Everything’s Cool
…is the name of the song I released yesterday. If you’ve somehow avoided my media blitz on the socials but stumbled across this blog post, then I have one question for you: who are you?? You should probably go follow me on Instagram for all of the most pertinent, up-to-date information about TASTY NEW RELEASES, because this blog is more focused on digging deep into some gritty minutiae.
So let’s get into it! “Everything’s Cool.” First, you should click the album art above or right here to give it a listen. I wrote this song a minute ago, but unlike my posts detailing the origin stories of my 2018 singles, I’m not going to tell you I wrote it back in the early aughts or anything truly outrageous like that. Except, wait…shit. The demo is labeled “Winter 2016”. Alright, so it’s pretty old. Which makes sense, considering it was a staple in our Zero Beach (RIP) sets during the 2016-2018 era. In fact, I recorded that demo in our old rental house, back when my “studio” was even less of a “studio” than it is now (it’s…a guest room). Sunny, though!
I’ve always had an affinity for spooky, minor-key verses that transition into big, triumphant, major-key choruses, and that’s clearly what I had my sights set on with Everything’s Cool. Here are a few good examples of pop songs that, in my opinion, pull off this trick particularly well: “Style” by Taylor Swift, “Back to Zero” by Third Eye Blind, and an improbably large percentage of the songs on Dave Matthews Band’s first few albums. For what it’s worth, since I know you’re thinking it, I do also listen to music that isn’t hilariously mainstream; I just don’t feel like talking about it right now. Anyway: I got my minor-key verses laid out, and when I arrived at the part of the song where a tasteful, major-key chorus would naturally arrive, I decided to blow that shit way over the top and make it as gaudy and loud as I could. Deke’s hyper-melodic fuzz-bass-playing was also instrumental in shaping the song’s direction; it’s possible that the third chorus drop-out - showcasing fuzz-bass, hand claps, and prominent synth - represents the most purely fun fifteen seconds on the album (except for maybe all of Josephine, but we’ll talk about Josephine later).
Based on this demo, it does sound like this song started out its life significantly faster:
I’m not sure what happened to slow things down so much, but I think the song works both ways. That said, I’m actually pretty into that quicker, more toe-tappy version. Maybe something to play around with live, if and when live music ever happens again.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed these behind-the-scenes pictures, sounds, and scattered thoughts on Everything’s Cool, and I hope with equal amounts of sincerity that you like the song and jam to it often.
Last thing: the next single, Mostly Rain, is comin’ atcha in mid-May, and as an avid devourer of Wirelight blog materials, here’s your exclusive sneak-peek at the cover art:
Until next time.