Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Norwich’s Lightscape about their recent single ‘By Design’.

“‘By Design’ relates to trying to change someone and attempting to understand their behaviour. In the end you realise that’s just how they are and that to pursue more could cause further damage. All five of us chipped in making the track what it is. But It started like most of our songs with Sam, Will and Ben bouncing ideas around a computer.

The second verse riff and the chorus were two completely separate ideas that came together to give the song some legs, the rest of the tune being natural progression from there.

Its actually got recorded more than once and then we decided to restructure it with a synthier intro to help ease the intensity along more. I also remember being blown away by the vocal takes for the chorus.”

By Design LYRICS

Don't ever wonder why you've never had much luck,

you've taken leave of your senses, you seem to clutch,

to this idea this illusion, convincing yourself you'll be fine this time.

Once you put out the fire, but now you fan the flames,

and as you search the ashes, a heart remains

a heart that's clouded your judgement, fighting with all of the warning signs.

 I’ve been here before, I can feel your presence all around me,

It scares me that I thought, we left this all behind

So here’s another chance, for you to pull the strings,

an opportunity to get back underneath her skin,

while you've had time to work on your disguise, I'm not buying it, you cant blame me

Call it coincidence, i call it by design,

as I'm witnessing the sudden turning of the tide,

So don't you sell me your reasons, don't sell me your lies, I'm stuck with the memories, I get the feeling that

I’ve been here before, I can feel your presence all around me,

It scares me that I thought, we left this all behind.

The only thing I know, is I won’t waste my time on you pretending,

Testing my resolve, and doubting my own mind.

It scares me that I thought, it scares me that I thought, it scares me that I thought we left this all behind

I’ve been here before, I can feel your presence all around me,

It scares me that I thought, we left this all behind.

The only thing I know, is I won’t waste my time on you pretending,

Testing my resolve, and doubting my own mind.

Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Cornwall’s Hypophora about their recent single ‘Headlines’.

“The theme of the song is about friendships falling apart. It’s not a nice thing to go through, especially when it’s not handled well. It felt like it would be a good thing to write about as a kind of release, hopefully listeners can empathise and appreciate what the lyrics are about. It was written with one person and one situation in mind but reading the lyrics back made us realise how it can apply to so many moments in life.

Lewis Pilcher (bass) actually came to practice one day with this absolutely stonkin’ dissonant riff that he’d been working on. We were all a big fan of said riff and that’s where ‘Headlines’ started. Karum had been experimenting with a bunch of open seventh chords for a while so it was a great excuse to sling them in  over the top of a grooving bassline for the verse part and a slightly similar chord sound (though drenched in distortion) for the chorus and thus ‘Headlines’ was born.

One of our fondest early memories of road testing the song was supporting LTNT and The Hyena Kill in Plymouth in July last year. We sound checked with ‘Headlines’ (which at the time we nicknamed ‘Stab’ because of the choppy rhythms) and we got a bunch of positive feedback from the LTNT/Hyena Kill dudes - they thought the opening riff was absolutely brill, which filled us with a lot of confidence!

We had so much fun recording ‘Headlines’. We recorded at Momentum Studios in Devon with the ever talented Josiah Manning. The song was recorded alongside ‘Behave!’ and ‘Hipster Blood’ - both of which are set for release early next year.

We were lucky enough to have Josiah feature on his beautiful Fender Rhodes during the second verse and the middle eight - this added an entirely new and super interesting musical layer/texture that we haven’t really experienced on a Hypophora tune before (we had a small amount of MIDI keyboard on ‘Caught’ but that doesn’t count). That really makes the tune to be honest.

Also the ratty guitar tone in the run up to the “breakdown” section was recorded by placing a microphone inside a broken snare drum on the other side of the live room from the guitar amp. So pointless but fun nonetheless.

We stayed in the studio for three nights in a row, drank wine, ate Nando’s, and made music from about 9am - 9pm for three or four days. We went a little stir crazy towards the end of the session but we had such a laugh. We actually documented the whole thing on our YouTube channel through a series of vlogs.

We’ve had a lot of comments about how different this vibe is from our last release ‘Youth/Caught’ - there’s a lot more interesting/experimental chords and overall a much darker feeling to the song.

We think people seem to really enjoy the tune and most people have been pretty positive about the (slight) change in musical direction, but it’s really not that different is it? It’s nice to finally be able to look at our songs available online and see more than just two songs, we’re gradually building up our discography, which is about time! It’s making us so excited for a full album to be released - we’ve been sitting on material that’s been unreleased for ages so it’s going to be so nice to let the world hear it!”

Lyrics:

Without intention, I lost my taste for you,

And now nobody's mentioned the latest piece of news,

Lacking attention, you quit the thing you love,

It's the pretension you need to let go of

Now and again I question if it's just because I'm here

You make a great impression to everyone that's near

Their backs are turned so you're talking, no one needs to know

Now and again I question if it's just because I'm here

Without intention, I lost my faith in you

And now no one's remembered to see the whole thing through

Lacking attention, you quit the thing you love

It's the pretension you need to let go of

Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Slovenian-American singer Anja Kotar about her new single ‘Eighteen’.

“Eighteen continues the mood of its predecessor, the first single from the album, ‘How to Be Cool’, but in a slightly different tone. I wanted the song to sound like an ‘80s birthday party, complete with big chiffon dresses and pink balloons. Overall, my goal with this song (along with ‘How To Be Cool’) was to get young people thinking about their life choices. Even if what you’re doing when you’re young doesn’t seem like it will have consequences, this is actually the most crucial time of our lives, so as I sing in the song: “Don’t waste your time!”.

My main objective was to create almost a satire of a typical American sugar pop song which is what the chorus embodies. Everything is bright, floating, there’s synths playing around and doing runs in the back, all simulating a happy, carefree environment. However, the rest of the song is a complete juxtaposition to that. While the chorus seems to enjoy and celebrate the fact that someone is turning 18, the rest of the song unveils the darker realities behind that picture perfect world. One of my favorite parts of the song is the pre chorus which feels very much angsty and nervous, embodying the anxious feeling you experience when you’re 18: “Go to school and get a degree, get high get drunk in the backseat, you’re running out of time to be free so get high get drunk in the backseat”. These feel sort of like call and response; the first line talks about what young adults feel pressured to do, the second half is their reaction - finding a moment of calm through distraction instead of doing what they should.

All of the songs from the Nomad album were written at my home on my piano. Once I had a final selection, I started working with my producer Pascal Guyon and doing weekly sessions with him at his LA studio. I had drafts of each song done in Logic on my laptop, then we worked together to ensure that the production emphasizes and enriches the underlining composition. This was one of the first songs from the album that got sonically finished and helped dictate the sound for the rest of the album - especially with the quintessentially ‘80s synth licks in the chorus!

Just as with every song, it’s never complete until it’s released out into the world and other people start impressing their experiences unto it. One of the most incredible privileges of being an artist is seeing people who you’ve never met, who live in a completely different environment than you, relate to and connect with your deeply personal music and lyrics. Ultimately, that’s the true magic of music - bringing people of the most diverse backgrounds together and uniting them through three or so minutes of notes.”

VERSE 1:

Candlelight illuminating, take a bite

All grown up, patting your shoulders, “don’t screw up”

Text your friends, sneak a bottle in your bag

Sequin dress, fake IDs, girl you're a mess

PRE:

Go to school and get a degree

Get high, get drunk in the backseat

You’re running out of time to be free

So get high, get drunk in the backseat

CHORUS:

Eighteen and doesn’t it seem like fun (like fun)

Eighteen and doesn’t it seem you’re wasting your time?

Eighteen, eighteen

VERSE 2:

Here you go, watch the smoke rise as you roll

Don’t you know, you can numb but time won’t slow down?

BRIDGE:

No one told us what youth feels like

Tiptoeing on broken glass, I

Think I’m going crazy, bleeding

Why walk when you could be running?

Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Red Collier from Alaskan shoegazers A Thousand Hours about their new single ‘Violet’.

“One of my closest friends is pregnant, so I wrote her little girl a song. Sort of words of encouragement and advice; "Storm this world but don’t be like me, fucked up and demon ridden.

I produced and mixed this track myself so I went through over 13 mixes to get this right. What stands out the most though was putting up the mix on bandcamp fairly satisfied, only to loathe the vocal levels the next day. I made a mad rush to fix and replace.”

 Listen to 'Violet' on BandCamp

‘Violet’ Lyrics;

This is for you

Violet Dragon

Take to the skies

Open your eyes

I sing it for you

Sleeping dragon

Breaking on through

Open your eyes

Unfurl your wings little girl

Feel the sweet breeze little girl

And take flight

Yours by right

You will have dreams little girl

Just don’t be like me little girl

Take this world

It’s yours by right