karlsen interviews matt as he prepares to make a new aqualung album.
I didn't know for a while because it was a bit overwhelming, and I was worried that it would have an inhibiting effect, cos you'd be like “oh god, is this good enough? Is it fitting in?”, but actually it's given me confidence. The best thing about having made an album that's done well is it's a validation of your own taste and your own reference points. I've found I've had more confidence than less, so it's been quite productive. At this point I feel that maybe 95% of the material is written and close to being ready to be recorded. Which is quite exciting.
No, not all of them. There are a couple of older ones, but a lot of the old ones that were originally on the list have started to be superceded by freshly written ones, which I suppose is a healthy way around. But there's still a couple – Nothing else matters, which is a song we've been playing live, is actually quite old but it's come into its own in this context, and there's When I finally get my own place which is really old. There's nothing else that was written in the era that that song came from that could possibly be a contender. It's a freak song – it's like it came back from the future or something
No. First of all you have to have a pool of viable songs that are good enough to be considered, and I'll probably record all of those and have fourteen or fifteen tracks to choose from. But there's a core of five or six songs that definitely belong together, and will be the heart of the album, and those songs are fixed in my mind. So say for the sake of argument there are ten songs on the finished album, I know what sixty per cent of it will be, and the interesting part is choosing the last forty per cent, which sets the overall compexion of the album. It was the same with the first album. There were six or seven tracks that were always going to be on it, but there was quite a lot of debating over the final four. Those final four could have been a different four, which would have made for a very different album. So I guess it will be the same process.
I don't know for sure. There seems to be a lyrical thread coming through. It's not very specific, it's not like they're all about mythical beasts (well, only a few)… but you could loosely collect them together as songs about relationships, about finding salvation in love and also damnation. That seems to be the two camps they fall into. They fit together subject-wise, it feels like there's a tone of voice that makes sense.
Well, I thought it was. I thought it was going to be on the whole more forward-looking and optimistic in tone. That's certainly the case musically. It seems to be more major-key and the arrangements are fuller and richer. It's going to be a bit tastier as a record. If it were a cake, the first album is a mean-spirited, dry cake
It's a sad cake! It's not a jolly, generous cake, and this one won't be jolly exactly, but it's going to be slightly more moist. Slightly more heavy on the jam.
Yes, it was stark. It was ascetic and restrained. It was the kind of birthday cake that those kids at school who weren't allowed to watch TV and only had carrots in their lunchbox would have had…
So musically, the new songs are fruitier than the ones on the first album. Not overdone, I hope, but slightly sweeter. And I'm already clear that it's going to be more completely arranged.
The first album was very sketchy, and deliberately so. All the songs are like outlines, and this will be much more coloured in.
The main difference is I think there are going to be a lot more other human beings involved in making the sounds, influenced by playing the first album live and seeing how some of those songs have fleshed out, and in some cases have been shown to have a different sort of potential with a band. So I was keen to start working with some actual musicians quite early on in the process, so I did a couple of days with some players to see how the songs might work out. That's been very helpful because the songs have proved to be better developed that I thought they were.
The biggest difference between the new album and the last one is the experience of playing that kind of material live. I've learnt a lot. It's been surprisingly successful live. When you're playing with an audience it seems to fill in the gaps. When you leave a gap, rather than it being silence, it's meaningful; the power of all those other people applying their own interpretation and meaning to it seems to fill the songs out.
With the first album, I was very happy with it, but there was a very limited palette of sounds, so I've done that really, and one way to ensure that the new album sounds markedly different and has an identity of its own is to bring in other musicians with a particular sound and style.
The first album's drums were all programmed, with only a few different drum sounds. This time I still like the idea of restricting the sounds, but I'm going to use a lot of real drums. The drummer I've been working with comes from an experimental music and jazz background, so his influence will be quite distinct, and will provide a very particular character to the rhythm tracks.
There's still going to be a lot of piano, but I hope to. I think that's a good way to force you out of habits. Using a new drummer will help, and he's also got a huge collection of percussion instruments which will doubtless feature. I like the idea of finding some new sounds, and there are certain sounds that I've always wanted to use, like I really want to get someone to play the musical saw, which is a very fine sound. Well I think it is. The thing I think of as a musical saw might turn out to be something else…
I like the idea of having a brass ensemble playing on it – not cheerful, Phil Collins-style brass, but orchestral brass – french horns, trombones. Muted sounds. Lush sounds. Quite fruity. And where you would obviously think “oh you should have a string quartet” because you've got a ballad (whatever that means) I'd rather use brass. I think it makes for a more distinct sound. And it would make it sound a bit more like the Band, and that would be a good thing.
Yes. I'm moving into a new house, and when we were looking round it I noticed a strange-looking piece of furniture, which I thought was a very gothic office bureau. I mean, why would you want a piece of office furniture to have Nosferatu-style candlestick holders? It was very odd. Anyway, I had a sneaky look under the lid and it turned out to have a keyboard and was a very grand harmonium, and I miraculously convinced the vendor to give it to us with the house. So therefore there will be lots of harmonium on it because I shall be wanting to play it all the time, cos it's a very cool sound. Like an enormous harmonica.
Yeah, I guess so. Well, I don't know if I'll sound more cheerful – I still want it to be a thoughtful and pretty and intimate album – but it will be slightly more outgoing.
Yes, there will be other people around a bit more, and also I'll be working in different place because I've got new house. I'm going to set up the studio in the attic, and it's got a window, which I think will make quite a lot of difference.
The first album was made in a hallway without any natural light, in the summer, which was kind of weird, to be inside in the dark when you know it's summer outside. So all of those things will make a difference. When you are recording or writing you are affected by your environment, but I think you'll be able to hear a bit more sunshine.
I'm going to record it in May and June, when we come back from touring. The label would like in July, because the plan from early on was to try and do the second album about a year after the first one, like they used to in the olden days. So hopefully the new album will be out September or October this year.
We've already been playing a couple of songs which will probably be on it, but there's a couple more that are ready for their debut. So one or two will get a little go.
It will be quite nice to see how they sit alongside the rest of the stuff. And it's always a good test of songs to play them in front of people and see if they take that opportunity to make a phone call.
