I’m going to work back through my 1st album over a few days. This is the opener but the last track recorded. It’s a dream sequence inspired by Band of Brothers, as was half the album.

Jay Tennant - Hinterland

#Indie #Album #BandOfBrothers https://open.spotify.com/track/2FGkcHqsAgeOu5IM5rXV4g?si=eoHF3KmhR02W0RdgmSRh-g

Musically, I guess I blended a few of my influences in here. I love a big album opener so this was my attempt at one. After recording most of the album, I wrote this last. It’s a soldier’s premonition of the war the night before D-Day, leading into track 2, The Longest Day.

Track 2 and this was a single. It’s a snapshot of the airborne soldiers about to make the drop into Normandy. Heavy guitars for impact, like the roar of the engines.

Jay Tennant - The Longest Day

#Indie #Album https://open.spotify.com/track/6xgSCHVvu2JTpaFvDeSTVV?si=yrUcZemKS5CXurqcEOEO0g

There’s a fair bit going on with the different parts and melodies - I wanted it to be catchy. Lyrically, it’s about that ‘Band of Brothers’ bond and togetherness. It’s a tribute to the real war heroes, basically. #BandOfBrothers

Track 3 - Partly inspired by that scene in Band of Brothers where Winters charges out on his own, but also ‘The Thin Red Line’ and its “War is futile” theme.

Jay Tennant - Friend or Foe

#Indie #Album #BandOfBrothers https://open.spotify.com/track/2y7h1JT9GcRBJRGECPrStJ?si=AGuIZwwBQ3uDgQN0lXKybQ

It’s a bit of a post-punk type track with a nod to U2’s ‘War’ album. I already had the chorus and the rest was written quickly. I was trying to write every song to sound like a single but not be a ‘sell-out’! #PostPunk

Track 4 then and The Sniper - I wanted a film soundtrack vibe on this. Inspired a bit by Barry Pepper’s role in Saving Private Ryan. Definite Baggy vibes on this one. I love Adam’s bass part and production on it.

Jay Tennant - The Sniper

#Indie https://open.spotify.com/track/66rSvLIPsYX9BucLK1TQ9L?si=EJWOfAdwSfOEquGwZoWxZA

To be honest, it’s a bit too close influence-wise which I regret. Possibly one I could re-write at some point. I like the lyrics though and felt like it had some swagger about it.

Here’s the lyrical inspiration in action #BarryPepper #SavingPrivateRyan

Track 5 - S.O.S. (The Call) - We’re right in the war action here and it’s meant to sound like it! - it’s pretty relentless. “Meet me by the wall...” It was a late-runner for the album. I wanted another rocker on there.

Jay Tennant - S.O.S. (The Call) https://open.spotify.com/track/2DahZ8xKmWtcENSz5cX5ia?si=pmqSdAYKR5yvDNaAyhbMcw

I was getting into writing my own lead guitar riffs now, so this was a really key track for that. I wrote the guitar ‘break’ going up the fretboard too - simple stuff No influences, just a song I sat down and wrote. Big production by Adam on this track

A cool fact - if memory serves, the wailing ‘siren’ effect on the outro, that’s Adam hammering out the S.O.S. morse code signal on a synth, but sped up. That was his idea. Great attention to detail

Track 6 - The dark heart of the album and the last ‘war’ track. It’s inspired by the Battle of Hürtgen Forest - fierce fighting in freezing conditions with no end in sight.

Jay Tennant - Westfalen

#Indie #Album https://open.spotify.com/track/2Nu1kuSl1rYX9GDURzC7kL?si=7d15F8DTTgq_6wqHuNoJgA

It’s a pretty intense track. A sleep-deprived soldier considers an easy way out of the war but doesn’t want to let his brothers down. There’s a wolf howling at the start if you can pick it out - that was my idea. Atmosphere...

The idea was to try to capture the bleakness of the situation with the mood and lyrics, but this song surprised me the most. Adam took it to another level with the effects, bass and guitar dynamics. Probably my best vocal on the album for me.

Lyrically, I’d definitely been inspired by the ‘Bastogne’ episode of Band of Brothers and the real-life accounts in Stephen E. Ambrose’s book that the series was based on. It really stayed with me. #BandOfBrothers

Track 7 - Modern Heroes - Moody, cinematic, close your eyes and taste the dry ice This kicks off Side B of the album and a change in direction, like if you were listening on vinyl.

Jay Tennant - Modern Heroes

#Indie #PostPunk https://open.spotify.com/track/1S5npz7wB3Aw5uagCZP10K?si=6BfEsL5hRoCq0Jo1ncoboQ

It was a complete vocal demo I’d written back in 2008 or so. I had the title & full lyrics but no music, so sat down with the guitar years later to figure out chords that worked. It came together pretty quickly.

It’s a doomed romance with a lot of gothic imagery - my parents took me to Whitby a lot in my youth It’s just an imagined story though. Songwriting is generally about tapping into the imagination for me, and going somewhere else.

I remember taking it to the studio with a vision - synths, big guitars and extra reverb - but you never quite know. But Adam absolutely smashed it on the production for me It was the 1st song recorded for the album and the challenge was then on to try to maintain that level

Track 8 - Lifeline - Intense and passionate. A kind of Suede-esque scenario set in a rainy town. I was always into the darker side of Britpop. Music for outsiders.

Jay Tennant - Lifeline

#Indie #Album #PostPunk https://open.spotify.com/track/05wj7O2cEIZRmYhfGyWyX5?si=f36aMoeKStWKBYUJgJBp1A

This was in the bag early for the album, Feb 2017. You can tell we were still in Winter I thought it was a strong track and I liked the idea that it sounded like a ‘lost single’ that you’d discover later in the album. If you’re not a pro’, at least think like one, right?

The recording session was pretty straightforward as I recall, and having this one in the bag gave me the confidence to start mapping out the rest of the album. It was going to be the album opener actually but then I moved into the ‘war theme’ and switched the order.

Track 9 - Animals - One from the archives. It was inspired by a newspaper story of the gangland murder of an innocent guy in London. Pretty bleak but it’s hopefully an uplifting tune musically!

Jay Tennant - Animals

#Indie #Album https://open.spotify.com/track/7d4leKwD4BMmxst6pdh8JA?si=ImeXUM7WSIqCqCauJgOudw

It was written years ago when I was in bands and it went nowhere, but I always rated it - so when writing the album I worked out chords to fit the vocal. With Adam’s production magic in the studio, it turned out much better than I expected.

We didn’t use any Auto-Tune or pitch correction on the vocals on this album, so what you hear is what you get. It’s the only ‘ballad’ on the album. I do write ballads but usually don’t feel they’re “good enough.” I thought this one was, but you never really know.

Track 10 - Berlin - Epic and relentless. The end-of-the-war party anthem? It’s almost like a stream-of-consciousness hallucination or something. You get into the writing zone and see where you end up!

Jay Tennant - Berlin

#Indie #Album #Berlin https://open.spotify.com/track/25QeAJvfqa6pocwJOnyWpf?si=G6PXJtyWTZSWs9XD3kJ0rQ

I’ve never been to Berlin but I’ve ended up writing a few songs inspired by it and by artists who recorded there. This is like some kind of a surreal drama. Musically, there’s a lot going on. Check out Adam’s incredible guitar heroics at the end

Fun fact! I thought this might be my best song but I was going for a big finish, ending on a strong run of songs, like a couple of my favourite albums - possibly a mistake in these days of streaming as ‘Berlin’ is the song with the least streams! Never mind

I’m proud of the album and it turned out to exceed my expectations by far. A huge part of that was down to Adam’s ability to turn my visions for songs into reality, and then also take them to the next level I hope you enjoyed listening to it if you’ve had a listen

I can’t finish without a big shout out to my mega-talented photographer mate Charlie Shelton who shot the album cover. It was the last shot of the photo session and we were like “There’s the album cover...!” What a pro’!

Thanks if you’ve followed this thread and I hope it’s been interesting and not too ‘muso’! Might do the same for my 2nd album Escape Routes soon. Cheers, guys