TRACK NOTES
01) CANYON (00:49)
02) GOTTA BELIEVE (4:19)
I'm partial to some heavy rock now and again so enjoyed writing this. In the studio, John Etheridge put aside his boutique Jazz amp and plugged his guitar into the studio's Marshall. The solo sounds like molten lava dripping off the fretboard, lovely. Kate Kurdyak is singing backing vocals.
03) FOUR COACHES (2:36)
An early dawn attack, encircled in the mist.
04) LUPE'S THEME feat. Kate Kurdyak (2:15)
The album artwork was illustrated by the fantastic Anthony Macbain (Grand Theft Auto etc), who shared some of my musical tastes and finally had a slot. As the character Anthony created turned out to be female, it seemed to call for some female influence on the album. I remembered Vox Rea, a Canadian noir pop band I'd come across in 2020, led by Kate Kurdyak who I thought would be perfect.
05) PARNELL'S LAST STAND (1:06)
When Kenny Jones, the engineer, was mixing 'Four Coaches', I thought Marc Parnell's tribal percussion isolated sounded brilliant. So 'Parnell's Last Stand' comes from 'Four Coaches'. Not a lot of people know that.
06) LEAVE THE LIGHT ON (3:22)
This is a character piece, about a grizzled old dog. I recorded it with Davide Mantovani on double bass and Steve Waterman on trumpet. I liked the woody sound of the acoustic instruments against the bright brass. I first played with Steve Waterman in 2018 - he plays the terrific solo on 'Give Me Your Horse'.
07) LODDER'S LURCH (1:20)
I mentioned to Steve L that it would be nice to have a saloon piano interlude on the album. Something like this? he asked as he improvised something. Yes siree! Steve's first takes are invariably superb.
08) KILLING TIME (2:38)
I was after another 'Jazziachi' trumpet piece, something light and sunny. This has the same line-up as 'Leave The Light On'.
09) WOULDN'T CHANGE (3:00)
This track is the original demo. I'd meant to try some other ideas with the musicians but in the end kept the original as it caught the right vibe.
10) ENGINE ON (3:30)
There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about including this track on the album. It's more modern, but seems to tie in with the general mood of the album. Plus I'm from London not Nashville and I wanted to balance it out a bit. And I like guitar riffs.
11) THE CROSSING (MAIN THEME) (2:38)
This piece started life as a song but ended up as two instrumentals, this version as a Western Theme starting on the main melody. I've written the lyrics so I'll possibly record the song with the right singer one day.
12) THE REVENANT feat. John Etheridge (4:56)
I liked the idea of a revenant as someone coming back from a doomed relationship and it tied in with the album's cowboy noir mood. I chose this track as the album's first single partly as I love the solos - first by Steve on a Rhodes and then two absolute blinders by John on lead guitar.
13) THE CROSSING (PIANO) feat. Steve Lodder (3:48)
I heard Steve playing the original song solo on an upright piano. It sounded terrific and a perfect expression of the song as any.
14) ALWAYS SEEKING (ALBUM VERSION) (3:00)
Well. There were other versions but I was struggling with the Morricone choir and this one seemed to capture something natural.
LYRICS
GOTTA BELIEVE
You gotta believe when your heart is on the floor
You gotta believe when you can't go on anymore
Gotta think quick when your world is on the brink
And draw quick, or it‘s over in a blink
My enemies were lined up on the ridge
And it was still a day before I‘d reach the bridge
So I turned my steed around and I leapt the great divide
I lost my gold, I lost my pride
but I made it on to the other side
And when I came round I was lying in the dust
Didn‘t know which way to go and all my plans were lost
That night I dreamt of Jane, I was mad to let her go
I headed back to the East to tell her that I loved her so
After a year or so, I was about to abandon my quest
I‘d searched from high to low and from East to West
In the canyon below, a rider caught my eye
I just knew it was Jane, 'cos even a mile away
her looks could never lie
I tumbled down the canyon side, I was battered and bruised
Fell into her way, I was trampled under the hooves
Jane looked down at me, and I told her what I‘d dreamt
She said, that‘s the strangest thing I ever heard
But I gotta believe that it makes sense
LUPE'S THEME feat. Kate Kurdyak
I'd stay out of trouble
But that would be in vain
I killed a man last night
He had it coming his way
Out here's a game of bloody
and deadly tag
If they take it
They won't ever give it back
LEAVE THE LIGHT ON
I‘m just a dog who‘s lost his way
I‘m down at heel
I‘m just a dog who‘s had his day
Forgotten how to feel
So please leave the light on for me
WOULDN'T CHANGE
Look at the afternoon
The air is thick and black
No time to lose
No time turning back
And I wouldn't change a single thing
Which was good because
I couldn't change a single thing
ENGINE ON
I'm in the heat and my engine's on
Shifting boulders and building dams in the sun
I need a break to Babylon
Need escape to the city in the sands
She's in the pool, is this sufficiently cool
Shades for UV and for VU
How do you like the view
It's Greek to me, it's a siren's song
It seems to be something that you've known all along
They're calling you to where you are bound
Some are tied to the mast, and others drowned
It's not paradise but it will do for the night
For a moth to the light, good spot for a sybarite
In the pool, there's no fishing as a rule
And the catch of the day appears to be you
When the sun sets, the desert gives up her breath
When the night comes, escape a fate worse than death
Try your luck to forget, make up what you lack
What choice did you ever have
And you ache for her like a phantom limb
You're reeled in, it's not a sin
It's a feeling you can't put your finger on
When you're in the heat and your engine's on
THE REVENANT feat. John Etheridge
When she left I had the blues
But it's better now I'm on the move
All those years of endless rain
I'm out of the grey
I'm on the plains, in golden hues
What a state you left me in
In the bottom of a ditch
Broke my heart, broke my legs
Left for dead with a kick in the head
But I'm coming back now from the edge
I'm not over yet, not quite spent
I'm the Revenant
When she left, I had the blues
But it's better now I'm on the move
All those days of endless rain, I'm out of the grey
I'm on the plains, with golden views
Times were bleak, and people could be quite malevolent
But I'm on my way, I'm on my feet I'm The Revenant
ALWAYS SEEKING
Always seeking, never reaching
Keeps turning, like the seasons
Always seeking, never reaching
Ever flowing, like a river
Always seeking, never reaching
Ebb and flowing, like an ocean
CREDITS
Jake Aaron: Guitar, vocals
Steve Lodder: Keyboards
Davide Mantovani: Bass
Marc Parnell: Drums, percussion
John Etheridge: Lead Guitar ('Four Coaches', 'Gotta Believe', 'The Revenant')
Kate Kurdyak: Vocals ('Lupe's Theme' and backing vocals on 'Gotta Believe')
Steve Waterman: Trumpet ('Leave the Light On', 'Killing Time', 'Always Seeking')
Engineered and mixed by: Kenny Jones
All words and music by Jake Aaron
except 'Lodder's Lurch' by Steve Lodder
'Parnell's Last Stand' by Jake Aaron & Marc Parnell
String arrangement on 'The Crossing (main theme)' by Steve Lodder
String sounds on 'The Crossing (main theme)' by Max La Villa
Artwork: Anthony Macbain
Recorded at The Crypt, and Bona Fide Studios London
