So I’ve officially began working on my next album, which is very exciting and exactly what I needed to do as an artiste. I’ve been working on getting my ‘act’ together these last couple of months and by that I mean getting all my songs arranged and tied down for gigging this year. It’s been such a long time since I’ve performed ‘live’ and I am chomping at the bit to start getting out there. However, I needed a new song, something to end the show with and that’s why I’ve begun this simultaneous journey down the road of making my third album, alongside performing and promoting ‘in Fusion’.
I chose ‘Play With Me’ to start with because it just suddenly came to me while I was rehearsing last week. I was getting tired and started messing about and this song from my past just kind of flowed out of me. It’s a song that’s been in my repertoire for over a decade, I wrote the bass line for this song first, which is unusual for me but not out of character as I am rather obsessed with the bass - there’s a rather frustrated bassist inside me and she does need an outing now and then!
I’ve decided to blog about the process of making an album this time because I believe it will be a valuable tool for other artistes in my position as well as give you the fans and listeners an insight into how it all comes together. I think sometimes we forget how much time, energy, work, love and dedication goes into a project like this and I just wanted to share this process and journey with you all. I also want to make a special note of the fact that I have disabled feedback and comments as (not to put too fine a point on it) other people’s opinions can really have an effect on the creative process. It’s vital to me that my music is authentically mine and therefore it must flow out of me with ease and positive energy. Therefore, while I welcome & cherish your positive energy and encouragement I hope you will understand my decision.
So, on to the music! Well, ‘Play With Me’ is a song about people who hide their true personalities behind a mask; be it money, power, even looks - anything that stops them being honest about who they are. This ‘deceit’ is really more about people protecting themselves from being hurt; quite often they are actually very emotionally vulnerable. I’m really blessed to have been able to see right through to people’s true selves from a pretty young age. We all at some point or rather put on a mask but the key is to know who you truly are underneath the façade.
In my romantic life I have very seldom been attracted to ‘men with masks’ but this song captures that rare occasion when I saw the person inside and made an exception. However if he was to ‘Play with Me’ then it would have to be on ‘real’ terms. I think romance is so much more rewarding and exhilarating when people open up their hearts; obviously the chance of getting hurt is greater that way but so are the rewards, you just end up feeling everything so much more deeply. I do remember that love affair being vibrant and rich because of it; he was a totally different person from whom people knew him to be and during the time we were together it was so real & delicious.
So, next blog, I’ll tell you about how this song comes together from a music point of view. How I write, arrange and record it in Logic Pro at my home studio. I hope to be able to post little snippets of the music and talk about these aspects in more detail.
Until then, I hope you will sign up to the blog and be a part of my 3rd album’s journey. In the meantime I leave you with my favourite line in the whole song, taken from the 2nd verse:
Surprise! I’ve seen your glitchtaken from ‘Play With Me’, Prema, 2011
That flicker in your eye is your tell when you scratch your itch
Salacious! LOL!
