- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Blue Skies For Black Hearts
Album: Serenades And Hand Grenades
Label: King Of Hearts Records
Playtime: 40:28 min
Genre: Rock
URL:
Rip date: 2008-03-25
Street date: 2008-05-20
Size: 63.61 MB
Type: Advance
Quality: 209 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
ôWe're making pop music the way it should be made,ö lead singer and
songwriter Pat Kearns says casually as he returns to the board to mix
ôSiouxsie Please Come Homeö, the premier track off Serenades and Hand
Grenades, the brand new 12 song LP from Blue Skies For Black Hearts. Release
is scheduled for May 20, 2008.
This, the bandÆs fourth full-length release, began with mudding sheetrock,
painting walls and hanging baffles, turning the back rooms of local guitar
shop, Centaur Guitar, into PermaPress Recordings, a modern-day Brill Building
and KearnsÆ new studio. The paint on the walls had barely begun to dry when
Kearns, bassist Kelly Simmons, lead guitarist Michael Lewis and drummer Paul
Noel began clocking in nightly, working up arrangements to songs that Kearns
had often written earlier the same day. Within two hours of a song's
introduction, it was hashed out, rehearsed and basic tracked.
With the advent of digital, today's artists frequently pile their computers
with hundreds of tracks and takes, hoping time, reflection and deft editing
will produce a masterpiece. Blue Skies, while embracing the functional
advantages of modern recording technology, self imposed many of the
limitations that fueled the creativity of rock and roll for the last half
century. Decisions were made on the spot, focused primarily on feel and
melody. Instruments were recorded live with ambiance and real plate reverb
instead of relying on digital plug-ins later. Harmonies were worked out
around the piano, moments before the entire band gathered around a single,
tube microphone to sing the takes together. Nothing was ever added to tracks
that needed to be ôworked out later in the mixö - a common method of the
digital generation. From the first time this record spins, you will feel the
same intimacy and attraction that fans have longed for since the Brits
invaded America (both times), Stiff Records scoured the pubs for talent and
Creation Records saved rock and roll.
That album opener, ôSiouxsie Please Come Home,ö is a contemporary love story
that could only occur in the new millennium. Through melody and words, Kearns
paints a picture of a lovelorn composer whose girl has been sent off to war
while he remains at home, writing heartbroken love songs while surrounded by
her boxed possessions.
ôAmbitionö weighs integrity against success, an age old question that has
become particularly complex and poignant in todayÆs music industry. It
features a horn arrangement reminiscent of those heard on the great southern
soul recordings of the 60s and '70s, while also belying the bandÆs obvious
adoration of Costello and even Badfinger.
ôSomeday There Will Be Better Daysö is an optimistic look at the frivolity of
divorce, taking a dark, comedic view on exes waging war through their
lawyers, and featuring a full-blown string arrangement that would make even
Phil Spector turn green.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Siouxsie Please Come Home ( 3:46)
02. A World Without Love ( 2:55)
03. Jenny & Steve ( 4:02)
04. Won't You Please Stay ( 4:01)
05. She'll Follow Me ( 3:17)
06. Little White Lies ( 3:46)
07. Ambition ( 4:09)
08. Sweet Valentine ( 3:38)
09. I Still Wish That You Were Around ( 2:48)
10. If I Wanted You Back ( 2:17)
11. Pretty People ( 2:36)
12. Someday There Will Be Better Days ( 3:13)
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