I hope this post finds you well.

Today I just want to talk to you about some of the challenges I have in songwriting and recording.  The reason being that these last few weeks have been a bit of a slog for me in recording the last 3-4 tracks for my album.  It makes me feels as though I’m so near to finishing the album , but so far!

When I write a song – often sitting at the piano or with my guitar in hand – either words can come first, or melody, or, as in many cases, both grow together as the song develops.

It’s usually very easy to sing the songs straight after I’ve written them in the comfort of my own home, often singing quite quietly, but sometimes what I find is that when I go into the Studio to record them, they’re just not working.

It can drive me crazy as I try to record the vocals again and again, only to listen back once I get back home and hate them.

There reaches a point when I realise that nothing I can do with the song in it’s current form is going to work, and yet, I don’t want to give up on a song which I really like.

That’s when I know I have to start thinking outside of the box and trying something different.  In the case of one song called “Empathetically” (which I finished recording 3 weeks ago) all it took was for me to take the whole song down one tone (from E minor to D minor).  Suddenly I could record the vocals and they came to life!

These last two weeks though, I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to record the verses for “Who’s Been Sleeping in my Brain” (the lyrics which I shared with you in my last post).  I don’t want to change the key as it works really well for the bridge and chorus (which I shared with you in my last newsletter and I’ve posted a link to again below in case you missed it) but I think it’s the key which is making it difficult for me to sing the verse melody in the voice I want.

So, I’m going to have to re-think the verses in a totally different way as they’re just not working.

I’ve tried experimenting with harmonies, but that didn’t work either. During one of my daily walks though (funny how I get some of my best ideas when I’m walking) I thought of something else – change the verse melody completely to bring it lower in my register, whilst keeping the original melody (which I do love) as a harmony either with my voice or with an instrument.

I’m really excited to give this new idea a go, so I’ll experiment with it and let you know how I get on next time I write.

So, until next time, take care

Laini xx