Song #37: Hanging By A Thread

This is a oldie that sat half written for a several years. All I had were the first two lines. I finally got around to finishing it by adding a few more lines, a bridge and an ending. The arrangement is a cross between something Coldplay would do and Death Cab For Cutie's "Transatlanticism." 


This arrangement includes acoustic guitar, several electric tracks done direct with no amp (including 2 tracks where I did "volume swells"), drums, bass, and several vocal tracks sung at different octaves and occasionally staggered. It gets pretty epic at the end. What do you think?

Song #30: Invisible

I wrote this song in 2003 while I was a missionary in New York City. I was volunteering weekly at the Bronx VA Hospital and I got to be friends with one of the patients. I showed up one week to find out he had passed away. I wrote this song shortly after on one of my days off on the church piano. It's about memories, death and the connection between this life and the next. The style of the piano line and melancholy lyrics are influenced from Ben Fold Five's "Brick" and the drum machine and strings sound are influenced by Coldplay's "Paradise."





This recording features four tracks of ebow guitar, a drum machine, tamborine, three tracks of synth strings, a glass jar hit with a spoon and three tracks of keyboards played at different octaves. This is one of my favorite songs so I took a lot of time to get the production right and I think it turned out great!

Song #4: Outside

This song is about admitting that you are wrong in a relationship. The approach to this recording I've had in my head for a long time (kind of early Coldplay maybe?) but is there another way to approach the song that might be better? Also, does it need some harmony vocals?

Song #3: The Golden Age

Another old song written back in 2003. It's about where we've come as a people and how we define progress. I kept the instrumentation sparse with just a piano and vocal. It's influenced by Coldplay and Aqualung (and now that I think about it, John Lennon). Do you like it sparse or should I add some drums to it? Maybe a cello?