Let's update this. I've been trying to Write lately, and making some progress - which is good because I have a lot of stuff that is half-written. And if you have listened to OK Glass music, you may have noticed that a lot of the songs are about writing songs. So maybe it'll be good to dump the brain cache in something like this, instead of putting these thoughts in the songs.
There's like two or three songs that I know will be on this album, because they fit so well stylistically, but they have giant blank spaces. One of them doesn't even have a title or a direction in mind, I do not know what this song is about at all and the music is almost entirely written, the arrangement is quite elaborate. I may have said this before here - I worry a little about how pointed and well-thought some of the other songs are making these other songs' lyrics feel rushed or halfhearted.
There's one song that I am extremely excited about that I haven't found verses to yet, either lyrically or musically, I have written like four different pieces of music and none of them are fitting. The rest of the song gets better with every attempt, tiny things seep into the chorus & bridge sections, I am sure it will get there eventually, but it's taking a while.
I will need to finish that song before I start the next song, which I realized quite early on will be sampling that song. It feels a little bit like a puzzle. It is both good and bad that I am not able to start that song, because I am definitely not ready to work on it - I've been putting it off for 5 years. That day will come eventually.
I keep describing this album as electronic and dancey, and that is indeed true, but I feel like there's a lot of rhythm guitars (or ukuleles or mandolins or whatnot) and I've been putting a lot of thought into my chord voicings, like I'm trying to get tight sections that hold up upon repetition. Usually I just sort of play whatever. I suppose I should do that with the bass too - that's how you make Groove-Based Music, i feel like - but I do enjoy just sort of playing through on bass. Bass is fun.
Thinking about drum machines. Trying to find ways to blend real and fake drums, whether innovative ways or just musical ways. I guess "Christmas Car Bomb" was predicated on that. I'm stuck in between my old way of working (lay out the whole song in a sequencer, like FL Studio or something) and my new way of working (sit down in front of a mic and play a guitar or keyboard or drum kit and then add stuff), and I suppose it's good to not be stuck in one mindset, but half the time I find myself completely switching to the other method. Maybe this is sort of necessary for really getting "inside" the song - viewing it from all angles so I can find the ones that work best.
Music is hard, and easy, and fun, and frustrating. Also i keep drinking too much coffee and it ruins my day, and my night, and my body, and my mind.