The story of Light the Blue is a very long one…. It all started in 2008 with the writing of Apathy – the poppiest of all the Light the Blue tracks – a nod to trials and tribulations of writer’s block…… and finished (we think!) in 2013 with the final masters of the final 11 tracks. Did it really take 5 years? The trouble is, with a project like this – and with personalities like ours – we always get distracted from the original goals. Over the 5 years we probably went off in two or three different musical directions and had been very tempted to run off with them. But we were good, and stuck with the original intention to do justice to the songs we were writing over that period before moving on to the next set of songs.

All these songs were recorded on our laptops in Logic or Ableton, compiled and worked up on mine(Steve’s), then taken to Runway Studios in Westcott where producer Adrienne ‘AD’ Aiken polished (and on occasion reworked) the songs, creating a more refined sound – helped on occasion by Helen Sweeney’s backing vocals (AD also contributed vocal touches).

Crash Phase One Back to the Old Days Brushed Aside Touchpaper Leaving You Tonight Apathy Skin and Circumstance England Expects 1AM Give Yourself to Me

Light the Blue – Bonus Tracks

There were a few songs that we didn’t end up putting onto ‘Light The Blue’ itself, but were recorded around the time and augmented, mixed and mastered at Runway.

Take What You Want was the very first track we took along to the studio (in 2008) to see the art of the possible under AD’s guidance. It was song written back in 1999 with nice breezy acoustic jangle and was a song that worked instantly when played as a 3 piece with Tony on drums and Steve on bass. All three parts were recorded (we think at Survival studios in Acton) with vocals and piano and AD to guide our arrangement, add strings and backing vocals, and a a new chapter with Faces Fall had begun.

Britain’s Toughest Resorts was written during the early hours of a November morning in 2008 (after a Bonfire Night celebration, I recall). The inspiration came from a documentary on the desolate winters living in run-down British seaside towns, I think. The song was filed under ‘interesting’ until secretly taken into Runway by Steve and worked up into a fully arranged song. A great surprise!

Remember, is an important song in the rediscovery of Faces Fall. Having spent so long strumming acoustic guitars alongside pianos in Blindspot/Fiction, it was Remember that returned us to something with a more direct sound that had edge and discordance. Short and to the point and reminding us of what is like to start again….

Finally, My Mistake, a simple ‘almost ballad’ written entirely on the keyboard, requiring only a simple guitar overlay, that weaved its way into a dark corner….