played around with it, until I landed on something that worked for me. Now, I won't say this version of the song is better than the original. It's just...different. Different enough to warrant the "Alternate Spin" qualifier.
I knew I wanted bonus tracks, presumably for the Patreon Artist's Edition. I didn't know if I'd have new songs ready by the publication date. I did, however, have ideas on alternate song versions to share. I'd already recorded "The Lonely Pianist" with some simple swelling-and-fading cello, inspired by a recent listen to the Felina (or Felina's Arrow) album Let Me Tell You a Story, but I'd done away with it for the album intro. It seemed like something that should be heard, so I tacked it on at the end. More inspired was the idea to try out a stripped-down version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" The piano alone could make for a complete, well-rounded song, but I was going for just an "acoustic" version. I initially cut out everything but the piano and strings tracks, then played around with what else should be included. The acoustic guitar chords worked, adding the right emphasis to the beginning of the song, at the very least. Even the riff in the second half worked, helping build toward the climax. The bassoon was out - too intrusive. The bowed bass worked well enough, and subtly enough, to provide its emphasis. The synths took away from the acoustic feel, even though the electric bass somehow didn't. I did let a synth in at the end, though. It was subtle enough, and helped with the eerie quality closing the song.
Feeling completely enamored with this "Naked" version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" I really wanted to share it, and so decided that an exclusive Snail Tunes version at my Bandcamp store should be available, with "Nice Things? (Naked)" and "The Lonely Pianist (and Cellist)" as bonus tracks at the end. That way they'd be publicly available, instead of limited to Patreon Patrons - people can even stream them a limited number of times at Bandcamp, to sample them.
I did have a few songs flood out of me during the month I gave myself to let the album matriculate, and so I had additional bonus tracks for my Patreon Artist's Edition. Those I included are a piano-led post-industrial rush reminiscent of "The Cloud Walkers," called "Pulses Intertwined;" and a simple, relaxing series of iterations of a piano melody, with some ambient synths, I call "Toes." See, I had started another song I called "Twinkle" and so jokingly called this song "Toes," but the name just stuck as it grew on me.
The Patreon Artist's Edition also has the usual individual track art, this time - yet again - from works by Cyril Rolando. The Artist's Edition, with a PDF booklet of album art and liner notes, is now a pledge reward for patrons of my Patreon.
I had the title of this album picked out pretty early on. I had already moved on from cognitive behavioral therapy to dialectical behavioral therapy in the mental health department, and I didn't really know where to go from there, but looking back on it, pattern recognition is a cognitive function, and sort of fits with the theme I've been going with for album names. Still, pattern recognition spans a large array of subjects, and it's just a concept that fascinates me. But I have to admit, the name mostly comes from my favorite William Gibson novel, and it's mostly an homage to one of my favorite authors.
Pattern Recognition is now available at YouTube Music, Spotify, Google Play, Apple Music and iTunes, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Napster, Deezer, TIDAL, and probably others I'm not aware of (my distributor has a huge list of stores and streaming platforms it submits to).
Okay, I've been listening to the album again as a bit of a refresher, first while writing my last Facebook and Google Plus posts for the day, and now as I've been finishing up this article. And the album's just about done - actually, "Pulses Intertwined" just started, so I won't be able to close my computer until that song (which is still fresh, and I'm currently addicted to) is over. But I'm going to consider this blog article done. I hope you all enjoy the album. It's been a pleasure to work on, even a pleasure to listen to hundreds of times, and I hope you'll listen to it again and again, as well. Until next time, may your inner snails remain resilient and determined!
P.S. I almost forgot to leave you with a special exclusive! Here's one of my new songs, which can be downloaded by Patreon Patrons. Enjoy!
