The
eleven songs on “Test Of Time” all have a story attached.
Whether quickly or over several years, they all come from someone’s
experiences, emotions or imagination. Before the album went to release,
LRB News caught up briefly with each of the writers to get a snippet
about their songs. Here’s what they had to say.
The Long Goodbye – Glenn Reither, Hind, Nelson
Along with Hold On, Glenn recalls “ Both these are from a couple
of years back when a
beautiful Minnesota gal laid my heart on a slab of concrete and stomped
it flat.”
Should I Go? – Greg Hind, Wells
This song “came out of one of the hardest breakups of my life.
Sometimes you just can’t see a way out. When you finally do
and, even better, see that person in a different light, it’s
the most empowering thing you could ever imagine.”
Back in Your Arms – Stephen Housden, Reither, Crosbie, Hind
Stephen – “I started this in Ireland four years ago. I
did a version with a local singer, Phil Crosbie. It was never finished
to our satisfaction it but showed great potential. One night on the
bus when everyone else was asleep Greg, Glenn and I played around
with some ideas to take it in a new direction. Glenn and I finished
the bulk of it but we kept Phil’s original title.”
Old Money – Greg Hind, Wells
A crowd favourite during the last few months of touring. Greg says
of his song “Old money was an expression I picked up on in the
south, a kind of class thing and the problems that can arise from
that. It’s about how money that’s been in the family for
so long and worked so hard for can be easily lost to lust, just as
new money can bring its own problems when it’s acquired so quickly.
Who knows which is better?”
Hold On – Glenn Reither
There’s that girl from the Minnesota Cement Company again…
Enlighten Me – Kevin Murphy
“It was originally over 7 minutes long, so I made some edits
to make it more LRB friendly. The
groove was slower and more atmospheric, but it works well as it is
now. It's about me finding spiritual enlightenment. Simple.”
Forever Now – Steven Prestwich
A classic 80’s Aussie pop song penned by Cold Chisel and ex-LRB
drummer Prestwich, who featured on both the Playing To Win & No
Reins albums, the latter of which included his classic composition
“When The War Is Over”. Greg says of this version “
we came up with the idea to try a kind of Latin approach, which felt
true to the song. The great thing about music is starting with a theme
and then letting the natural influences and dynamics of a band take
hold, and in this case come through with flying colours. Here, Wayne’s
at his best with a soaring romantic vocal.”
Can’t Get You Out Of My Heart – Greg Hind, Scheibner,
Aschmann
“A tale of falling for the wrong type at the wrong time in each
others lives, holding on to something that perhaps was never there.
It’s a peril of touring, and maybe not really wanting to commit
to what might be there, on both sides. At the same time, letting go
can be tough”
I’ve Met Love Before
– Music by Stephen Housden, Lyrics by Frank Howson, Wayne
Nelson
Stephen – “Aussie co-writer Frank Howson co-wrote some
lyrics on ‘Time Exposure’ and ‘The Net’.
I met him again a couple of years ago in LA where he now lives and
works as a scriptwriter. We thought we’d try writing by email
and it worked like a charm. I’d never tried writing music
to an existing lyric before. When I read the first lyric he sent
me I could hear in my head how it would sound. It came together
pretty fast with a bit of back and forth emailing and singing over
the phone. ‘I’ve met love’ was written more than
a year ago. The melody sounded pretty ‘country’ to me
and I wasn’t sure if it would suit the band so I had held
back on it. I eventually played it to Wayne and he said he’d
like to sing it. Wayne made some changes to the lyric before the
vocal was recorded. It still has a bit of a “country flavour”
to it but it’s turned out sounding very LRB. I’m really
pleased with the result.”
Waiting – Greg Hind,
Wells
“Back home I would walk to gym each day and always pass an
elderly Italian guy. Even though he’d lived probably 50 or
so years of his life in Oz he could hardly speak a word of
English. Every day he’d always ask for a cigarette and want
a chat of some sort. He seemed to be totally alone; this went on
for years and only once or twice did I ever see anyone else with
him. It got into my head and I slowly began to dream up his life’s
story, wondering how people can end up so alone. Turned out to be
a fun, kinda epic, album track, and hopefully captured the sentiment
I felt at the time”
There’s A Bus Leaving – Glenn Reither
“I always liked that Jackson Browne song that he closes his
show with (The Load Out), so I wrote this one. I’d seen "The
Man Who Wasn't There", a Coen brothers movie that featured
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 and I wrote this song around that.
We played it a few times last year, and I like that version, but
I wanted to make it more like a band thing and more accessible.
So it has ended up almost entirely different! I much prefer this
version and of course Wayne sings it great.”
By
Martin Starkie |
