The title “Everything Faster” says it all.  We have become addicted to speed.  The cost is real, meaningful connections with others.  It is great to send one-liners constantly to all your friends at once on social media, so everything is captured in real time, but we are losing the need to see people and catch up with them.  And we definitely do not want to be in a position where we cannot double or triple task.  But is it really better to poorly do two things at once than to do one thing at a time, but well?

Definitely hard core electronica, and not much else for this one.  Of course, I still needed the Slowmatch touch, and there are some guitars, but not much at all here.  Now, I still needed a good chorus… Frankly, I could also see this song played by a traditional rock band with just drums, bass and guitars.  This could be a punk song.  But my idea was to have people dance to this. The topic is, in my opinion, the tragedy (or one of the tragedies) of our times.  So, let’s dance to it!

As for most songs on Inwardly, the lyrics for “Illusions” came first.  It is a topic that fascinates me, how when you have the most satisfying body-and-mind experience, you may start  to question if it is “real”, and you may start to fear losing it.  I think the arrangements fit the subject matter.  You have several sounds that don’t even remotely evoke real music instruments and other pitched or distorted noises, which are meant to convey this “unreal” and almost incomprehensible moment of ecstasy the character is in, but then you have guitars (of course) and even strings that convey the humanity of the moment, and even how the character is at peace with the situation, however long it will last.

“Illusions” is about sex and power, and how you totally disconnect with reality, and you wonder what the heck is REALLY happening to you, when someone masterfully takes control of your sex life and takes to a place you have never been before…  When it is that good, you kinda become a slave to it, and you feel like you depend on that person to stay whole.  You don’t know if she will give you pleasure or pain or both at the same time, you don’t know if it is real (and permanent), or just something that will go away the same way it came…  Unexpectedly and without a true explanation.  Is it just illusions?  deception?  Manipulation?  None of the above?

Like I said before, to me, “Illusions” really is Slowmatch how I see it in my head.  Electronica is everywhere, but the guitars give a boost that I can’t get with synths. In my head, as a composer, I have come to see synths as the tool to convey modern dehumanization and the loneliness to come with it, and guitars as the more organic or natural element.  Given what this song is about, I like how the two aspects interact…  (see next week’s post)

Based on the meaning, I had to create something that musically was simple, but increasingly heavy, and maybe even annoying…  Like a wall.  It is there.  It is in your face.  And there isn’t much to see.  The few words I utter at the end are a bit tongue-in-cheek.  But at the same time, how many times do we actually end up saying these words in a lifetime?

“Falter” is to be taken with a bit of humor…  Only one chord?!?!?  Yes.  Only a few words at the end?!?!?  Yes.  “Oh no, not this again”?!?!?!?  Yes.   Whatever “this” is…  There are things in life that irritate us, that never change, and that don’t seem to go away.  That is what this song is about.

Not sure about musical influences, they probably are the same as usual. “Falter” was written as the intro to the album.  That was its purpose.  Here is one funny thing that influenced this.  When I listen to hard core electronica, some bands have a way to stay on the same chord for a REALLY long time.  That can irritate me at times, to be honest.  But in this case, I decided to use that (which is why I couldn’t go much past a minute and a half!).  This piece (I wouldn’t call it a song) was to be felt like a wall.  Like there is nowhere to go.

Now that is a good question. Maybe independently, but maybe with help.  We are working on that, both in the US and in Europe.  More to come on this…

“Illusions” was an easy choice for the reason previously mentioned.  But also because it seems like the chorus sticks in people’s brain for whatever reason.  To me, this song really captures what I visualize when I think Slowmatch.  So, I had to put it out there

Then, all I wanted this EP to be was a very short preview of what was next.  No need for 5 songs or more.  The two other songs were meant to show that there is variety in tempos, as the moods I am trying to describe really do not all call for speed.  “Without  A Word” is one of the slow ones on the album.  It was meant to show how heavy it gets at times on that record.  I think the chorus is in your face.  And that is what I wanted when I wrote that thing.
Finally, I picked “Beauty And Destruction” as the third one because it is more of a straight rocker, but the verses are a bit trippy, so it is maybe a somewhat unusual mix of rock and something else.  There were other songs I could have picked that fit that profile.  But the pace of this one was right, I felt.