Erasure4Rum

The Erasure4rum is proud to announce Part One of a two-part interview/review of the new double release of Breathe Of My Leaves latest EP Spacebird ft Bridget Gray. This is an all new beefed up remix of the instrumental track from the album Chimera. This time it has been revitalised with a vocal performance by Bridget Gray (The Rude Awakening) written especially for this new version by Bridget with Mark Bebb from Shelter/FORM.
The Spacebird EP is a ten track affair, featuring a brand new b-side called Mankind with a very Erasure-esque Chorus siren intro, building into a great instrumental,a well worthy edition to go along with the 9 versions of the title track,track 10 being the original album version but to get to that we have the pleasure of the all new vocal take as track One with the mostly all new backing beefing up the drums adding new synth parts and of course that vocal by Bridget. If you loved the original these mixes will blow your mind.




SPACEBIRD EP ft Bridget Gray-Erasure4rum Exclusive Review

1. Spacebird ft Bridget Gray. A virtually new version with a revised intro and faster tempo mix with all new sounds and that vocal contribution from Bridget Gray.



2. Mankind. Check out the amazing tribute to Erasure's Chorus single in the intro!

3. Spacebird (LorD & Master Mix) A monster almost ten minute long remix that builds into a real epic sound.

4. Spacebird (People Theatre Mix) This for me a more 90's rave club version, with the emphasis on hitting the dance floor hard!

5. Spacebird (MDA Celestial Mix) Not as full on as the last mix, but still with a quite uptempo beat.

6. Spacebird (Silver Cord Mix)I really like this mix, it doesn't deviate much from the original version but then just stops 2 minutes in and rebuilds again,it does this a couple of times, its quite a refreshing mix.

7. Spacebird (Roadrunner Astonomers Mix) This a chugging train of a mix that is relentless with the drum beat, with a nice breakdown point, that has a minimal synth backing letting Bridget's angelic vocal to shine through.

8. Spacebird (MDA Twilight Mix) The 2nd MDA mix, now this mix brings the tempo right down to a slow canter, its almost as if this rave now has a chill out room, i really like this one too its like a whole new song a ballad even. Superb.

9. Spaceword
A minimalist version of the track with a spoken word passage from Bridget,these lyrics actually being a University essay that Bridget wrote in 1995!which is totally different from the normal vocal version a storytelling version if you will, its like an audio book with Bridget's Scottish lilt shining through.

10 Spacebird (original album version)



Erasure4rum contacted the remixers for their take on the remix process for the Spacebird EP,starting with LorD & Master,People Theatre & MDA.



LORD AND MASTER
The process of remixing is always vastly different to writing an original track, but no less fun, to my mind. Whenever I'm doing a remix, I try not to be too familiar with the original track, so that ideas are fresher and less based on it. Spacebird I listened to once, in fact and had ideas for an epic dance mix, though I didn't plan on it being nearly ten minutes long! What I did want to do was expand the vocals and have less layering. Bridget's vocals are beautiful, so I wanted to give them as much airtime as possible. I tend only to work with the vocals when I remix as well. I pop them on a loop and doodle chords around them, see what works, what doesn't. Sometimes what I come up with matches the original, sometimes it doesn't. As ever, I went into remixing Spacebird without much of a plan. I love it when music production sweeps you along with it and you get carried away. It feels more natural and the results are often far better than trying to make the elements of the original track fit some idea you might have. I know some other remixers work differently, but that's just how I work.
Dan


PEOPLE THEATRE
On the 12th of June, Mark Bebb from Shelter contacted me to ask if I could remix a song Stephano (Breathe Of My Leaves) had composed with Bridget Gray. I have known Shelter for quite a long time. I remixed them and even composed a track for one of their albums. Secondly, I had already remixed Bridget twice thanks to Johnny Normal.

And the final point was... well, the original song is a gem!

It took me a couple of days to remix it, because I hesitated between two options: make it cool or make it powerful, and I had bet on the other remixers making it cool. Bridget's voice on this song is an invitation to fly away, and when I fly, I fly the trance way. So i started with her voice, suggesting with the bassline it would grow with a big bpm (142 i think). The gimmick with her muttering voice took me away, I swear! If I dig faaaaaaaaaar aaway in my head, it's a bit like the remix of Erasure's “Always” by Cappella. The original is something very peaceful, and they turned it into a disco anthem.

And the final point : Stephano, who is very kind and a very good musician, loved the remix from the start, so i couldn't be happier!


MDA
When doing remixes I don’t follow any sort of pattern, just what I would like to hear and hopefully the artist will like it as well. I want to create a different moment for the listener from the original. When I first heard the original mix of Spacebird, a rush of colors came to my mind. The combination of Stephano and Bridget is amazing. I immediately heard it as a sort of lullaby so I slowed the tempo down for the first remix and started looking for sounds that would embrace the melody. After I finished the mix, I felt like I needed to do a remix at the same tempo as the original. The vocal is so delicate and uplifting that I wanted to create another mood to compliment the other. I started looking for sounds that would dance around the vocal. So the slower is to end out your day and the faster version is like throwing the door open on the morning of a sunny new day. It was a real joy to do these remixes.

Erasure4rum would like to thank all the remixers for taking the time out to write out these responses.

Erasure4rum also contacted the Spacebird co-writers Bridget & Mark,about their experience in creating the lyrical part of the song.



Bridget-
Spacebird was such a fun collaboration. Stephano is so enthusiastic and full of fantastic ideas, his energy is infectious and you can hear that in the music. I co-wrote the lyrics and vocal melodies for Spacebird along with Mark Bebb who provided the fabulous chorus. I love how the song turned out as we played around with many concepts, and spent a lot of time getting it just right.

Stephano also used one of the vocal tracks from the first demo version of Spacebird, which was a spoken lyric about space, for the bonus track Spaceword, to great effect. Which is awesome, as it's not often I can combine my geekdom and degree in philosophy in a practical and creative way

Many thanks to Stephano for featuring me, to Mark for the co-write, and to all the artists that put their unique talents to use in creating such amazing remixes. Special thanks to my muse. You are all out of this actual world.

Mark-
“I was originally approached by long-time friend Stephano (who has also completed a lot of artworks for Shelter over the last few years) to come up with a hook line and lyrics for ‘Spacebird’ which he had written and produced for Bridget Kyle Gray (who Shelter have also known and worked alongside with previously - The Jekyll remixed a track previously for Bridget). I had a listen to the track and instantly heard a melody and lyrics to that part of the song. In my usual manner, I crudely sung the idea into the voice recorder of my iPhone (where I quickly record down most of my ideas for songs) and pinged it over to Stephano. Was naturally very chuffed to learn he loved it and wanted to run with it. He then sent said crude vocal demo to Bridget to get it laid down properly in the studio and voila... said spacebird took to flight. Its always a lovely feeling when someone hears / sees / feels something of value and connection in something you’ve created from the heart. I really hope it does well for Steph & Bridget, I don’t really think they or the song needed me to be truthful, I’m confident they would have achieved desired goal without me, but nevertheless feel very humbled to have been invited to be a part of the project.”

Erasure4rum would also like to thank Bridget & Mark for their contributions to this feature.

SPACEBIRD EP Interview with Breathe Of My Leaves

1. Since the release of Chimera and its successive single releases how do you feel this project has turned out?

I always wanted this song to be a single as it really is the most "me." The song now has a totally different feel - even more sci-fi and with vocals. I wanted to make a hi-nrg space trance-pop version as a retro-infused "thank you" to all the incredibly supportive online electronic-based radio stations who played the first four singles so often. Only the first single had vocals, so I was blown away that I would have so much success with just instrumentals. It's definitely a special (and long) release for me with some fantastic remixes and a bonus track (b-side) that's really close to my heart.

2. Spacebird in its original version was quite popular with the fans, how did you approach this all new version of the song?

I first had sent the album version to Bridget and told her to do a bit of a T'pau-inspired "Heart And Soul" style rap overtop it, but with a Goldfrapp-y feel. She ended up doing a super cool spoken-word performance (that is now the other bonus track called "Spaceword"). However, I wanted singing, in hindsight, so I asked if she would be willing to write more to it. I was also chatting with my good friend Mark Bebb and he offered to write some lyrics and melodies for it as well, so I took him up on that offer. The song is comprised of Bridget and Mark's melodic vocal parts/lyrics.

I have to say, though, initially I thought the vocals were almost too pretty for the song (it's quite a "muscular" and character-heavy song) so I scrapped the idea of releasing it! Then I came back to it slowly because Bridget and Mark's work on it was so great. What I did was re-write the song around Bridget's beautiful vocals to make the two syncromesh more. And after 11 versions, this is where it ended up. It was quite the ordeal, but I feel it was worth it.

3. Bridget Gray & Mark Bebb have both contributed to this new vocal version, did you set them any rules or did you just let them have a free reign over the lyric/vocal ideas?

Well, in my head, the song is about death. So all I asked both of them to do is think about death and the afterlife/unknown. The original song itself is supposed to be a metaphor for life/death/rising into an afterlife (it's built in three main parts), so I wanted the lyrics to be euphoric, fearful, excited, wondering, etc. We are all spacebirds in the end, is what I wanted to thematic motif to be.

When I finished the lyric video, I was actually getting goosebumps and watery eyes as I was reading the lyrics along with the song. They really hit home for me. Wanting to know that your loved one will be waiting arms wide open somewhere in space after you pass... that's pretty emotional and deep. As humans, we are social and loving beings. We all want to be with our loved ones forever.

4.There are some really eclectic & varied remixes on this EP,something for everybody here, how did you feel when you heard them?

The remixes are such a high point for me on this release. I was so blown away. I really loved how a couple of them picked up on my love of trance that is infused into this release and went full blown epic trance with their remixes. LorD and Master - the melody he created on his is mind-blowing, especially when it kicks in after the 3:30 mark. People Theatre brought me right back to my days as a kid when I fell in love with euphoric trance. MDA gave me two incredible mixes that are so different to each other and so creative - one is very europop and the other is a haunting ballad. I also threw in two mixes myself (the Silver Cord and Roadrunner Astronomers mixes), in addition to the bonus tracks "Mankind" and "Spaceword." "Mankind" is pretty much the best bonus track I've ever written I think. It's an obvious ode to Erasure's "Chorus" and I almost made it the single instead! (Side note: Mark Bebb wrote a melody and lyrics for that as well, but I didn't have the time to turn it into a vocal track). In total, the single/EP itself is an hour long.

5. After this release, we will be getting a remix album, but more of that in part 2 of this series, but whats next for Breathe Of My Leaves?

I have five new songs already for the next album and have been working again with Jordan Gant (the brilliant singer/co-writer on "Love You Lately") - they're in his hands now. I would love to just have the next album comprised of all songs having vocals. Or I may release a series of EP's. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing some remixes for others as well before that.

There's also an exciting surprise or two happening if all works out. We'll see.






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Erasure4rum would like to thank Breathe Of My Leaves & Stephano Barberis for their help in making this 'Ask' feature.
Exclusive E4M 'Ask' graphics by Stephano Barberis.