[MonnoDB]

Hello there!

Here's a new one from myself and the super-fabby @Jambrains - this has jumped another one we were working on in the way that these things happen.. As always, we're interested in any comments you have on any aspect - song, mix, performance etc. Don't be shy with suggestions / comments please.

Here's what was Barter and now is Sand or Mortar

K


We’re not promised tomorrow
We need to live our lives right
I won’t barter or borrow
Our future for tonight

Never know what ahead of us
What lurks around the corner
Never know if our future
Is built on sand or mortar
I’m not wasting time, playing games
I won’t create a past, filled with shame

We’re not promised tomorrow
We need to live our lives right
I won’t barter or borrow
Our future for tonight

I don’t try to pretend
That I’m the greater person
I don’t judge, I don’t defend
I’m not better, I’m not worse
I don’t look at you like you failed
I’m not looking for souls to save

We’re not promised tomorrow
We need to live our lives right
I won’t barter or borrow
Our future for tonight

I won’t be paralysed
I have a goal and I’ll pursue it
And I am under no illusion
That I know best what to do
But I’ll proceed with a knowing air
No one knows what I choose not to share

Take your place, by my side
Don’t be scared, we’ll be fine
Don’t look left, don’t look right
Lock our dream in your sights

We’re not promised tomorrow
We need to live our lives right
I won’t barter or borrow
Our future for tonight

[CorkingCrackBand]

 Ah, the ever-wonderful @MonnoDB 

  I love your collaborations and this is no exception. Those Bright guitars with the bass and drums, working in unison, provide an extremely tight arrangement that nonetheless is extraordinarily airy and light: It gives the piano and vocal room to play. I found the mix to be extremely good – I’m listening on my phone by the way, just for context  . I enjoyed the whole song and your vocal was great while the lyrics are well crafted and suit the music very well.
  The song builds very effectively which I always find your work does – you are very talented songwriter.

Seeing as you are after suggestions, This one is less critique and more a plain suggestion if you wanted something different: The chorus in the middle might be elevated by a more choral/Layered sound which could give it a bit more punch if that was a sound you would like to achieve. I know you like folk harmonies and something nicely layered like that could really do something. Just a thought.

All the best,

CCB

[CaliaMoko]

This is wonderful. I always love your voice. You have great enunciation. I especially noticed how you say the combination "at you" so crisp and cleanly! I think the build is great and how it backs off to wind it up. There are a lot of near rhymes in the verses that are clever, in my opinion, and which suit the unstable theme of the story. I don't have any recommendations.

[rightly]

Hi
This is a strong one from yous
You're both very good at what you do.
Jambrains is very articulate, he can pull back and/or deliver with seeming ease.
And you have this disarming accent in your voice,
Strange, I don't speak to any Irish people regularly
 but your voice sounds familiar and grabs my attention.
As if we've already been talking for hours. 😆

I'm always very slow with making suggestions. ..
Maybe do more with it, (your voice,) bvs and harmonising.
I sometimes think I should try that, but I hesitate because
I'm likely to make every possible mistake
 before having anything to show for my efforts
For me it'd be a lot of trial and error.
I think you'd skip along more intuitively.

Ashes for dreams ...
How many albums do you have?
A "best of" compilation would be stunning.
I wonder if you n jambrains think in terms of albums
 collections of songs that compliment each other, fit well together?

All the best to yuzz!!

[MonnoDB]

Hey @CorkingCrackBand - thanks so much - too kind as always, sir! Lovely comments and I gotta agree with you on the talented Mr JB. Interested suggestion on the layering of that chorus... Hmmmm will have a look at that. Thank you for the suggestion.

Hey @CaliaMoko - I love the way you listen to and dissect lyrics. It's funny you've picked out that phrase cos I was very conscious of the phrasing of it, as I was with the matching line in the previous verse.. You have a great ear. Thanks so much for the lovely words and the listen!

@rightly - hey how's it going? Thanks that's very kind.. Yes JB's a natural for sure, soooo talented - he amazes me on every single song.. That's funny about the accent - my accent would actually be considered quite neutral over here (and we have LOTs of variations, some very strong) but I definitely sound very Irish when I sing... I think maybe it's super evident as so many people mask their accents when they sing.. Thanks for the suggestion re more harms - we can look at that. I do enjoy harmonising (not so much sending them haha - I always freak out!).

We have one album (as in released as an album) - it was a few years ago now and we never released another EP / album but just keep releasing songs.. We've done over 30 songs (I think this might be no 34 or something like that)... We've released quite a few on the streamers but we've probably around 10 or 12 that we haven't released. It's all a little crazy tbh. Interesting question!!

Thanks again all.. Lovely to get comments and suggestions!

K

[PaulAds]

I love how you pretty much jump straight in with the (beautiful) vocals without the usual drawn-out pre-amble.

Great lyrics. Your voice and piano are perfect. The line "We need to live our lives right" is such a powerful observation. My Mam and Dad were such wonderfully kind and well-behaved people...I think I might well have turned out to be a bit of a bastard, had it not been for the lovely example they set me. I'm not much into religion or karma, but I really hope and believe that the cretins of this world will ultimately get the leathering they deserve, although it isn't my place to do it, or even to help make it happen.

This benefits massively from listening with headphones on...JB's production seemed to lose so much as the first couple times I listened in the works van and missed out on such a lot. I didn't hear the slide guitar earlier on first time around, which made me think of someone arriving late to the recording and being determined to still be part of it and frantically setting up his gear just in time for the playout...and then I realised I was mistaken, once I'd had a closer listen.

I played bass in a club band many years ago with a guitar player who'd stand there with his thumb up his arse until the guitar solo, at which point he'd burst into life and play fabulously for 30 seconds, and then nod off again, barring the odd (admittedly tasteful) noodle. At the time, I thought he was a clown, as I always want to play the shit out of a song all the way through...but, as the years have gone by, I have mellowed to such an extent as to begin to realise the error of my ways.

You both have a great way of using dynamics in your music.

I also love how it just hangs at the end (although it cut-off slightly prematurely, I think? )

It's hard to imagine that you two come from different countries and such different musical backgrounds...because you are a perfect together.

[Paul V]

The timbre of the piano is marvellous.  An excellent vocal and production follow.  So many lovely musical additions follow, engage and hold the attention of the listener.  In fact, it's a fantastic production.

There are so many poignant messages in the music that I have heard today:

"We’re not promised tomorrow
We need to live our lives right"

Beautiful.

Paul

[MonnoDB]

Thank you Pauls !

@PaulAds - those are some lovely comments. And yes, I agree completely about the ear candy, I'm particularly in awe of the drums on it actually. I know it's a little mad that we can work like this but as I've said many times, it's a LOT of fun! Thanks again - really appreciate that.

@Paul V thanks so much - I do agree that JB's excelled himself on this one, throughout the process it was a joy to listen to it develop.... Really delighted to read that you enjoyed it. Much appreciated.

K

[moraamarolaloba]

Hola preciosa!!! Qué preciosa canción!!! I think it is one of your best songs, really charming, moving, so well sang and arranged as well as the mix. Very good work!!! @MonnoDB  @Jambrains

[kevysc]

@MonnoDB  Really love everything about this. Your voice sounds fantastic and the production is superb. I love the variation in dynamics and melody throughout. Great lyrics that capture the emotion perfectly. Top notch, well done Kevin

[Maya Clars]

@MonnoDB

Stunning emotional outbursts throughout the entire melody!
Bright dynamics in the middle part of the song, sadness at the end. Very beautiful!

Maya

[MonnoDB]

@moraamarolaloba, @kevysc and @Maya Clars thank you so much each of you for your lovely comments. They are much appreciated. 😍

K

[Elvis Nash]

Very cool piano tune , Stripped down to basics
Enjoyed the listen  !!

[MichaelA]

Great to hear something from you again Karen. The single minded message from the narrator sits perfectly on this track that is certainly not over-embellished but captures a mood so well. The sparse harmonies are also cleverly done to support the dynamic of the whole thing.

Very lovely melody and well sung too. It’s great to see somebody putting so much thought into the lyrics too.

Such a treat all of this. But seeing you and JB have nearly been together as long as Fleetwood Mac I suppose you were bound to be excellent by now! 😁

Mind, still as fresh sounding as ever! 👍