Return of that Joe Guy

So we've picked the 10 tunes we're going to attack for the new Paper Arrows record... which I'm calling "In the Morning." Very tentatively.

Jay and I got together last night to do some pre-production and tweak some of the arrangements, but the songs are about 95% there. I've made a conscious effort to avoid playing these tunes a lot on my own, so this session was a little like discovering someone else's work... which is a nice if not peculiar feeling.

I'm super-proud of the material already and excited about taking a slightly different approach to the recording sessions... we're going to (gulp) rehearse and then do a lot of the tracking in more of a live band setting, hoping to knock out the bulk of the tracking in two two day sessions in the big room at I.V. Labs... then do some overdubs if necessary and make the mixing process a little less burdensome and more geared towards a live sound... If the pre-production is any indication, we're on the right track.

I'm ready to buckle down, make the minor revisions we discussed last night, re-demo all the songs in final form, and get them to Drew and Darren with a eye towards booking sessions at the middle/end of the summer.

It's a little self-evident to say that the third album will complete a trilogy, but on top of the simple numerical descriptor, this new record feels like it will close the loop on the thematic arc that began with Look Alive and was furthered with Things We Would Rather Lose... that classic narrative of introduction/conflict/resolution.

If only the title of the first record started with an S, the second with an M, and the third with a P, well... that would be uber-nerdy.

I've got a large scale conceptual writing project in incubation right now, which I'll start on in earnest once I wrap up the loose ends of this record... but it's a little different in scope and approach... it seems like a logical step forward (or at least some away from) the material on LA, TWWRL, and this third record while still being a suitable follow-up but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

Better to focus on the task at hand, the third record, or my "Return of the Jedi" Just without Ewoks. 

Maybe.

jbg