Without Life

The final track on Transmission is entitled Without Life.



Just before Christmas 2006, I decided to enter a short story competition, but the guidelines were very precise, and the deadline a little too short, so I wasn't able to get anything finished on time. The story wasn't really working anyway, but it had some nice ideas, so I decided to try it out as a song instead.

The music was originally an experiment using only soft synths in Ableton Live, although it was completely re-recorded for the album. I'd decided it might make a nice last track, but Simon wasn't sure about the ending, so I suggested we should add a new false ending. In the end, it turned out to be a rather melancholic coda, which closes the album rather nicely in my opinion.

The lyrics:

Without life, we are nothing
No sounds of silence, no view of blackness
No words to say what we should
Oh, we are nothing when we’re without life

In the pulse of the instant, you breathe life again
In the arrogant moment, you’re free
When the time is right, you will become something new
There is still life, together as one

Without life, we’re revolving
Sight without seeing, sound without hearing
We are blind to what floats by us
Oh, we are nothing when we’re without life

In the pulse of the instant, you breathe life again
In the arrogant moment, you’re free
When the time is right, you will become something new
There is still life, together as one

Without life, there is nothing
No sense of feeling, no words or breathing
We’re just fools, drifting slowly
Oh, we are nothing when we’re without love

In the pulse of the instant, you breathe life again
In the arrogant moment, you’re free
When the time is right, you will become something new
There is still life, together as one

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

I'll Give You Electro

Our attempt at a catchy piece of meaningless pop came from an unlikely source. The second single and eleventh track on Transmission was I'll Give You Electro.

I remember getting a very apologetic email from Simon containing the original demo of this, saying something along the lines of "This was just a bit of fun, and maybe it could be a b-side." Nonsense, I replied - it's brilliant.

It was actually originally based on a review we'd received for one of the tracks on Dusk, which was along the lines of, "You need some UK electro attitude, more kick and more bass." So we gave them electro.

We've never actually released a track that came out in as many different versions. In chronological order, we did a single version:



Then a retro 90s-themed version called the Imperfect Attitude Mix:



We actually started on the road towards retro mixes with the version called I'll Give You Retro, although we didn't finish that until quite a lot later. It might sound as though it's rather tongue in cheek, built entirely out of 80s clichés, such as handclaps, cowbells, FM synth sounds, and orchestral hits - but in a way it's a very sincere tribute to some of our favourite 80s dance records and remixes. Here it is:



Then there was an electro mix by Sappy, which is the secret bonus track on our remix EP Remission too. Don't tell anyone I said that, because it's a secret.

The lyrics:

You say that you want emotion
And you claim that you need attitude
You say that you want devotion
But this is what we do

Why don’t you just listen for a while?
Is anybody listening any more?

Well I’ll give you electro
And you can stick it up your bass
Yeah I’ll give you electro
How do you like it in your face?

You say that you miss the feeling
And you cry that you’d like something more
You say that we lack direction
And our delivery’s poor

Why don’t you try listening for a while?
Does anybody listen any more?

Well I’ll give you electro
And you can stick it up your bass
Yeah I’ll give you electro
How do you like it in your face?

Why don’t you just listen for a while?
Is anybody listening any more?

Well I’ll give you electro
And you can stick it up your bass
Yeah I’ll give you electro
How do you like it in your face?

Well I’ll give you electro
We’ll see if you can get it out
Yeah I’ll give you electro
Who’s the one with feeling now?

I’ll give you something new, I’ll give you more

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Here Comes the Summertime

The tenth track on Transmission, and the third proper single, was Here Comes the Summertime.



I started this as an uptempo track to go on Dusk in early 2005 - it was a simple, happy, and fairly meaningless track which was intended to provide a bit of light relief from the rest of the darkness on the album. It was Simon who turned it into the downtempo track that it became, while watching the awful film Black Hawk Down.

It was the first track we'd ever done that had any kind of visual element, as I'd used the video editing tools on my new computer to put together a very rough video, and a couple of years later I decided to revive this. It was a bit short on ideas though, so I decided we should try chopping a chunk out of the original song so that the video didn't need to be too long.

This nearly became the single version, except that without trying very hard I also ran off a mix with a hip hop drum loop, which we both liked, and with a new bassline and synth part, we had a new single version, which seems to have subsequently gone down rather well in Canada for some reason.

Finally, Simon decided he didn't like all the editing, and did an extended version, with all the bits put back in again:



But that turned out not to be the end - a few months later, Sappy got in touch, saying he'd like to try a remix. Even longer, and even more epic than Simon's extended version, it's just appeared on our new EP of collected mixes:



Here are the lyrics:

Back then we slept in tombs of sadness
Finding the answers in excesses
The days were short and came to nothing
But led to shores of hate and longing

And so we’ve made it through together
And now it’s going to last

We’re leaving the past behind us now
As at last we feel satisfied
So here comes the summertime again
Will we find our lost paradise?

Now the days seem so bright and so long
It once looked like we’d never see them
Now it’s hard to sleep the days away
In case they never come again

So what shall we do now together?
Keep running till we fall

There’s nothing for us to hide behind
Or to keep the truth locked inside
So here comes the summertime again
Will we find our lost paradise?

Keep dreaming away
Until the dawn of another day
There’s nowhere to stay
We’ll always find another way back home

Let’s spend all of our days together
Until the summer ends

We’re leaving the past behind us now
As at last we feel satisfied
So here comes the summertime again
Will we find our lost paradise?

There’s nothing for us to hide behind
Or to keep the truth locked inside
So here comes the summertime again
Will we find our lost paradise?

Keep dreaming away
Until the dawn of another day
There’s nowhere to stay
We’ll always find another way back home

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

A list of our gear

Another thing that was lost from our website when we updated it recently was this rather long list of equipment. We've updated it for the 21st century, because it was a little on the old side.

The date is an approximation of when we acquired it. As we said at the time, the list is long, and it definitely isn't comprehensive. It probably isn't very interesting either, but here goes...

• Ukulele - Musical Instrument, 2012. Is it a souvenir or a serious musical instrument? It's difficult to know, but it is fun.
• Korg Monotron - Synthesiser, 2012. Like a Stylophone, only not quite as silly.
• Korg iElectribe - Software, 2011. Great if you want to make some drum and bass or UK Garage of a Sunday afternoon.
• Korg iMS-20 - Software, 2011. Used to make silly noises, including several of the sounds on the Funnelweb mix of Golden Wheel.
• Apple GarageBand for iPad - Software, 2011. Rollo uses this as a general sketchpad and sounding board for ideas.
• Apple iPad 2 - Computer, 2011. Good for messing with when "on the road".
• Chimera Synthesis BC9 - Synthesiser, 2010. Second and last purchase from the now defunct bedroom company. Great for making very silly noises.
• Chimera Synthesis BC16 - Synthesiser, 2009. It took about a year to arrive, but it was worth it. If only I could work out how to use it
• mda DX10 - Software Synthesiser, 2009. DX-10 clone
• TAL Bassline - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Fun software synth
• TAL Elek7ro - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Fun software synth
• TAL U-No-62 - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Another nice Juno clone
• mda JX10 - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Another clone
• mda Piano - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Piano clone
• NUSofting daHornet - Software Synthesiser, 2009. Amazing Wasp clone, used to make lots of ridiculous noises on Transmission era tracks.
• Apple Intel iMac - Computer, 2008. Used by Rollo for everything from 2008 onwards.
• Paia Theremin - Other Instrument, 2008. Kit theremin which Rollo hasn't got round to finishing yet.
• Soundcraft Compact 10 - Mixer, 2008. Used from The End onwards for pretty much all Rollo's vocal recording and sampling.
• TAL U-No-60 - Software Synthesiser, 2008. Nice Juno clone
• TAL Vintager2 - Software Synthesiser, 2008. Nice SH-101 clone
• Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 - Software, 2008. Not quite as good as its predecessors, but entirely usable.
• AKG Perception 100 - Microphone, 2008. Lovely warm-sounding microphone
• Evolution MK-??? - MIDI Controller, 2007. Another handy controller, bought in 2007. 
• Apple iMac G4 - Computer, 2007. Bought by Simon in 2007 and not yet broken, although the power board did die a couple of years ago. Originally came with a pirate copy of Ableton installed, but now running Logic Audio which is much better, and legal. 
• Korg MicroKorg - Synthesiser, 2005. Bought new (yes, we were surprised too) in 2005. Capable of some of the best sounds ever, and very twiddleable. 
• Korg NS5R - Synthesiser, 2005. Slightly dodgy 90s synth module which makes great MIDI and aeroplane noises. 
• Native Instruments Absynth - Software Synthesiser, 2004. Soft synth bought in 2004, which makes nice noises although we haven't used it for ages as this version only runs on Mac OS9.
• Native Instruments Pro-53 - Software Synthesiser, 2004. Soft synth widely used on Dusk. Again, we haven't used it for ages as this version only runs on Mac OS9.
• Apple Powerbook 3400 - Computer, 2004. Simon's second laptop, which broke in about 2008, delaying Transmission in the process. When it did finally break (by refusing to start up) it forced us to update our technology, which was no bad thing.
• Apple iBook Clamshell - Computer, 2004. Bought in 2004, and used by Rollo until about 2009. The hard drive makes slightly more noise than an average jet engine. 
• Novation A-Station - Synthesiser, 2003. Nice synth module. Used pretty much continuously and on every track on Dusk and almost every track on Transmission.
• Roland Electribe EA-1 - Synthesiser, 2003. A little box containing many very fat arpeggios, used and sampled regularly. 
• Alesis NanoSynth - Synthesiser, 2002. Box of noises used a lot around 2002-2003 for Empires. Not used so much now as the range of sounds is a bit limited.
• Korg Prophecy - Synthesiser, 2002. Monophonic, but a thing of beauty nonetheless. Used very regularly.
• Akai S-3000XL - Sampler, 2002. Less dodgy mid 90s sampler, bought in 2002. Connected to a Mac via a SCSI link. Used regularly until we finally discovered software samplers. 
• Acoustic Guitar - Musical Instrument, 2001. Used when writing Not a Million Miles and Golden Wheel.
• Akai S-01 - Sampler, 2001. Dodgy early 90s sampler, bought in London in early 2001, and used extensively until we upgraded
• FAT FB-383 Freebass - Synthesiser, 2001. 303 emulator, bought in early 2001. It makes 303 noises. We haven't used it a huge amount. It features on Closer to the Sun (7" version).
• Apple Powerbook 3800 - Computer, 2001. Bought in 2001, now in a cupboard gathering mould, and in rather more pieces than Apple originally intended.
• FAT Procoder PCP-330 - Vocoder, 2001. Complicated vocoder, which we used a few times before selling a few years ago.
• Korg Poly-800 - Synthesiser, 2000. Bought in early 2000. It makes fantastic string sounds and is still used regularly. Like the CZ, it also re-sets itself in protest when it gets lonely. You have to feed it the default patches via an audio message.
• Yamaha PSS-780 - Keyboard, 2000. Bought in Wales in mid 2000. Some of the keys still work. 
• Roland D-110 - Synthesiser, 2000. Bought in mid 2000, and used a couple of times since, mainly on a couple of Ephemeris tracks. We pretty much gave up on it because it (a) sounds awful and (b) is an absolute pigdog to program, so we sold it.
• Akai SG-01v - Synthesiser, 2000. Bought in summer 2000. The mainstay of the Ephemeris and Zero eras. It's a very handy little box because so many sounds are packed in it.
• Evolution MK-125 - MIDI Controller, 2000. Mini controller, not really used much, if at all.
• Roland Juno-106 - Synthesiser, 2000. A thing of beauty, bought in London, late 2000. I think that a few of the chips have gone with age, since it doesn't always like playing all of the notes that you tell it to. We still use it regularly.
• Apple Macintosh LC - Computer, 2000. Bought for £50 in 2000. Using a MIDI interface and some cheap software, we made a valiant attempt to make some music, but the memory kept running out.
• Apple Powerbook 1400 - Computer, 2000. Simon's first laptop, which he bought in 2000 and used until it died in 2002.
• Roland SH-101 - Synthesiser, 1999. Red. Bought and repaired in America in 1999. Fantastic for basses, particularly if you don't need them to be in tune with anything else. We used the onboard sequencer a couple of times before we finally entered the age of midi. The 101 is still used quite a bit and is particularly prominent on Heaven Only Knows and The Broken Generation. Unfortunately it now seems to have stopped working, so maybe one day we'll get both it and the Juno properly serviced and restored to their former glory.
• Acorn BBC Model B - Computer, 1999. Stopped working around 2002. We never actually used it for music, because it sounded dreadful, but we managed to get to level 22 on Chuckie Egg. 
• Viglen 286 - Computer, 1999. Never really worked properly, but was good for playing Reversi.
• Philips CD-780 - CD Recorder, 1999. Used extensively until about 2002, when we started doing everything on computers. It's in storage now, and I'm not clear whether it works any more.
• Tascam Porta-05 - Recording Device, 1998. Used from late 1998 until 2002, it served a very worthy purpose, until it fell apart, and all the tapes we'd made with it became pretty much useless. It was great fun though.
• Casio CZ-1000 - Synthesiser, 1998. Procured from a man in Wagga Wagga in 1998. It makes very good noises and is still used regularly, although it has the annoying habit of re-setting itself if it is abandoned for too long. This is solved by sticking a bent paper clip into one of its holes, but you should not try this with other objects without a responsible adult present.
• Yamaha PSS-460 - Keyboard, 1997. Also bought in 1997, and used whenever we wanted white noise effects. 
• Yamaha PSS-380 - Keyboard, 1997. Bought in 1997, and featured a couple of nice sounds, the likes of which none of our other synths produce. Still used every now and again, although we tend to sample it these days. Featured most recently on Signs of Life.
• Apple Macintosh Plus - Computer, 1993. We used HyperCard and APL68000 to make noises, but it would probably be unfair to call them music.
• Yamaha PSS-50 - Keyboard, 1993. Bought in about 1993 to replace the PSS-150, because it had temporarily stopped working. This model featured 100 sounds; 20 rhythms; and other features. We used it in the 1990s. 
• Yamaha PSS-150 - Keyboard, 1985. Bought some time in the early eighties; it has four preset sounds; four rhythms; and real programmable drum sounds, which, according to the manual, give all the excitement of being a real drummer. It also has a demo tune. And a headphone socket. And... no, that's everything. It stopped working at some point in the early 90s, but then Rollo soldered it back together again.

The quick guide to Transmission

The release of Intermission brings us at long last to the end of the Transmission project, which has been spawning singles for the last two and a half years.

You may be wondering why we kept flogging this poor horse. Well, it's been the gift that keeps on giving: We had a fairly large stack of tracks to release as b-sides and we kept doing remixes or having remixes offered to us. In all, there are remixes of eight tracks from the album, which is a record for us. The result was that the singles kept coming.

It's also given us a bit of time to work on some new material, which we hope you'll be able to hear fairly soon.

Just in case you've lost track of everything we've done (well, mainly to help us remember), here's the complete list of all the releases, together with where to find them and why you need them:

Better Days (Single) - 8 Apr 2011
The first single. Contains the exclusive songs The Broken Generation and Shattered Mirrors.

Transmission (Album) - 15 Aug 2011
The album, with twelve original tracks for your listening pleasure.

I'll Give You Electro (Single) - 31 Oct 2011
The second single. Contains a remixed version of I'll Give You Electro and three new songs that you'll never find anywhere else (probably): Dissolution, Weather the Storm and The Journey Here.

Remission (EP) - 19 Dec 2011
The first EP of remixes containing new versions of Eyeballing, I'll Give You Electro and False Dawn, along with the new track Sleepwalker. It's still available from Bandcamp as a free download, from the link above.

I'll Give You Electro II (Single) - 6 Feb 2012
The return of the second single. This time the lead track was the Imperfect Attitude Mix of I'll Give You Electro, to which we added the exclusive tracks These Four Walls and Black Earth.

Here Comes the Summertime - 29 Jun 2012
The third single, with two new versions of Here Comes the Summertime, and two new tracks: Homeward Bound and Words Come Easy.

Blood, Sweat and Tears (Single) - 31 Mar 2013
The fourth single, with new versions of Blood, Sweat and Tears, Golden Wheel and Better Days and a brand new track, Centuries Later.

Intermission (EP) - 29 Oct 2013
The second EP of remixes with new version of Almost, I'll Give You Electro, Golden Wheel and Here Comes the Summertime, along with a new track, Splinters.

The videos
And here are the videos that have been produced along the way. Why not make yourself a nice hot drink, sit down and enjoy*:
False Dawn (Animalogue Remix)
Better Days (Single Version)
I'll Give You Electro (Sappy's Elektrik Remix)
I'll Give You Electro (Single Version)
Blood, Sweat and Tears (Single Version)

Here Comes the Summertime (Single Version)
Eyeballing (Sappy's Treble Up Remix)
Golden Wheel (Sappy's Spinning Mix)
Here Comes the Summertime (Sappy's Lost Paradise Remix)
* you may also dance around waving your hands in the air at appropriate moments, if you wish to.

Old News is Good News

Simon has been digging through the archives to bring you news items from back in the olden days... if you're interested in learning more about the Empires era, read on!

As I'm sure you remember, we started this news blog in September 2006, and started off by importing the news items from our website dating back to 2003, namely:

• Wherever You Are Now (October 2003)
• Empires (November 2003)
• Second single (December 2003)
• Not a Million Miles (December 2004)
• The eighth album (December 2004)
• Not a Million Miles (December 2004)
• Happy new year! (January 2005)
• Downloads (January 2005)
• More Downloads (February 2005)
• Yet More Downloads (March 2005)
• "In the first half" (May 2005)

Note that most of those downloads are no longer available, due to time's winged chariot and all that. Anyway, you now also have access to the following, taken from our old newsletter Pure Hype:

• New material (PH089, March 2003)
• Coming soon (PH090, July 2003)
• Empires chronology (PH092, November 2003)
• Solitaire: the new single (PH093, January 2004)
• Two pictures on the wall (PH094, April 2004)
• Something in the air (PH095, August 2004)
• A taste of things to come (PH098, November 2005)
• Eighth wonder... (PH099, May 2006)

You can access all the old news items using the News Archive tag.

Decadence

It was ten years ago this afternoon that we released our seventh album Empires. Since that takes us way back to the early days of this blog, I decided to give it a quick listen to see how it has aged.

You probably haven't heard much of this album, I'm afraid, and there's nothing currently online. The reasons for this aren't especially complicated. The master tapes for much of it have long since been lost, and the vocals weren't very well recorded, and in general there's a lot wrong with it. This was, for us, largely the pre-internet age, and in all honesty we had very little idea what we were doing (we still don't).

But it's not a bad album actually. The opening track and single Wherever You Are Now has always been one of my favourites. Here We Stand was a surprise internet hit, and probably would have been a single if we'd realised this at the time. It's a song about the Iraq war, with some brilliant synth lines, and a lot of haunting lyrics that I'm rather proud of now.

Then the final single, Not a Million Miles, with its unique (for us) electro-acoustic sound. It's another favourite of mine, but I don't know whether it will necessarily work for everyone else. Solitaire, too, is unusual - it's pretty much the furthest we've ever gone from "our sound". I'm not sure whether it really works, but I like it.

Turn the Tide is fun - the lyrics are totally daft, but as an early attempt at Euro, it does it's job pretty well. And opening what probably ought to be side B is the lovely In Your Eyes. This one I'm extremely proud of.

Unusually for us, we even managed to get most of the good stuff on the album itself. Golden Wheel got forgotten about for another eight years, of course, and To Live a Lie probably deserved more than to just be another EP track (on the Not a Million Miles single), but otherwise the album is pretty much as good as it could have been.

Things do tail off a little towards the end, inevitably. I think it's fair to say that A Picture on the Wall doesn't really have the impact it was meant to, and much as I love it, I'm not sure When October Comes really does either. Midsummer's Eve would be a great penultimate track if only the vocal weren't so dreadful, and The Final Problem isn't exactly our finest hour either.

It's probably fair to say that this album isn't dull though - except for the slight tailing off, I think it holds up pretty well, a whole decade after its original recording.

Empires came out about 18 months after Zero, closing out a very busy period for us (we've never been anywhere near as prolific since). Our sound had advanced inordinately from the early Ephemeris sessions back in 2000, and we'd done some interesting - and occasionally even successful - experimentation too. Things would go very dark indeed with Dusk, and in many ways the more "pop" sound of Empires is rather refreshing. Listening back, it's still an album I'm extremely pleased with, and I'm really hopeful we can find a way of sharing it with you again soon.

Intermission - sleeve notes

Just over two years ago, we released an album called <Transmission>. Since then, we've messed around a lot with the tracks, adding little extra bits here and there, and tweaking the odd noise where we thought it might help.

<Intermission> is no exception. Here are four more tracks from the album, reworked, revised, and revisited. Almost has been stretched a little, and made a lot more drummy. I’ll Give You Electro has taken a trip into the past as a tribute to our favourite acts of the 1980s. Golden Wheel has just seen a bit of a reworking for no particular reason, and Here Comes the Summertime is the latest track to see treatment at the hands of Sappy, making it into a seven minute epic. As an extra special bonus for this EP, around the half way mark you'll also find a new track called Splinters.

However, we’ve kind of run out of things to release now, so we're going to take a little holiday.

Our Biography

We recently did another clear out of our website, and each time we seem to end up with less content than the last time around. One of the things we lost was our biography, and so in the interest of posterity, here it is...

Our mission

We're not trying to change the world. We aren't seeking fame or fortune. We don't think we're very good...

But we enjoy trying to make our own music and do it entirely for our own entertainment.

Feedback is always welcome, whether you think we're any good or total rubbish. But we do ask that you let us know where you think we could improve, for example, "try the odd melody here and there," or "had you considered singing lessons?"

Who we are

Hypernova are an electronic duo originally from somewhere in Derbyshire, which is somewhere in the middle of the UK. We first tried making music at some point back in the eighties, but like everyone else, we weren't really very good. In the nineties, we recorded some albums, which still weren't very good.

Around the turn of the century, we turned things around, by starting to write some quite good songs. Since then, we've completed some more albums. We haven't done much recently as we've been busy, but there's new stuff on the way.

Currently based half in Hampshire and half in California, both of us have proper jobs, which is why we still haven't sold out and appeared on Top of the Pops. Well, that and the fact that they don't make it any more. Oh, and the fact that we've never been asked.

Things we like

Some artists and groups that we like are listed below.

Air - Alabama 3 - Alpinestars - Aphex Twin - Apollo Four Forty - Asana - Karl Bartos - Basement Jaxx - The Beatmasters - The Beloved - Bent - Binar - Björk - Bomb the Bass - BT - Camouflage - Chicane - Client - Conjure One - Daft Punk - Death in Vegas - Deep Dish - Deep Forest - Delerium - Depeche Mode - Dirty Vegas - Rob Dougan - Dragonette - Dubstar - Duran Duran - Dusted - Paul van Dyk - Echoboy - Electronic - Enigma - Erasure - Everything But the Girl - Faithless - Fluke - Front Line Assembly - Future Sound of London - Dave Gahan - Banco de Gaia - Goldfrapp - Gotan Project - The Grid - Groove Armada - Heaven 17 - Hot Chip - Jori Hulkkonen - The Human League - I Monster - Jean Michel Jarre - Joy Division - Kings Have Long Arms - Kings of Convenience - Kraftwerk - Ladytron - Leftfield - Lemon Jelly - Manu Chao - Massive Attack - Robert Miles - Mirwais - Moby - Mylo - Paul Nagle - New Order - Olive - One Giant Leap - OneTwo - The Orb - William Orbit - Orbital - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Erlend Øye - Pet Shop Boys - Andy Pickford - The Postal Service - Readymade FC - Recoil - Röyksopp - Saint Etienne - The Shamen - Luke Slater - Sparks - Rachel Stevens - Sugababes - Synthetik - Tears for Fears - Télépopmusik - Tiga - Ultravox - Vitalic - Way Out West - White Town - Wolfsheim - Richard X - Zero 7

Anyway, you get the idea.

When we're making music, we use Apple Macs running Cubase and occasionally Audacity and some audio software. We've also a pile of old synths, some Akai samplers; and some other bits and bobs. We mainly keep them locked up in the cupboard, because they're old fashioned and we don't know how to plug them in.

We also like pretentious foreign films; vintage British television; long and dull books; and jigsaw puzzles. Between us, we speak a little English; French; German; Italian; Spanish; Russian; Uzbekh; and Tamagotchi.

Website update

I knew I'd forgotten to mention something yesterday - we've totally revamped our official website! We hope you'll like it. Check it out here.

Don't forget to listen to our new EP Intermission while you're there!

Intermission

Transmission is back, two and a bit years after the album came out, with one final punch!

We've released a lot of singles this time around, starting with Better Days and I'll Give You Electro back in 2011, then Here Comes the Summertime last year, and Blood, Sweat and Tears earlier this year.

While on that journey, we picked up a whole pile of remixes - some of our own, and a few by our friend Sappy, and so at the end of 2011 we put together an EP entitled Remission.

Now it's time for the follow-up: Intermission. It's got new versions of four songs from the album: Almost, I'll Give You Electro, Golden Wheel, and Here Comes the Summertime, plus the brand new never-heard-before track Splinters.


And now, if you don't mind, we're going to take a little lie down.

Got to be finishing something

There's something that we had been keeping under our collective hats. Transmission isn't quite dead yet - we've got one single left.

We've got a b-side left over, and quite a few spare remixes that we'd built up too. For some reason we haven't entirely got around to releasing them yet.

All of which is really another way of telling you that we're about to answer the last single from Transmission, the follow-up to Blood, Sweat and Tears, and the sequel to our Remission EP from Christmas 2011.

Assuming everything goes to plan, we'll be releasing one last remix EP (from this album) very soon!

Distant Moon

Picking up our commentary of the album Transmission, the ninth track is entitled Distant Moon.



I had a great loft room for a couple of years from 2006, and the moon would pass directly overhead (it tends to do that). As would police helicopters actually, often while I was in the bath, but that's another story for another album.

At that time I was spending a few late nights writing songs, and I would watch the moon bobbing along, trying to get inspiration. Perhaps not surprisingly, this song grew very organically out of that.

In a way, it sounds as though it might be lyrically quite dark, but it's actually supposed to be quite hopeful - the narrator is sorry to have seen you go, but (s)he knows you'll be fine, wherever you've ended up. It was supposed to be a bit of a counterpoint to Wherever You Are Now, our single from a couple of years earlier, which had a slightly bitter edge to the lyrics.

Random fact fans might like to know that the rhythm is based on All Good Things by Nelly Furtado.

The lyrics:

Where is my silver moon?
In shadow since I last saw you
I cast off every hour
And push to find some other power

As crystal raindrops fall
I can’t help but recall

I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon

Where is my silver moon?
If only I’d not left so soon
Just think what could have been
Another day, another me

If only I’d done more
Than sit back and ignore

I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon

Will wonders never cease?
Beyond the daybreak’s reach

I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
Up upon that distant moon

I know you’re out there somewhere
And I know you’re happy there
As I look out from my window
I become that distant moon

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

There was also a rap, which never entirely worked, but would have had the following lyrics:

Well I know you’re out there somewhere in the shadows of the past
And I hope that you’re happy knowing it would never last
We talk about the distance when we’re travelling so fast
And somewhere in the future we go far beyond the stars

I look out from my window on a world that seems so blue
And look back on the moments when we sat there me and you
Emotions run like rivers taking me to somewhere new
And I become a watcher up upon that distant moon

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

September Update

It's September, which must mean it's time for a quick update.

I hope you don't feel as though we've been neglecting you recently? We did release the third proper (sixth overall) single from our album Transmission, led by a track entitled Blood, Sweat and Tears back in March this year, in case you didn't notice.

Then in July we reissued our 2006 album Dusk, although admittedly this didn't require an awful lot of effort on our part beyond pressing the "upload" button.

What did require a little more effort was the simultaneous reissue of all the tracks from the Dusk singles, on an album known as Dusk Archive, including 24 tracks and brand new artwork and commentary.

So what's next? Well, we have a couple of remixes and bonus tracks from Transmission left over, which we're trying to get finished and polished off. Quite what this will end up being remains to be seen - perhaps it will be another remix EP; perhaps it will be a single; perhaps it will be nothing at all! We're intending to work through these questions and figure something out soon.

Then we'll start work in earnest on what might one day become our tenth album! We've got a healthy pile of tracks to choose from, and we're in no particular rush, but nevertheless we're hoping to unleash something upon you soon.

The Ultimate Guide to Dusk Archive

Dusk Archive started life as a series of five singles, released to promote the album Dusk between 2007 and 2008. Here are some archive posts which will give you greater insight.

Consequences single (April 2007)

We first hinted at the new single and its contents in February 2007, although for some reason we didn't know what it would actually be at that stage. The official announcement followed in April.

1. My Light - comments published in December 2007
2. Echoes of Perfection - comments published in May 2007
3. Moving On - comments published in May 2008
4. Consequences (Electrobongo Remix)

Beneath the Silent Skies - single (July 2007)

By June we seemed to have a reasonable idea of what might come next - here's a hint at the second single. The official announcement was then made in early July (note that Woolworth's still existed back then).

1. Point of No Return - comments published in May 2008
2. Running with the Wind - comments published in May 2008
3. Beneath the Silent Skies (Part 2)
4. The Healing - comments published in April 2008

Bulletproof - single (October 2007)

In September, we were still trying hard to remix Bulletproof, but didn't quite seem to have managed it very much in advance. We formally announced this single a matter of days before it was released.

1. Bulletproof (Western Mix)
2. Fallen - comments published in April 2008
3. Lose Control - comments published in May 2008
4. House of Cards - comments published in May 2008
5. Bulletproof (Kevlar Mix)

The End - single (December 2007)

As usual we hinted at the single before it came out, and then had to retrospectively promote it in January 2008, having embarrassingly forgotten to promote it at the time.

1. Heaven Only Knows - comments published in April 2008
2. Never Wanted This - comments published in May 2008
3. What I Would Do - comments published in May 2008
4. Someone Else's Dream - comments published in May 2008
5. Broken - comments published in May 2008
6. The End (Ostkreuz Mix)
7. Faint Footsteps - comments published in May 2008

iDusk - EP (May 2008)

The iDusk EP was our iTunes debut, hinted at in April, and formally announced in May 2008. Although five years old already, we didn't really know what iTunes was at this stage, and seemingly neither did anyone else, because the EP did pretty well.

1. King for a Day - comments published in May 2008

Bonus Demo Versions (2005-2007)

The first two of these were originally released as download / stream exclusives with the Consequences single in April 2007 (they are mentioned here). The third is completely exclusive to Dusk Archive.

1. Moving On (Demo)
2. Echoes of Perfection (Demo)
3. Never Wanted This (Demo)

In October 2010, I compiled a list of my top ten highlights of the Dusk era, with a little bit of extra retrospective commentary. You can read all about that here.

I also compiled one of these posts for the original Dusk album, which you may view here.

More recently, we also wrote some sleeve notes for the new release here.

The Ultimate Guide to Dusk

This blog has an extensive archive going right back to way before we released Dusk the first time around, so we are now able to present the full and comprehensive guide to the album.

The first mention of the album was made in December 2004, when it was planned for release "in the first half of 2005" (though this was later revealed to be a lie). In October 2006, Simon was to be found mixing vocals for The End and Consequences, with Heaven Only Knows following a few weeks later.

Dusk was finally formally announced in mid-December, and a commentary for each track followed over the next year or so.

1. Not Even Close - comments published in February 2007
2. I Have Never - comments published in December 2007
3. Beneath the Silent Skies - comments published in July 2007
4. Calmwaters - comments published in January 2007
5. In the Moonlight - comments published in December 2007
6. Consequences - comments published in April 2007
7. Signs of Life - comments published in December 2007
8. Hidden Context - comments published in December 2007
9. Perfect Geometry - comments published in December 2006
10. Bulletproof - comments published in December 2007
11. The End - comments published in December 2007
12. Red Shadows - comments published in January 2007

We spent most of 2007 releasing singles from the album (most on that in the equivalent Dusk Archive post to follow), and then in May 2008 put together a little cut-down version of the album especially for iTunes, the iDusk EP. We've never mentioned this before, but the EP was so successful that in early 2009 we even talked about reissuing Dusk on CD with a couple of bonus tracks.

Unfortunately duration constraints meant that we were never entirely happy with the bonuses, which sowed the first seeds of doubt in our minds. But ultimately, we decided that we didn't really want our last album to be the first to represent us in such a widespread form, and with Transmission seemingly so close to release, we decided to concentrate on that instead. We still haven't quite got round to doing a full CD release even now.

Anyway, in October 2010, I compiled a list of my top ten highlights of the Dusk era, with a little bit of extra retrospective commentary. You can read all about that here.

In case you had forgotten already, we also wrote some sleeve notes for the new reissue of Dusk here.

Dusk Archive - sleeve notes

At the end of 2006 we released our eighth album Dusk, having worked on it for a little over three years. It was released during a key period. Web streaming was becoming more popular, and MySpace was at its peak. Releasing an album in this environment was a bit of an adventure for us, but to our surprise it was well received.

The first single Consequences got a lot of attention, and led to our appearance on a compilation named Electraparade later in 2007. The last single The End – in reality more of an EP of left-over tracks – also caught the attention of listeners.

Thanks to this, we put together our first iTunes release, a cut-down selection of album highlights which we called the iDusk EP. At the time of writing, this remains our most successful single to date.

Dusk Archive contains all the tracks from those singles, and while the quality does vary, we hope you will enjoy this collection as much as we enjoyed compiling it.

Dusk - reissue sleeve notes

The word Dusk refers to the period of partial darkness between day and night. It’s a fitting title for this album, which isn’t entirely dark, but it is darker than we normally like to sound. The vocals are rough and imperfect; the synth sounds and samples are dirty and noisy. Despite that, it was an important milestone for us.

Lyrically, it tells the story of someone finding their way through their early twenties. They’re trying to find their place in a tough urban environment. The love songs are bitter and naïve; the political commentaries are scornful.

As with the preceding album Empires, we combined sounds from every electronic source we could lay our hands on - old analogue synths, software synths, samples of vintage drum machines, and our trusty old Yamaha keyboard. These were mixed down through four channels and then painstakingly combined with the vocals using an audio editor.

We started work on Dusk in 2003 in Birmingham, and the writing process took us from Derbyshire to snowy Berlin and finally Leeds before it was finally released at the end of 2006. We didn’t have much experience with promoting ourselves online, so our main weapon of choice was MySpace, although our arrival seemed to coincide with its decline.

Despite the technological handicaps it suffered from during recording, Dusk was surprisingly successful - some of the singles remain among our most widely listened. The growing community even led to our inclusion on a compilation album.

The first single Consequences gave us one of our most successful commercial outings to date, particularly when it took pride of place as the lead track on our first full iTunes release, the iDusk EP.

So Dusk may not be the most cheerful of albums, but it does have a lot of history for us.

Dusk details

Coming out this Monday - reissued from way back in the olden days - are our much-loved album Dusk and its new companion Dusk Archive.

Here's Dusk:

Which contains the tracks:

1. Not Even Close
2. I Have Never
3. Beneath the Silent Skies
4. Calmwaters
5. In the Moonlight
6. Consequences [i]
7. Signs of Life [i]
8. Hidden Context
9. Perfect Geometry
10. Bulletproof
11. The End
12. Red Shadows

[i] - as featured on our extremely popular digital iDusk EP

From Monday, you'll be able to listen to and purchase the album in full from here.

There are a couple of samples below...

And then here's Dusk Archive:

Which collects together all 21 tracks from the singles between 2006 and 2008:

1. My Light [e]
2. Echoes of Perfection
3. Moving On
4. Consequences (Electrobongo Remix)
5. Point of No Return
6. Running with the Wind
7. Beneath the Silent Skies (Part 2)
8. The Healing
9. Bulletproof (Western Mix)
10. Fallen
11. Lose Control
12. House of Cards
13. Bulletproof (Kevlar Mix)
14. Heaven Only Knows
15. Never Wanted This
16. What I Would Do
17. Someone Else's Dream
18. Broken
19. The End (Ostkreuz Mix) [i]
20. Faint Footsteps
21. King for a Day [i]

[e] - as featured on the compilation Electraparade

[i] - as featured on the iDusk EP

There are also three bonus demo versions:

1. Moving On (Demo)
2. Echoes of Perfection (Demo)
3. Never Wanted This (Demo)

From Monday, you'll be able to listen to this in full and purchase it (should you wish to do so) from this link.

Here are some samples for the uninitiated:

Also back from the dawn of time

A few days ago I revealed that we've been preparing a brand new reissue of our 2006 album Dusk. That's still happening.

But there's more! We've also trawled through our archives to bring you all 21 bonus tracks from the five singles: Consequences, Beneath the Silent Skies, Bulletproof, The End, and the iDusk EP.

We talked about plonking them alongside the album itself, but we decided you would probably prefer to take this project in more manageable bite-size chunks, so we separated it into two: Dusk (the original album), and Dusk Archive (the collected singles, 2006-2008).

If that weren't enough, as a special bonus for downloaders, we've also tracked down the two original demos of Moving On and Echoes of Perfection which were released as special bonus tracks for the Consequences single in early 2007, and also a third demo from 2005 which has never before seen the light of day (the reasons for this should not be too difficult to work out).

The 24 tracks on Dusk Archive do admittedly have a total running time of nearly 100 minutes, meaning that a full trawl through the era will take you two and a half hours. But that's not bad for three years' work. As always, we firmly believe in quantity over quality.

Anyway, Dusk and Dusk Archive are both coming soon.

Back from the dawn of time

In 2006, we released an album called Dusk. Perhaps you remember it?

No, I didn't think so. It wasn't exactly widely released.

But the two or three years that followed were decisive for us. We released five singles from the album, each positively overflowing with bonus tracks (most of them were bigger than your average EP). Some of them were pretty successful. Depending on how you measure success, of course.

But by 2009, we were busy beavering away on what would ultimately become Transmission, and so its predecessor kind of got a bit forgotten. We left a few tracks online, but we neglected the full album. We're really sorry about that. If there's anything we can do to make it up to you...

Well, of course, there is! In a couple of weeks, Dusk is coming back! A brand new full-length version of the album in its pure, unadulterated form.

By which I mean that we haven't bothered remastering it or anything. It's true, we thought about it, but in the end we decided that for all its quirks and foibles, this is how we sounded in 2006. And that's how the record should stay.

What we have done is worked pretty hard on the packaging. To make up for the slightly spartan sleeve on the original release, you now get a luxuriant 16-page booklet full of new sleeve notes and photos from the era, many of them never before seen.

So, coming very shortly: a brand new reissue of our most successful album to date, Dusk.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

It seems appropriate to comment on Blood, Sweat and Tears now, having just thrown it out as a single. Here's the original album version:



Blood, Sweat and Tears started off life inspired by a Delerium track featuring Zoë Johnson on vocals, which opens with the line, "from every side, the cold wind blows." For some reason, "No matter where the wind blows," which was the original title of this song, seemed a good idea.

It may not be the most meaningful song ever, but it's got a good chorus, and fits quite nicely on Transmission, so that's how we got to where we are today.

In early 2012, we started thinking about what the third single from the album might be, and decided that this might be a good choice. Unfortunately, the single version took a bit of time to get right, and so in the end Here Comes the Summertime came first, but we were pretty pleased with how this single version ended up.



The lyrics:

No matter where the wind blows
My steps will follow through the snow
No matter when the rain stops
I’ll always know where I should go

Through blood, sweat and tears
I feel I’ve outlived all my fears
My heart is fixed to yours forever
I hope it’s there another year

No matter when the wind blew
Those endless hours still seemed so cruel
No matter where the world turned
It always brought me back to you

Through blood, sweat and tears
I feel I’ve outlived all my fears
My heart is fixed to yours forever
I hope it’s there another year

With the wind in the north
Your eyes just shone towards me
And when it turned to the south
Your smile broke through the thunderclouds

Through blood, sweat and tears
I feel I’ve outlived all my fears
My heart is fixed to yours forever
I hope it’s there another year

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

In the studio...

... working on new tracks with our producer. Now we know why the Juno has ever fewer slider caps.

Blood, Sweat and Sleeve Notes

We’re British, and so of course we’re obsessed with the weather. Much of the soundtrack to these sleeve notes is a heady mix of thunder crashes and lightning, and all the time it’s tipping it down. Is it any surprise that we wrote a song based around the weather?

For this new version of Blood, Sweat and Tears, we took the original and shook out some of the darker elements to make more of a bouncy pop song which we hope you might enjoy. If the second track Centuries Later sounds a little miserable, that’s because it dates back to the era of our last album Dusk, which was an altogether more introspective period for us. Then Sappy came back and remixed the oldest track on the album Golden Wheel for us, giving it more of a continental edge. And finally we turned Better Days into a pseudo-orchestral nightmare which sounds nothing like the original, just to see what would happen, and threw that into the mix too.

So you probably can’t tell the difference, but what you’re listening to is a melting pot of over two different genres, developed over nearly a decade, and written and recorded in practically every corner of the world. Which, for a little four-track single, is a bit of a bargain. Please note that this release is best enjoyed using View-Master (TM) stereoscopic technology: simply insert the reel into the viewer and turn up the volume...

Blood, Sweat and Links

Hello!

Here are some places you can find our lovely new single Blood, Sweat and Tears:

• iTunes (worldwide)
• Bandcamp (full four-track version)
• Spotify (worldwide)
• Amazon: UK, USA, Japan, France, Italy, Spain
• YouTube (exclusive video)
• Soundcloud (stream track one)

This isn't the full list - you should be able to find it in a load of other places too, like Google Play, 7digital, Rdio and more.

At the time of writing, you can still also find our previous singles Better Days, I'll Give You Electro and Here Comes the Summertime from all of those places, as well as the album Transmission at Bandcamp.

Comings and goings

We have a new single! Finally!

The fourth "proper" single from the album Transmission is a completely new version of Blood, Sweat and Tears, almost entirely re-recorded and redesigned from the top. We've turned it into much more of a jaunty pop song for you, and are rather pleased with how it turned out.

You only get one b-side this time, a leftover from the Dusk era called Centuries Later, but on the plus side you get two completely new remixes of tracks from the current album Transmission. The full track listing is as follows:

1. Blood, Sweat and Tears (Single Version)
2. Centuries Later
3. Golden Wheel (Sappy's Spinning Mix)
4. Better Days (Phased Approach)

Here's the link to listen and buy at Bandcamp:

More details will follow over the next week or two.

Also, we're sorry to report that our earlier singles Better Days and I'll Give You Electro II will soon be coming offline from iTunes, Spotify, etc. We don't have exact dates (they seem to still be up at the time of writing) so head over to those sites now if you want to grab them. If you miss them, remember you can still find all our recent releases at Bandcamp.

Untouchable

Untouchable kicks off the second half of our most recent album Transmission:



This track hasn't really changed much since the very earliest demos back in around 2007. For a long time, I would swing between loving it and being very uncomfortable with it, and so I really wasn't sure whether it should be on the album or not. My main problem was that I felt it would benefit from a few more words, but they wouldn't fit. But it's a strong track, and I'm pleased it made it on in the end. I'm still rather fond of the rhyme in the chorus, of "unforgettable" with "regret, at all". It seemed rather silly at the time, but I'm glad we stuck with it.

The time’s come for that leap of faith
I’ve got to find a simple way
To spend all day, just you and me
Lost in places with the breeze

Should I try for freedom?
Or would that spoil what little I’ve got?

Untouchable, but unforgettable
I’ve never seen enough to regret, at all
Invisible, and irretrievable
A moment gone astray in another world

What’s it like for you to say
No to someone every day?
To play the field, religiously
Till you can smile, and then they see

Should I pray for freedom?
Or will you turn your back on me?

Untouchable, but unforgettable
We’ve never been enough to regret at all
Intangible, and unobtainable
Another lonely hour in my private hell

Should I hide my wisdom?
Or throw myself into the deep?

Untouchable, but unforgettable
I’ve never seen enough to regret, at all
Invisible, and irretrievable
A moment gone astray in another world

Untouchable, but unforgettable
We’ve never been enough to regret at all
Intangible, and unobtainable
Another lonely hour in my private hell

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

False Dawn

False Dawn is the sixth track on our most recent album Transmission:


Simon is mainly responsible for this song, which was inspired by a boss who would announce a new era every time something went wrong. The lyrics struck a chord with me when he sent them to me, as I was reading George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying, in which the protagonist slowly learns to reconcile his socialist values with his own emotional problems.

I also had a housemate at the time who would get up at 5am to go and join strikers out of "solidarity", and while many of her views seemed to make sense, her dogmatic sense of what was right and wrong was a fascinating source of inspiration for the song.



After the album came out, I decided to have a go at remixing it, for a version which would ultimately appear on our remix EP Remission. The aim was to find a sound similar to Recoil, although I'm not sure that was entirely successful. But I was quite pleased with the remix anyway.

Strange are the twists of fortune
That hold me here against my will
When you spoke of revolution
All you had were ragged ideals

Words of fine intent
Falling on deaf ears

Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn

We analyse the same surroundings
Our world views lying poles apart
You announce the coming of an era
Well you’re an optimist at heart

Words of good intent
Planting seeds of doubt

Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn

Worlds apart we stand
You’re never going to win

Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn

Till you learn there’s no defence
All you have, another false dawn
You’ve got to get here your own way
Then you’ll find another false dawn

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Better Days

After a break of three years, our 2011 comeback single was a track called Better Days.



One of the b-sides to the single from Dusk (Consequences, 2006) was a very sombre and introspective track called Echoes of Perfection. Around the time we released it, I was listening to one of the final mixes, and realised that although I loved it, it was a little dreary, and didn't really fit the way I felt any more. So Better Days is my response to that track - three years on, and I was much more well adjusted.

The lyrics spurred something in Simon, as well. Having just moved to Southampton, and taking inspiration from Röyksopp's Poor Leno and Depeche Mode's I Feel Loved, he turned it into a frantic, rhythmic dance track. We added some extra flanging onto the end of the album version just to make it all the more special.

Most of the drum sounds are sampled pots and pans being hit with a knife.

Well things were different then
I had no way of saying what I felt
But now I’ve reached another phase
I think this time I have found better days

Now I’ll be closer to perfection
I’ll tell you all my thoughts
I’ll give you my attention
I’ll scream until I’m hoarse

The skies are blue today
At last I feel that I am on my way
Life was grey, but through the haze
I hope this time I have found better days

Now I’ll be closer to perfection
I’ll tell you all my thoughts
I’ll give you my attention
I’ll scream until I’m hoarse

So times will always change
I know I’ll go through bitter times again
But for now, though it seems strange
Perhaps this time I have found better days

Now I’ll be closer to perfection
I’ll tell you all my thoughts
I’ll give you my attention
I’ll scream until I’m hoarse

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Walk with Me

The fourth track on Transmission is called Walk with Me.



This shouldn't take long, as neither of us seem to be able to remember much about writing it. When I first lived in Yorkshire, before even Dusk came out, I used to walk a lot, and I think it grew out of that. I think we came up with a few vaguely profound moments, such as the second verse: "Come with me down this long path / The one we walk down every day." The words in full:

Walk with me beneath the trees
Where the shadows play their secret game
I hear your voice on the light breeze
And see a shape running away

I’m silently fighting the militant crowds
Still passive but restless, another lost hour

Is there anywhere for me to hide?
Any place to stay alive?
We hunt for the strangers deep inside
Chasing rainbows in the night

Come with me down this long path
The one we walk down every day
One eye ahead, one in the past
It twists and turns in every way

I’m silently hiding in dissident fear
My energy fading, all hope disappears

Is there anywhere for me to hide?
Any place to stay alive?
We hunt for the strangers deep inside
Chasing rainbows in the night

I’m sheltered by demons who force me to wait
They hold back my passion, and drive me away

Is there anywhere for me to hide?
Any place to stay alive?
We hunt for the strangers deep inside
Chasing rainbows in the night

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Eyeballing

The third track on Transmission and the first track on our remix EP Remission was a song called Eyeballing.



I was sitting on a train back in 2004, reading an academic book about "eyeballing", which is a computing term. I thought the term would make an interesting starting point for a song, and wrote the whole thing in under half an hour.

The original demo, recorded in 2008, was very dark and industrial. The album version is still supposed to have the same simplistic, robotic, Kraftwerk-like quality, but is considerably easier on the ear than its earlier counterpart.



We were tentatively toying with the idea of releasing Eyeballing as the second or third single, when largely by accident we entered the world of remixes. It started with someone offering to do a dub version of Golden Wheel, which ultimately didn't work out, but while we were waiting for that, we also asked around, and came across Sappy. His version of Eyeballing took us both aback completely. It was utterly brilliant, and entirely unlike anything we would have ever thought of doing with it.

The lyrics go as follows:

Eye on the target
Food for the flame
You can taste it
The speed of a rocket
Mind on the game
You could fake it

You could fake it
And claim your place in my sights

We’re eyeballing until
The sights have gone astray
We're daydreaming again
Don’t turn your eyes away

Dive for submission
Swim for the shore
You can make it
Flesh on metal
You're back for more
You can take it

You can take it
In any way that you want

We’re eyeballing until
The sights have gone astray
We're daydreaming again
Don’t turn your eyes away

But I can tell
That you won’t blink first
You're in control
Your hunger is worse
We’re eyeballing until
The sights have gone astray
We're daydreaming again
Don’t turn your eyes away

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Golden Wheel

Second up on Transmission is Golden Wheel.



Whereas Almost was the newest track on the album, Golden Wheel is by far the oldest. At some point in early 2002, I was reading something in the National Geographic about something called the golden wheel spider, which prefers to spin away from its predators. Something about the feat of evolution or the general lack of songs about spiders made me think that it might make a good song.

Then a year or so later, I was visiting Simon at his home in Birmingham, and we just started to jam, with Simon playing chords on a guitar, and me adding synth noises over the top. I sequenced it, and we built the rest as we went along.

We never really took it very seriously as a song, so it missed out on a chance for release on both Empires (2003) and Dusk (2006), and it didn't even make the early selections for what would become Transmission. Somehow it just seemed to fit on this album, though. So, daft lyrics aside, it's a track of which I'm rather proud.

Walking along with my head held high
Nonchalant, I fight the reproof
And tread so steady with my load

It fuels the frenzy in my mind
So I wonder if it's that time now

Golden wheel, just spin away
And hide from me beneath the day
Take the moment from my hand
Just steal away beneath the sand

Wonder again why I feel the cold
Destiny brings another day
I stand unsheltered breathing fire

And search for something I can't find
But I wonder if it's that time now

Golden wheel, just spin away
And hide from me beneath the day
Take the moment from my hand
Just steal away beneath the sand

I see the wall, and change my stride
And I wonder if it's that time now

Golden wheel, just spin away
And hide from me beneath the day
Take the moment from my hand
Just steal away beneath the sand

(R. Martin / S. Martin)

Almost

The first track on Transmission is called Almost.



Completing Transmission was tricky to say the least. Most of it was written and recorded - in some form at least - by the end of 2007, but it then took another three years to finish it off. And one of the catalysts for finalising the album would very quickly become the opening track.

Almost, or Life of Almost, as it was initially called, was by far the youngest track on the album. Simon had invested in new recording equipment in 2010, and had learnt how to use it by composing this track. Quickly partnered with a simple lyric about loneliness, and it turned out to be one of our favourite songs on the album.

So much so, in fact, that we were both keen to consider it as a single. But what we hadn't bargained with was that so many people in the internet age only ever listen to the first track on an album. So, in its own way, it had its time as a single, and was pretty well received too.

The lyrics:

Almost was an only child
Who grew up all alone
He never walked the extra mile
In a world of his own

I've almost been
I've almost seen
Everything
I think you'll find
Most of the time
You're almost mine

Almost wore a lonely smile
And sat alone again
She never called, or came outside
Or so it seemed to him

I've almost been
I've almost seen
Everything
I think you'll find
Most of the time
You're almost mine

(R. Martin / S. Martin)