Lose control is out on October 9th, but Chantel tells us all about it
Take The Power
This stemmed from a track that I wrote a couple of years ago that I was never totally satisfied with, so I revisited it, changed the music slightly and re-wrote all of the lyrics and melody. The lyrical concept of the song is about religious and social cults, the idea of control (or loss of) from a higher power or person, which ties in with the title and theme of the album. Musically, I wanted it to be dark and grungy, emphasising the loss of control. I drew on influences from my youth such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots, who evoke the emotion of performing with passion and losing control.
Your Fever
This was written on a metaphorical level. The initial idea for it being literally written in the garden on a day when we had a heatwave. It was unbearably hot. That was the literal concept, then I started to be creative with it, drawing on the Southern Gothic ideas, twisting it into a world of stifling desert heat, creating imagery of dust, bones, and the feeling of entrapment. I aimed to continue the heavy rock sound, once again drawing on the grunge influences previously mentioned. It was important for the track to be melodically interesting, especially with the lead guitar part. I wanted to create a haunting soundscape that reflected the concept of isolation in a desert amongst the bones of people past.
Burn Your Anger
Continuing the rock sound to the album, this track was very much about creating a chorus that people can sing along to, backed with lyrical themes that people can identify with. I moved away slightly from the Southern Gothic concept as I also wanted to keep the album relevant to modern day life, thus the influence came from reading the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Lyrically, it still touches on the overall theme of the album, centring on desperation and loss, centring on the breakdown of a relationship through infidelity.
Anaesthetize
This is one of the more emotive songs on the album. I wanted to take the listener on a journey throughout the album through the heavy rock tracks, interspersed with the sensitive acoustic tracks, meanwhile weaving the concepts and lyrical themes throughout both aspects to tie it all together. With Anaesthetize, I wanted to explore the feelings of loss, guilt and desperation caused by substance abuse. This was incredibly hard for me to understand as I have never personally experienced this, so I had to research and attempt to emotionally connect and empathise with people who had undergone the experience, and try to see the world through their eyes, whilst remaining sensitive to the subject. I also drew on a character from the TV show True Detective who had deep rooted emotional problems, and tried to connect to the character in the song through him.
Southern Belle
Following Anaesthetize, I felt that I needed to bring the mood of the album back to a more rock feel. Southern Belle was my interpretation of debauchery and indulgence. I wanted to tie in the Southern Gothic themes of religion and loss of control, and the idea of rebellion seemed the perfect way to do that through this song. Musically, this is the most ‘bluesy’ track on the album, and probably the most ‘American’ sounding track, this being intentional to the overall theme of the album.
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Lose Control
The title track of the album, this is intended to really epitomise the concept of loss of control, through possession and being ‘out of your own body’. It can be interpreted on two levels, the literal level, a song about partying and losing yourself to the music, or the spiritual level, being possessed and losing yourself on a metaphorical level. I wanted the music to reflect the excitement of the subject matter, through guitar riffs and distorted vocals, and I feel that it encapsulates the concept.
Home
As well as writing songs with a strong theme and concept, I wanted to write a personal song that I could really reflect on my own life with, whilst using imagery connected to the rest of the album. This song was written about spending time on the road away from home, growing and evolving as a person, and looking back on things which I’ve done. It was important for me to perform this song with true emotion, and I used cellos and violins as well as subtle electric guitar to meander in and around the classical guitar and haunting vocal lines, to give tenderness and depth. Whilst working with the string players, I drew on influences from the iconic artist Nick Drake, who used strings to emphasise the emotion of his music.
Killing Time
At the time I wrote this track, I was listening to a lot of contemporary rock bands, such as Royal Blood, Band of Skulls, Black Keys, who all use heavy rock riffs to punctuate their songs. The concept of the song is about being a serial killer. It was fitting to make it riff based rock to emphasise the viciousness of the concept.
Eternal Dream
The inspiration for this song was an artist who I have loved for years, Jeff Buckley. I’ve always been captivated by his music and his story, and I wanted to put that into a song. I used a lot of techniques evident in his music within the song musically, such as dissonance and falsetto vocals. This is my tribute to him.
Walk On Land
I have always had a passion for Progressive music, purely down to the fact that I love the technicality and intricacy of it. I listen to a lot of Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, and both heavily influenced this track. I wanted to create something technically interesting to provide a different angle and texture to the album. Experimenting with different time signatures, interesting instrumentation and backing vocal arrangements has always been a passion of mine, so this song is an important part of the album to me. It was also great fun recording the improvised guitar solo at the end of the track in one take with the drummer, I aimed to capture the excitement and spontaneity of improvisation within the constraints of a very structured song. The theme behind the song is an observation of how live moves on and the world keeps turning, yet somethings in life never evolve or move on. The subject matter reflected the progressive sound of the song.
