The first of several planned new EPs from Arcanum.
Notes from Tree:
Sleepwalking on the Highwire - One of the earliest songs Brett and I wrote together. It feels great to finish it so many years later.
Scar - One of my favorites. I have a thing for compact pop melodies. Before I recorded this, I used to rehearse it at the beach, singing to the rocks and sea. A song that questions if pure love is possible through layers of emotional damage. What do you think?
Let Me Go - I never intended to record this, but am so glad I did. What is true freedom? Have we ever really felt it? Let yourself go.
Lonely Old Man - When I was 16, I rented a room from a 40-some year old male nudist. One night, I bleached out a pair of pants in the bathtub and poisoned the air in all the house. The man flipped out, yelling at my closed door. He was also upset because I ate 1 can of tuna and wouldn't walk around the house naked with him. From behind my door, I recorded him. I still like to record anything and everything. For me, a new sound effect is a new song. What I find most amusing is the dog, he seems to be yelling at me too!
President - A song I like from Chris Corner's IAMX. I feel the song suits my voice. I love musical drama. Give me a chance to sing-act and I'm there.
Notes from Brett:
1. Sleepwalking on the Highwire - This is likely my favorite piece of music Tree and I have ever done together. Actually, I think it's the best music I've ever written, period. This song was written long ago with Tree on piano and me on guitar. In my head, the guitar part had always been a big string arrangement, but we could never have afforded it at the time. The song sat dormant, along with maybe 100 other songs that we never recorded, for years. This had always made me very sad to think about because I obviously love all the music Tree and I have done and it hurt me to think that the songs were never recorded properly and that nobody would be able to hear them. Anyway, when Tree and I agreed to "reunite", we knew that we could now record many of these songs properly, as originally intended. When I first recorded the live string section on this song, I can't even describe how happy it made me. When they left, I played the song over and over and....I'll admit it...it was difficult to hold back the tears. So...because of all of this, of course it had to be the first song we wanted to present after all these years away.
2. Scar - An upbeat dance number. At first, I thought the reunion of Arcanum would be an all acoustic piano/guitar affair, but....I was happily proven wrong when, with Tree's urging, I rediscovered the old boards/sequencers/etc.
3. Let Me Go - Tree wrote this song on his own and I begged him to record it with me. I absolutely love the melody and nobody could sing it better.
4. Lonely Old Man - Long ago, Tree told me a story of when he was younger. An old roommate of his flipped out because Tree ate his food left in the refrigerator. To get away from his screaming, Tree locked himself in his room. Then, Tree took out a tape recorder and hit the record button. He played me this tape one day and I thought it was pretty creepy, but also very funny. I suggested that we turn it into a song....so we did! I was influenced by the surprisingly experimental Tears for Fears B-sides at the time which I had just discovered (on the "Saturnine, Martial, and Lunatic" cd). The song also reminds me of some of the Prankster music I made (on the "Circular Disorientation" cd).
5. President - This is a cover of the great IAMX song. We're both big fans and thought that the song, despite its synth pop production, sounded like an old song. So, we decided to make it sound like it was recorded by us in the 1940's....Maybe we can somehow convince Chris Corner that we wrote the song long before he did?;-)
The EP also includes 7 remixes of "Scar" by extremely talented musicians, Professor Ace, Icon71, and Aerochord. Professor Ace (one of my best friends) did 2 incredible remixes (
myspace.com/professorace, from Atlanta, GA, USA). Icon71, a fellow Duran Duran fan from Hartford, CT, USA) was cool enough to make 3 great upbeat dance remixes for us (
www.facebook.com/pages/ARCANUM/52796509168?sk=notes#!/pages/ICON71/263488893994). Finally, our new friend Aerochord, from Satakunta, Finland, contributed 2 amazing hard hitting synth driven remixes (
myspace.com/aerochord). We're very lucky to have such kind and talented friends who shared their time and talent with us! Please check out their music on their websites, I promise that you won't be disappointed!
A few other friends also helped us with this EP, and here are the details: The EP was recorded at my place and then mixed at Dave DesBordes' studio in Atlanta with great care by Ace and I. I was also able to bribe Dave to play the trumpet on "President". Mary Beth Hussey, Tiffany Watson, and Mandy Watson played the cello, viola, and violin, respectively, on "Sleepwalking..." and "Lonely Old Man". They have played on my recordings in the past and have also played on a lot of the forthcoming Arcanum releases (and my solo releases too). They are a few of the most talented and kind musicians I know and I am so lucky that I've been able to record them. Finally, the EP was mastered by Rodney Mills (google his name and you'll see all the big name/impressive stuff he's done in his career).
Thank you all so very much. As you can tell, we're very excited and hope you like our new music!
released September 1, 2011
All songs written and produced by Brett Schieber and Tree. All songs mixed by Professor Ace. "Scar" remixes by Professor Ace, Icon71, and Aerochord.
