New music: Frog King
I’ve been back at it, writing and arranging songs the past few months. Releasing a few simple singles, starting with Bedsong back in November and Brain on Fire in February. These more recent songs are much simpler in their arrangment and structure, owing to the fact that I don’t have as much time to invest in grand arrangements these days, but I’ve found I actually enjoy the more vulnerable and authentic feel that brings to some of these songs.
My latest contribution to the canon of musical history takes the form of a short song about a frog named Hector having an existential crisis. I’m not quite sure where that idea came from. I think it just grew out of the creative process of writing and arranging the song.
How I approach songwriting
My approach to songwriting has always followed a similar pattern. As someone interested in music theory, and all the fun little harmonic tricks even a basic understanding of it can unlock, I start with a chord idea and try to iterate on it. From there I’ll start looking for melodies that outline the chord shapes and emphasize their qualities. I like melodies that highlight the flavour of a chord or a mode.
In the case of Frog King, I found that I had written almost the entire melody without any idea what the lyrical content of the song was. But once I had written a melody I liked for the chorus, words started to appear in my mind. I often find this is the case - that writing the melody without any predefined ideas of what the words might be, unlocks certain ideas about phrases. In this case, the melody seemed to suggest leaping beyond the confines of reality or normality, striving for the sublime. A picture formed in my mind of a humble frog gleefully leaping into outer space. So the rest of the words just flowed from that idea into a short surreal story about this poor frog who gets down on himself after a moment of self reflection.
The whole thing is quite ridiculous, which is of course what I liked about it. I’ve started to find that the more I make things artistically just for myself and my own enjoyment, rather than trying to make things that could be widely appreciated, the more satisfying the process and the end result.
I’m pretty pleased with how the thing turned out for a quick project that was written, arranged and recorded in just three days. Playing around with the tempo, and adding in a few 3/4 measures to give the whole thing a slightly unbalanced feeling reawakened my love of experimentation with structure. I’m hoping to incorporate some of these ideas into a more significant musical project in the near future and maybe get just a little more of a bigger arrangement into future songs.
If there is one thing I would take from this exercise it’s a reminder that the best solution to creative block is usually just to get something rough down, without any expectation for it to be great necessarily. It will be whatever it is meant to be, and it’s the process of continuing to add or subtract to the whole that will make it uniquely yours. I believe this is true for all creative disciplines.
Have you listened to the song yet? Go on, go and give it a listen and let me know whether you love it, hate it or even if you are simply indifferent.
