middle farm sessions, vol. 3

hey SDC : ) so I had one of the best musical experiences of my little life in july making ‘middle farm sessions, vol. 3’, a unique collaborative record that came out yesterday

the format for the session was simple: 11 songwriters brought down 1 song each and got 3 hours to record it with the group, live to tape with my friend Pete Miles (producer of the FIZZ record, co-producer of ENAHero). the group ranged in age from 22 - 65 and we all had wildly varied musical journeys

it was like a big musical summer camp, surreal & intense in the best way. working at speed with a group this big was new for me and yet.. so powerful? once hearing the song we’d briefly discuss it as a group and then all branch off; pick up an instrument we felt drawn to, assemble a backing vocal choir.. often we wouldn’t hear anyone else’s parts until we hit record. Pete encouraged us to play instruments we usually wouldn’t (you’ll hear some OG bass on tracks 2 & 10 and some OG drums on track 8). seeing how quickly a group of strangers formed complete trust for one another made me super emotional - the vulnerability was potent ! the community spirit was strong !

my song ‘parallel lines’ is track 6 of 11, I wrote it the week before the session in july (not to be confused with the demo of the same name I put up on here a few years ago - apologies for disappointing fans of that song lol). I always loved the metaphor and was curious to see if I could give it new life: the same event, experienced by 2 people and remembered retrospectively in a totally different way. the first 'parallel lines’ demo a few years ago played with this metaphor with relation to a traumatic event (the same I wrote ‘mine’ about) and this time it took a slightly lighter form (well.. heavy too, but in a different way): two exes looking back on their breakup. I wanted to channel the breakdown of communication, the stories we tell ourselves, regret and the idea that things may have played out differently if each side better understood the other (something I find fascinating + frustrating to sometimes witness in friends' lives! I’d also been rewatching ‘Normal People’ at the time so.. yeah. that).

I absolutely love the backing vocals in this song - we tracked the core elements (vocals, drums, bass & guitar) in the live room whilst the rest of the group got together in the control room, working out the BVs. once we had the band take down the 6 or 7 singers then came back in and performed the entire backing vocal part for me, start to finish and it was perfect. I was IN BITS. to have such a big group of people all working together with the common goal of serving your song as best they can.. it was such a privilege. I felt so seen/heard/held in that moment.

listen to the whole record here !

love! OG xxx

lyrics for 'parallel lines' if you'd like to read as you listen along:

I assumed how you would feel (I assumed how you would feel)

you assumed how I would feel (you assumed how I would feel)

funny that now we

have 2 separate

memories

I assumed how you would feel (I assumed how you would feel)

it was absolutely real

painted the whole scene

coloured it in

blue and green

how do you remember that?

I close my eyes and run it back

that look on your face

when you knew you couldn’t save it

caught in the blindside

ran with the plot line

all of the while

we lived on parallel lines

see none of that was ever true

I was so in love with you

but when I say it now

feels like it’s about

strangers

what I would give to be your friend

and see what happens in the end

dead stop, no fade

skip to the last page

caught in the blindside

ran with the plot line

give those scriptwriters a raise!!!

man I regret it

that I never said it

and all of the while

we lived on parallel lines