The Hammer Inside - Bluespot Christmas > > Christmas - 42,960 KB (.wav format) > > Christmas - 9,745 KB (.mp3 format) A song inspired by 1970s folk style. Here I have taken Mike's lyrics and tried to perform them in a "Christmassy" sort of way. (If thats even a word?) I think Mike's words capture a vision of the holiday season. Although here in Australia, it's always mid summer during this time, I could still sense and understand the feel that Mike was trying to convey, and tried to capture that in the arrangement. Memories > > Memories - 25,305 KB (.wav format) > > Memories - 5,741 KB (.mp3 format) With this arrangement I try to capture a typical UK rock sound of the 1960s. Songs from this period often try and evoke an emotional response from the listener and here Mike's lyrics tell that age old story of lost love well. It's a shorter song but fits the era of pop songs that were more like a drag race than an enduro. Some of my favorite songs from those days are short and sweet, getting to the point quickly, and getting the message across without too many frills and fancy riffs. I think this song achieves that aim. The Church Upon The Hill > > Church - 39,598 KB (.wav format) > > Church - 8,982 KB (.mp3 format) When in doubt, go country. Sometimes I read through lyrics and come up with several ideas that sort of fit with the content, but never suit it thoroughly. As soon as I went "country" with this one, it all fell into place nicely. The phrase "It wrote itself" is often over used, but in this case, it really came together as a country song and needed very little work to get things to fit. To me it sounds almost as if the words and music were created simultaneously. Up With The Stars > > stars - 47,494 KB (.wav format) > > stars - 10,773 KB (.mp3 format) For this one I went a bit minimalist. I wanted it to be just a piano and vocal ballad, but as usual, I got carried away and ended up with strings, horns and other stuff in there as well. I was very tempted to do this song in full country style, but for some reason unknown to me, it came out as it is here. I am not entirely happy with the piano sound I achieved, and was almost inspired enough to buy a new piano for a better quality recording. I didn't actually get it (yet), but still have my eye on a few and will no doubt buy one soon. Expect more piano based stuff as a result. More surprisingly, there is no guitar on this track at all. That is new and could even be a first for me. Lyrics by Mike Thomas. Composition, instrumentation and production by Glenn Anderson. All content on this page is copyright © 2012 Reproduction, performance, copying or distribution in any form is strictly prohibited without permission.