This special edition with only 2.000 copies was sent out in the last week of April. Never had a Mostly
Autumn fan waited so long before the next cd was finished, "Passengers" was from May 2003! In the meantime
the band did some gigging around and made some DVD's, so the fans had things enough to explore.
Heather says about the time span "... we haven't been able to release the energie that we
normally do by recording an album yearly, so ... you know ... that have build up now for a couple of years. And
I think you feel that search on the new album definitely...".
The cover have some likeness with the previous, darker colours, not a wood but only one tree at the skyline.
One tree in a heavy Storm; an omen for the songs?
Wonderful pictures in the booklet made by Chris Walkden, Andy Dansfield and the Ian "The Judge" Naylor.
Bob Carruthers wrote the liner notes, 15 pages. A long review of the bands history and he gives a good description
how the band
has evolved and finally gave birth to "Mostly Autumn Records" and their new album "Storms Over Still Water".
A nice look inside the band.
The whole albums clocks just 55:04, not so long, but long enough to build up a tension and brings you to
higher places. Andrew Jennings said about the album:
"It sounds very similar as live I think and I think that’s a good thing.". And yes he's in the right the album has
an almost live sound, but also very clear. You can easily discern the various instruments and sounds.
"It’s a little dark, and that is obvious fun by me.", Angela added. And Iain said:
"The albums have grown... this one got... gothic almost... very dark sound..."
.
Heather: ...definetely it's gonna be new in every sense.. it's definetely it marks a turning point for the
band, new engineer, new studio, new drummer. It's feels like a new era...
Different surroundings, different set of ears, different players, I think that is the hugh contribution to the overall
sound.".
And now: "Let's Rock!":
1. Out of the Green Sky
3:40 Music; Bryan, Words; Bryan & Heather, Lead-Vocals; Bryan & Heather.
Every new album, (except the “Lord Of The Rings“ album) started with the end tune of the previous album.
And they did it again… the original "Passengers" cd ended with "Pass The Clock" fading out, and exactly that
fade out is the fade in of "Out Of The Green Sky". Then Liam's slide
kicks in, powerful! The songs rocks like hell already when Bryans dark voice reaches your ears: "Out of the green sky,
yellow flowers.." And imagines of woods,
hills and a lake come into your mind.
Then Heather
jumps in with the chorus and your thoughts will be; “I’ve never heard something like this before, beautiful voice,
what a energitic power, great!”. Heather voice has grown over the past years. I remember my first gig, all a bit shy,
Heather, modest, a relaxed pretty voice, and now; a rock diva, she dares to scream!
Live she was already more expressive
then on the studios album, more self confidence, more charisma, quick-witted, but what she does on this album
is even more astonishing.
NG: Hi Heather,
Thank you very much for taking the time to do this chat.
HF: You’re very welcome Nick,
great to have the opportunity. Thank you for your support!
2. Broken Glass
3:44 Music; Bryan & Iain, Words; Bryan, Lead-Vocals; Bryan.
And yes it is again a dark rocker, Bryans voice sounds better, Iain lays down some nice keyboard and piano playing,
the drums are quite forward maybe a bit mono tome but it works well for this catchy song.
A bit Gothic too, with a wink to the "mainstream" Within Temptation songs.
NG:The first three songs and "Black Rain" are heavier, a bit Gothic like previous up tempo
songs like "Never the Rainbow", "Caught in a Fold" and "Something in between", is that a change of direction?
HF:
No I don’t think so. It certainly wasn’t a conscious decision to take things
in this heavier direction. The writing process for us is generally a very
natural one. Things are often quite organic and certainly unforced. The gap
between completing Passengers and beginning Storms Over Still Water was quite
a long one for MA. I think that maybe this surge of energy being released is
what can be felt on some of the more up-tempo album tracks.
NG:
Is it a goal to make a hit-single?
HF:
A hit single is never a bad thing for any band! The kind of exposure and
acclaim that hit gathers is only ever going to be helpful. For us it would be
a major way of reaching more people and that is indeed part of our goal.
NG:
What will be the new single? And when will be released.
HF:
HF: There are no solid plans for a single yet, but if and when it happens it
is likely to be one of the following 3 ~ Broken Glass: Ghost in Dreamland;
or Black Rain.
3. Ghost in Dreamland
3:12 Music; Iain, Words; Bryan, Lead-Vocals; Heather.
Ians playing carries this up tempo rock song, Andy’s is lying down some nice bass-lines.
Heather voice is again a pleasure for you ears and your heart, and indeed a live sound recorded in a studio...
After three rockers I would like to hear some more proggy music;
4. Heart Life
5:50 Music; Heather, Words; Heather & Bryan, Lead-Vocals; Heather.
Was already played live and gained with a great applause. A song about relationships; a girl dreaming
about the Lake District and her love? The song has even grown in the past months, so
this will be a new highlight of Mostly Autumns repertoire. It starts slowly with an acoustic guitar and flute,
with a few uptempo turning points and great Joshy style guitar solo. And what a sound quality,
applause for the boys and girls behind the desk! [ One of them is Ewan Davies, the engineer, who worked with
Barbara Dickson (Troy Donockley plays also with her), Anymos, Jah Wobble, Anja Garbarek, Robert Wyatt to
mention a few, an other one is Ben Matthew know of the band Thunder. ]
And finally a song that reaches almost 6 minutes.
NG:
Where did your inspiration came from to write this one?
HF:
In my old house which I miss very much owing to it’s panoramic sky scapes and Velux windows; I used to watch the sunsets, moonrises and stars.
One evening I was sitting on the workbench in my kitchen with my guitar and a glass of red wine watching one particular sunset in July 2004. I was contemplating relationships; my own; my brothers. Out came Heart Life.
NG:
Can you explain your songwriting process, do you sit down at your own, you prefer jamming, is it bubbling in
your mind when you're busy with cooking or painting?
HF:
All of the above! Most of the time a songs just arrive. Especially when you’re
not expecting it. That’s why my dictaphone is one of my best friends! Creative
things like cooking and painting operate the same side of your brain as the
songs do as they are channeled through so, yes songs often accompany the stove
and canvas.
5. The End of the World
4:40 Music; Bryan & Iain, Words; Bryan & Heather, Lead-Vocals;
Heather & Bryan.
Nice narrative story in a way Peter Gabriel told stories in the early Genesis songs like "The Cinema Show".
But then Bryan kicks in and there is that Amargaddon that destroys the peaceful story Heather sings about.
Nice turning point.
The likeness with Genesis is also there because of the subtile keyboard playing of Iain.
NG:
How is the atmosphere in the studio?
HF:
This time the studio atmosphere managed to swing from smooth to chaotic and tense, to very chilled and very smooth again in the space of a month!
Illness and personality played a huge part in those atmospheric changes.
I have come to believe that January is not the best month to record an album. Everyone is still recovering form the hype of the Christmas build up and the event itself, which can be a very stressful time. This brings with it tiredness and provokes a generally low ebb, which bugs absolutely thrive upon! We all caught the flu and then our engineer Ewan Davies was taken ill a second time so we had to find someone else fast!
The studio owner managed to find us another engineer who happened to be none other than Thunder’s Ben Matthews. There couldn’t have been a better man for the job. Ben sailed in, chilled everyone out and excelled in completing the recording and mixing with us.
NG:
How did you end up in Chapel Studios?
HF:
I think a number of people recommended Chapel to us including Pip Williams and Troy Donockley.
The way in which CRP pre-sold Storms Over Still Water to our wonderfully supportive fans allowed us to raise the financial bar somewhat.
Recording at chapel elevated the whole production side of these recordings.
We used ProTools for the first time, which was a very successful learning
curve. The drum/live room is one of the best in this country. The hand picked
range of vintage mics, amps and other various boxes of tricks Chapel have to
offer are, outside of Abbey Road, unsurpassed. Not to mention the beautiful
grand piano and did I mention ‘Munch’ the resident Chef? I think we might just go back there…
NG:
How important is the engineer?
HF:
The right engineer is about as important as your right hand!
NG:
How do you work in the studio, is it you Iain & Bryan who are doing the Producers job?
HF: Bryan produces the whole thing. Iain and I interject as kind of wingmen. I am often
more forthright than Iain however.
NG:
Do you often argue?
HF:
Bryan and I argue all the time. In the same way that parents argue. It’s relentless and constant, but forgotten in an instant. It’s just the way we communicate. We are both particularly strong-minded.
NG:
Is it difficult to persuade Bryan, does he bend to your charms, or technical know-how, or are you using both?
HF:
Bryan and I are very similar. (That’s probably why we argue!) Bryan usually welcomes my ideas and a lot of the time he is
thinking the same thing. I only take some things so far though. If I can see that he really doesn’t agree then I give in. On the other hand if I am persistent about something that I really want to achieve then I think that he tends to decide it must be a good idea. My charms no longer work n Bryan. He see’s them a mile off!
6. Black Rain
3:53 Music; Heather, Words; Bryan & Heather, Lead-Vocals; Heather & Bryan.
A live recording?
Apperently written during a storm at the pre-recording of the album. And a repeating of the spirit of the
early three dark rock
songs. This one is my favorite, superb sung and nice tempo changes. And a wink to
Uriah Heep, Ram Jam, Deep Purple, Led Zeplin and Status Quo. Good riff for jamming around and Bryan doing a fine
rock solo.
NG:
Hope this live version is recorded and will make an album one day. Are there plans to come up with a live (double) album?
HF:
Well, we just played a set in excess of 2.5 hours at the London Astoria and recorded the show for a live album, so…
NG:
What are your musical influences?
HF: Endless! There are so many to list. I love Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, Kate
Bush, Robert Plant and Led Zep, Tom Petty, Floyd, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Neil young… I love melody;
groove; intelligent, heartfelt lyrics and variety.
NG:
Which albums you bought or got the last few months?
HF: Yogi Lang sent me the new RPWL album. I love that. Such a summery album.
I bought KT Tunstall’s album~She has an amazing voice;
Claire Hammill’s album ‘The Lost and the Lovers’; I saw
her live and just had to buy one of her albums. What a woman?!
Robert Plants single ‘Shine it All Around’ (must buy the album) Angie and I went to see Tori Amos last month. She was
incredible. Angie has lent me her new album, which I have heard once or twice. I need to sit down and savour it yet…
I like it so far though.
Matt Cohen Gave me Magenta’s live album too which I just haven’t had chance to listen to yet. Got some traveling coming up soon though so that’s the best time…
NG:Please let me know if you like that, it's a hell of a live album!
7. Coming to..
2:52 Music; Iain.
An instrumental building up some tension and it seems to become a new "Distant Train" but then an abrupt
end... To my humble opinion this song had become easily stretched out with some various themes,
12 string guitars, bass, Ullian Pipes, flute, percussion and variations of and experiments with foreign sounds.
Nice song but again to short, it build a bridge between the
previous rockers and the upcoming songs:
8. Candle to the Sky
8:19 Music; Bryan, Words; Bryan, Lead-Vocals; Bryan.
A song about the lost of Bryans father who past away ten years ago. A real Mostly Autumn epic, about live,
about feelings, with emotions.
Slow start of Bryan and his guitar,
Heather and Angela's voices coming in, a small change of tempo, the whole band kicking in, great guitar solo.
The lines in the booklet are incomplete, Bryan sings "10 years now, we're still talking".
A sing along "hoelalala" verse, which brings my thoughts to the intro of "Nowhere to Hide" where we can hear
Rob Josh sing along, and the circle is round again.
The song gets more creepy, ambient guitar, flute and keyboards...
A new "Last Climb", "Gab Is Too Wide", or a "Heroes Never Die"...but I hope they will never stop with
playing that song a live.
Bryan sings again some unwritten lines; "...still so young..." and an icy wind blows us to;
Go to PART TWO.
