‘Anchor’ - out today (November 5th)
Recorded and un-touched since June 6th, 2009, Anchor has been submerged on a hard drive for over ten years. This is the original recording of a song unlike any I've written before - a first person account from Nils Pålsson, who was awaiting the arrival of his wife Alma and four children Torburg, Paul, Stina, and Gösta from the Titanic, which tragically claimed all of their lives. They'd been saving up for the journey with hopes to start a new life in America.
Putting the story to music I remember having to stop on the first evening with it being such a harrowing tale that was upsettingly tough to process, but made it all the more important for me to tell their story.
Initial attempts to capture the expanding and retracting movement in a recording weren't working; tempo ramping didn't come close to the waves of the song I was after. For the first time I recorded without a tempo, playing 'live' piano in my room in Bath, singing as I went (mostly heard in the final recording). Without a tempo/click there wasn't an option to quantise the instruments I layered in, so each were carefully recorded and slightly out of time, but that accidentally added to the imperfect foundation of the song, given the story behind it.
I'm so proud to share this, and through the process have identified a bit of a gap between recording a song and sharing it.. Whilst I fine tune my 'efficiency' I hope that 'Anchor' connects with you as it did with me all those years ago, and continues to. I'm excited to upload more from the archives soon! Thanks for listening.
VERSE 1
Alma,
the man in the coat noted your name
this waiting haunts me,
but by tonight, when you arrive,
we can escape
VERSE 2
Alma,
the man in the coat sat me down
his stuttered words,
were not the one's I was looking for
Bless these shining eyes with the morning light
So tomorrow I'll kiss you goodnight
CHROUS
Hold on my love,
we're un-sinkable,
like an anchor,
to the ocean floor
I'll float beside you,
my child, my wife
'cos my heart was swallowed with you
and will remain by your side,
like an anchor
VERSE 3
Oh Alma,
please find your way back to me soon
Alma,
I won't give up on you
OUTRO
Alma,
the man in the coat, has gone
but I'm still waiting,
to kiss you goodnight,
tomorrow