If you’ve been following my bulletins these last few weeks, this will come as no surprise: the new Sidetrack Walker single “Deprivation” launches today! You can have a listen right now on your favourite streaming service or, better still, buy it on Bandcamp. As previously announced, Bandcamp customers will receive an exclusive bonus track that should be a real treat for fans of my work. So without further ado, let’s delve into the details I’ve been promising!
The bonus track is the very first sketch of “The Host”, recorded on my phone in June 2018 when I came up with the basic idea for the song. Sharing this with you is a daring experiment well outside my comfort zone, which leaves me feeling somewhat ‘naked’. After all, this recording was made under subpar conditions and never meant to be released. Rather, it was intended as a rough-and-ready memory aid so the ideas wouldn’t slip away. The lyrics, too, are an unpolished version that differs from the final one in several places.
All this notwithstanding, I found myself returning to this sketch again and again for its raw authenticity. Led only by acoustic guitar and vocals, its stripped-down, spontaneous character brings out an entirely different side of the song. At the same time, it offers unique insights into my workflow, drawing back the curtain of my often obsessive perfectionism to reveal the bare-bones inspiration that starts off most of my pieces. I gave the recording a mild mastering treatment, but left its imperfections untouched.
If you are new to Sidetrack Walker and haven’t heard “The Host” yet, check it out on my previous album “The Art of Starvation”, also available from Bandcamp, for a direct comparison!
Well, friends, this wraps up my bulletin series. I hope you enjoyed reading these insights as much as I did sharing them. Thank you for coming along for the ride! Time to celebrate and enjoy “Deprivation”!