Foto-Credit © Laura E. Partain

Passend zum heutigen Release Day von Motivational Speaking haben wir uns Old Sea Brigade aka Ben Cramer geschnappt, der ein paar Sätze zu jedem Track des neuen Album liefert. Das ist besonders interessant, da sich die neue Platte als zeitloses Poesiealbum und als Tagebuch einzelner Erlebnisse der letzten beiden Jahre im Leben des Songwriters versteht. Zarte, ehrliche Erinnerungen und Gefühle bestimmen die lyrische Kulisse, bei der immer wieder Veränderungen und die Unausweichlichkeit der Vergänglichkeit in den Vordergrund treten. Der Sound hingegen bewegt sich weiterhin im bekannten und liebgewonnen Songwriter/Indie/Pop Spektrum und ist gefällig wie eh und je. Wir übergeben das Wort an Old Sea Brigade!

1. How it Works

This song was inspired by an email I got a few years ago. Some “music bizz” person told me “that’s how it works” in a relatively rude manner. I found that saying pretty amusing, especially in context to the email, so I decided to write a song about it.

2. Day by Day

I tried to channel my inner 80’s Bruce Springsteen for this one. Definitely one of the most upbeat OSB songs I’ve written. 

3. Salt

This is probably one of the oldest songs on the record. I think I wrote this like 8 or so years ago. It’s been through many versions and transformations. 

4. Nothing Clever

This is a song about telling someone you love them for the first time, but I didn’t want to mention the word “love” or “I love you” in the lyrics. Wrote this song with Henry Brill who is one of my best friends and a really talented songwriter. Him and I worked together on a number of songs on this record.

5. American Impressions

One of the last songs I wrote for the record. I was listening to a lot of Jackson Browne at the time and I think his general laid-back California feel influenced the song. 

6. Caroline

This one’s about falling in love with a stranger. 

7. Mirror Moon

One of my favorite songs on the record. Wrote this with my friend Luke Sital-Singh.

8. High Times

This was one of those weird songs that almost wrote itself in 10-15 minutes. Wish I could do that more often. No idea where it came from. 

9. Walls

I’m really proud of the lyrics on this song. I wrote it with my friend Steven Mullen who has a fantastic band called Thunder Lily. Steven produced this one. 

10. Still

I wrote this song a while ago in a weird open tuning and it will probably take me 2 hours to figure out how to play it again.

11. Come Tomorrow

I bought this baritone rubber bridge guitar which I think really inspired this song. The guitar tone has such a soulful depth that, I think, sparked some lyrical creativity. This is the only song on the record I didn’t record in Nashville. I went down to Florida and worked with one of my best friends, Jeremy Griffith. Jeremy has produced a lot of my previous work.

12. 4th of July

This one is about having a bad time on the 4th of July.