Sometimes, just sometimes, a song taps me on the shoulder early and goes, “Yep, it’s me.” That’s exactly what’s happened with track number 4 on our current album-in-progress unofficially known as Skip Ad. I appreciate Track #4 isn’t exactly a chart-topping title just yet, but… to be fair, Blur’s ‘Song 2’ did pretty well so you never know, it may stick.
We’re far enough in the song writing process where the bones of the songs are starting to show themselves. There are about 17 or 18 tracks floating around at the moment but only a dozen or so will make the final cut. It’s a bit like musical chairs really. Some will find a seat, others… well, they’ll quietly slip off into the archives.
We’re been listening to these tracks (without any vocals) for a few months and that’s plenty of time to know which are stand-outs. As they used to say in record company offices ‘singles’ as opposed to ‘album fillers’.
This particular track, though, has planted its flag early. No vocals yet, no lyrics scribbled on the back of an envelope, but the chorus? It’s already doing that thing. You know the thing. Where you don’t need words to feel it. You can almost hum along, make up your own melody, fill in the blanks without even trying. To me, that’s always been the sign of a solid chorus. If it can carry itself before it’s fully dressed, you’re onto something.
What you’re hearing at this stage is very much the scaffolding. It’s the bit we build on once we start layering in the story, shaping the words, finding the lyrical meaning of the song. It might sound like we’re a long way in (and we are in terms of laying done the ground work) but oddly enough, this is also where a whole new phase begins. The part where everything can still shift or head off in a different direction.
This isn’t a quick sprint to the finish line for the album. It could be, technically. If we locked ourselves in a room and did nothing else, we could probably wrap it up in a month. But that’s not really how this works. Life ticks along in the background. We are firm believers that songs need time to breathe. You sit with them. You listen, then listen again over a cold beer or two… then come back to them with fresh ears. Once those tracks are sent off for mastering, once that final button is pressed and they’re out in the world, that’s it. No quiet tweaks, no “just one more change.” It’s done.
So for now, Skip Ad Track 4 (Version 3, no less) sits comfortably as the early favourite.
