In this episode, I break apart a song called, “Coming Around.” This comes from my album Starting Over released back in August of 2022.
This song is influenced by the band Low. My favorite song of theirs is “In Metal,” from their 2001 album, Things We Lost In The Fire. I love the different elements they chose for the arrangement, which really add to the atmosphere and give it that feeling of longing. Sadly, the singer of this song, Mimi Parker passed away last year after battling cancer. I was lucky to see them perform a few times and it was always a transcendent experience. She will be greatly missed.
To start with the recording, I laid down the acoustic guitar. I adjusted the EQ and reverb to give it a lofi sound. To fill things out, I added this mellow organ part.
Next a really simple piano part playing mostly the bass notes.
I also added two e-bow guitar parts for some additional texture.
I tried a few different things with the percussion and finally landed on stripping it back to something really sparse: just an egg shaker and a ride cymbal played with brushes toward the end.
The final touch was adding some ambient outdoor noises. For that, I just went to my backyard. At the beginning of the song, you can hear a few steps with some traffic in the background. I wanted to give the feeling of introspection and hope, like someone leaving their home and finally ready to face the world.
The lyrics for this song are about my hesitation to be vulnerable. I’ve kept a lot of my problems to myself for a long time because I didn’t want to burden anyone. Over time, it built up and felt like too much to handle. Eventually I realized I needed to get help so I decided it was time to get therapy and start opening up. I’ve had to come around to the idea of therapy (hence the title of the song), but that decision has helped set me on a better course. There’s strength to admitting you need help. We’re not meant to do this life alone.
And with that, here’s the complete song. I hope you like it.
And that’s our episode . If you’re interested, I made a music video for this song, which you can find on YouTube or in the description.
Also, This song is available to license for your projects like podcasts and videos. Get 50% off your purchase until July 2nd, using the promo code “songoftheweek” at checkout. Find it at archesaudio.com.
Also, for listeners of this podcast, Arches Audio is offering an additional 10% off your purchase of this and other songs in the music library, as well as any services, including audio editing, artwork, and a new course on podcasting. Visit archesaudio.com and use promo code “makingmusic” at checkout.
That’s all. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.