Storytellers

I'm obsessive about things. Everyone who knows me would attest to that without hesitation. When I embrace something, I tend to do it in a rather maniacal fashion, leaving no stone unturned until I've discovered every last fact or piece of work related to the object of my fixation.

Music is no different. When I fall for an artist, I go off on a mad expedition, looking for every recording, every performance, until I've breathed them so deeply I can then let go and repeat the process with another one. Sometimes, I obsess in clumps.  For the last few weeks, I've been on a triple kick of Ed Sheeran, Passenger, and Biffy Clyro: they take turns in the car, at school, at home, and even when I'm out with the dog. For some strange reason, Ed Sheeran's A+ is my go-to album when I take Whiskey for his longer walks, but the last three recordings of these musicians have been on constant replay on the classroom and home computer, and from the car's USB stick.

Just before we broke for spring break in the middle of March, we had our annual drumming workshop at school, and this year, my musical learning curve was the development of my instrumental ear, and it coincided with my obsession with Biffy Clyro's magnificent double-album, Opposites. More precisely, I began to perfect my ability to deconstruct songs and pick out the subtleties and layers of instruments and vocals that made them so rich. With this Biffy recording, it was like winning the musical lottery, because Opposites is a treasure of overlapping harmonies and quirky arrangements that are essential to the song but not always evident unless you pay close attention. There are interesting effects and counter-beats in unusual places (Trumpet or Tap), bagpipes where you don't expect them (The Stinging Belle), and a mariachi band that transforms 'Spanish Radio' into a wistful, haunting piece that I could listen to over and over just to hear the trumpet for a single lyrical overlap. Yes, for just one phrase in the whole song—the effect for me is that powerful. Have a listen and see if you can find the line of which I speak.

This past week, I've returned to my work in progress, Behind Blue Eyes: Empty Glass, and started a brutal edit. I love chopping superfluous words, and tightening my scenes, and the process for the first three novels included listening to a local deejay who has since moved from the evening slot on a classic rock station to a morning show on an alternative station. I need music to write with, and so I took advantage of Youtube to keep me company. Following my obsessive state, I tuned in to live performances of two of my current favourites. I found Ed Sheeran at the 2012 iTunes Festival (and then hunted down his last week's Teenager Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall), and Passenger at Pinkpop 2013, and off I went.

I managed a lot of editing. Two to three hundred words slaughtered mercilessly over three chapters that became two. I also dropped my jaw a few times watching Ed: he is 23, and plays in front of an audience like he has been doing it for decades. Confident but not arrogant, enthusiastic and yet relaxed, he is able to sway a crowd to rise up and to calm down. I was impressed that someone so young wrote most of his debut album material at 17 and 18, songs so lyrically mature, often tender, and poignant that I can identify with them despite the huge age gap between us. I was fascinated by his use of the loop pedals to create layered tracks to make his own band, and then to engage the spectators to become his back-up choir. I can already see that every live show uploaded to Youtube is going to be on my list this week as I continue to write.

Passenger is a gentler, more humble performer, a folksy singer without Ed's hip hop influences and with less natural confidence on the huge stages he has graced with his breakout success. He is endearing because he is nervous, but also possesses the same kindness that one senses from his ginger contemporary. The most riveting thing about Passenger is that his performance of 'Let Her Go' is never the same twice, which one could only know by having watched about a dozen of live renditions (that obsessive thing again). I'm excited to have found out from all my viewing these past few days that both of them have new releases coming soon. Meantime, here's a duet from these two ridiculously talented storytellers. The original recording is available on Youtube, as well as their most recent performance from last week at the Royal Albert Hall's TCT shows (yeah, the obsessive thing again). As Pete Townshend once said, the kids are alright.  Enjoy.