Diluted: Creating the Next Indie Pop Masterpiece

YorkeDaddy · 07-26-2013, 05:49 PM

Entry 6: Climax and Ending

As we reach the climax of the album, it's time to wrap up some themes and drill our point home with the next three tracks!

10. Modern Everything

At this point we have a triumphant protagonist, realizing his ultimate goal was achieved but still there is much to do. Just then, however, an ambiguous tragedy occurs under the metaphor of a massive storm, that throws the protagonist's morale completely off course.

This is a rather personal number that takes the form of a slow piano ballad that climaxes with the crushing, repeated lines: "Sometimes there's a new place waiting after our homes are gone/and sometimes I'm a visionary but right now I am not".

Quite uniquely, this song was recorded on an old piano that's slightly out of tune. The piano is also so old that the keys stick together slightly when playing, which can be heard on the actual recording of the track. Backed by some interesting, controlled mallet-focused drumming, the song sounds extremely unique and unlike anything else on the album.

An interesting fact about this song is that at the end, we are singing the exact same chorus from an earlier song on the album (Diluted), to very interesting effect. You'll all have to check that out when the album is released!

11. Don't Vanish

This song was a bit of a wildcard for the album. At one point it was going to be an entirely a cappella song in the same style has "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap, but the difficulty and potential over-the-top vibe that song may have given off forced me to take a different route.

It essentially came down to me experimenting alone with a piano and a guitar riff I had in my head at the time. A quick, pretty riff was crafted and I basically ad lib-ed some keyboard-generated strings and a melody and made quick work of this short transitional track. That's not to say it's wasted space on the album, however, as it is a very pretty to-the-point song. Continuing from the previous song where the protagonist is in a very depressed mental state, this song describes the various people in his life attempting to cheer him up and spur him on to continue on with his vision and mission: to rebuild civilization after overthrowing the Orwellian-esque government. The song seamlessly transitions into the next song, which serves as the album's epic.

12. We Will Rebuild This City

The longest song on the album, reaching slightly over seven and a half minutes, this serves as the conclusion to the immediate story.

There are several sections to the song, some written by me and some written by Schuyler. The song begins with a tame, simple acoustic guitar riff with some strong drumming and some hopeful lyrics. After this brief verse-like section we're met with the optimistic "chorus" or so, culminating in the statement that "Cause after all of this, you know, I'm still keeping my head up".

What follows are several more differing acoustic sections in an almost through-composed manner, as the song just keeps trucking along similar in style to Bohemian Rhapsody. The middle section, written by Schuyler, instead focuses on a beautiful piano riff and lyrics that describe the real take-home message of the album: while we may have emerged triumphant, we have to make sure we don't repeat history.

A smooth transition into the guitar riff that started off the song into another "chorus" of sorts drives home this epic. An extended silence at the end leads the listener to think the album is over, but that's not the case...

13. Give Her My Best

This song has quite a history. A few years ago I wrote this guitar riff, named the song, developed it's concept, and recorded myself playing it for Youtube. Fast forward to now and that same guitar riff and concept are now being used on this album. That video can be seen here:

The song serves as a very bittersweet ending to our protagonist's life, but is also hopeful for the future. It's quite a beautiful piece, and frankly this is all I will say about this song.

Look forward to next week as we will start to be actually releasing some songs!

Feed Your Ears · 08-02-2013, 08:29 PM

You're a great writer very interesting read, I loved seeing the song " Baby Blue" compared to the newer ones. I find the progression of skill so interesting to behold, it's motivation at its finest. To become better at something is a reflection of your character, it shows that you are not lazy because it takes effort to become truly skilled at anything. And it also shows that if you put in to work you will see the results. The only way to buy talent, is if you spend time. Cheers.

YorkeDaddy · 08-04-2013, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feed Your Ears

You're a great writer very interesting read, I loved seeing the song " Baby Blue" compared to the newer ones. I find the progression of skill so interesting to behold, it's motivation at its finest. To become better at something is a reflection of your character, it shows that you are not lazy because it takes effort to become truly skilled at anything. And it also shows that if you put in to work you will see the results. The only way to buy talent, is if you spend time. Cheers.

Hey thanks for the kind words man! I'm really glad you enjoyed reading about us!

In other news, the album cover has been completed. A bunch of my friends and I headed to a cemetery with some drama masks and came out with a really surreal picture, and I think it's pretty awesome:

YorkeDaddy · 08-05-2013, 12:52 PM

Alright, it's about time we started releasing some songs.

Track 1: The Fire This Time

https://soundcloud.com/cloudcoveroff...is-time-single

Anteater · 08-06-2013, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YorkeDaddy

Alright, it's about time we started releasing some songs.

Track 1: The Fire This Time

https://soundcloud.com/cloudcoveroff...is-time-single

*whistle*. Count me impressed with this cut. Love the vocoder! The album cover is quite inspired too if you don't mind me saying so.

YorkeDaddy · 08-06-2013, 11:25 AM

TWO singles today!

We're getting close to release time!

Track 4: Independence Day
https://soundcloud.com/cloudcoveroff...nce-day-single

Track 5: Diluted
https://soundcloud.com/cloudcoveroff...diluted-single

YorkeDaddy · 08-07-2013, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

*whistle*. Count me impressed with this cut. Love the vocoder! The album cover is quite inspired too if you don't mind me saying so.

glad you liked it! Hopefully you enjoy the rest of the album just as much!

YorkeDaddy · 08-08-2013, 09:18 PM

Another new single guys! This one might be my favorite song on the album.

Track 8: Small Stones
https://soundcloud.com/cloudcoveroff...-stones-single

YorkeDaddy · 08-12-2013, 01:16 PM

Everything's ready to go! Just a few more days before we let this go public!

YorkeDaddy · 08-14-2013, 10:04 PM

THE ALBUM HAS BEEN RELEASED

An amazing amount of time and effort has been put into this album all summer, and I am extremely proud of the finished product. Any thoughts or reviews, good or bad, are entirely welcomed and extremely appreciated by Schuyler and I. I hope everyone that gives it a listen enjoys it.

The download is completely free for a week at the very least, so all I'm asking for is 53 minutes of your time. Thank you all for sticking with us this summer! Enjoy!

Link: Frownland | cloudcover

08-02-2013, 08:29 PM	#12 (permalink)
Feed Your Ears Groupie Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 1	You're a great writer very interesting read, I loved seeing the song " Baby Blue" compared to the newer ones. I find the progression of skill so interesting to behold, it's motivation at its finest. To become better at something is a reflection of your character, it shows that you are not lazy because it takes effort to become truly skilled at anything. And it also shows that if you put in to work you will see the results. The only way to buy talent, is if you spend time. Cheers.