‘Delta Shakedown’ Track-by-Track
1. Delta Shakedown
Kenny (lyrics): “Delta Shakedown is just a filthy, blues rock song. I wanted something with the vibe of The
Doors whilst keeping that sleazy ‘dive bar blues’ sound and I think we nailed it with this one”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “I wanted the keys stabs to be heard which reminded me to the 60’s psychedelic
with a darker touch. The Vox Continental sound was in my head from the start with this track and Ste used to
play a Vox so I knew it would be a great fit”.
Mark (Drums & Percussion): I think this is a good show of what the band is about musically, has a little bit of
everything that makes our sound. was immediately earmarked as an album opener.
Ste (Keys): “I took the opportunity to use the Vox Continental sound on this track in the style of Ray Manzarek
of The Doors. There’s a short piano solo in this track which I recorded on the Fender Rhodes, which cemented
the ‘Doorsy’ sound”.
Andy (Bass): “The bass had to be a low driving force along with the drums. I set a small parameter for the bass
melodies in the verses for this song, allowing other instruments freedom until we all came back together for
the chorus.”
2. Where Are You Now?
Kenny (lyrics): “Where Are You Now? is about remembering people who come and go in your life, and
wondering whether they’re still the same person they once were”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “I wanted a simple short track with fuzzy guitars and gated sound”.
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “Only track recorded before the Electric Soul Machine tour. I don’t think we were
planning an album at that point, and it was possibly going to be a standalone track before ideas for another
full-length album started coming in”.
Ste (Keys): “This is one of the tracks where I recorded a few different keys sounds – the distorted/fuzzy sound
in the intro and choruses, a Rhodes sound in the verses and a phaser sound in the bridge”.
Jack (Guitar): “For my bits I pulled a lot from the guitar parts in ‘Little Sister’ by Queens of the Stone Age.
Trashy chord stabs, with really sustained melodic lead lines. The middle 8 bit ended up being a bit ‘Mars Volta’,
totally unintentional.”
Andy (Bass): “I was messing around with slap, ghost notes and octaves on this song. Much like Delta
Shakedown it needed the bass to not be overcomplicated but still keep a ‘toe-tapping’ element. The ghost
notes in the verses and slap on the chorus’ allow me to mimic some of the drum rhythms that occur
throughout the song. Sometimes you don’t need to play a lot of notes to keep the groove ticking.”
3. Give A Little Love
Kenny (lyrics): “It’s a song for anyone who’s feeling bogged down and needs reminding of the good things,
even when they’re difficult to find” added Kenny. “I suppose the message behind ‘Give A Little Love’ is to pick
yourself up, dust yourself off and go again.”
Jose (Production & Guitar): “We went for a surf sound with a reverb on a VOX AC30 was the beginning of it
and wanted something fast and hectic on the chorus”.
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “I just wanted to play this one like a punk song. Just fast and simple fills”
Ste (Keys): “This is one of the faster paced tracks from the album, and we wanted to try keep the piano stabs in
the chorus. As a whole track I feel this is on that we’ll enjoy playing live and has a similar vibe to ‘Satisfy You’
from Electric Soul Machine”.
Jack (Guitar): “When Jose said let’s do a surf song I was buzzing. I was thinking Dick Dale on steroids. It ended
up being a lot milder than that (more like Dick Dale on diazepam), but I love the way it turned out.”
4. Round Again
Kenny (lyrics): “It’s a song about being complacent with day-to-day routines whilst longing for a wilder, more
carefree time. Round Again is also a bit of a response to ‘Where Are You Now?’ (Track 2) which was about
wondering what people from our past are up to now, but with this time we’re reflecting on our own
circumstances and situations”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “Kenny had the riff and the vibe of the song, and he inspired the solo with some
crazy almost nerve-racking vibe”.
Ste (Keys): “I remember Kenny playing me an acoustic demo of Round Again and I knew the chorus was catchy.
I recorded a Hammond-style track on the verses and wanted to keep hammering the piano in the choruses and
in particular the outro”.
Jack (Guitar): “I saw opportunity to get the slide out and took it! I got carried away with the muddiness in the
studio, but Jose worked wonders with it.”
Andy (Bass): “This one felt like a hangover from Satisfy You when it came to looking at the bass parts. It was
fun to peer back into the roots-y/gritty looking glass of Electric Soul Machine; chugging away on the chord
structure and also supporting the guitar riffs in parts. A firm stance and a steady rhythm hand goes a long way
here.”
5. I See You, Do You See Me?
Kenny (lyrics): “I See You, Do You See Me?’ was inspired by a random video I came across of one of my school
friends who took the hallucinogenic drug Ayahuasca to try and find answers about his son’s disability. He
seemed really comforted by the fact that that during his Ayahuasca trip he was told “he sees you and you see
him” about his son. I thought it was really interesting and I was moved by how my school friend had found
comfort in this”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “This track was based on an idea from live jam of a slow psychedelic guitar riff. This
is probably my favourite guitar solo of the album – and the stop makes it more dramatic”.
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “One of the only tracks on ‘Delta Shakedown’ to be mostly live or at least
improvised in as few takes as possible – so this track feels the loosest and most freeform”.
Ste (Keys): “I always thought this track had a Black Sabbath feel to it and it’s very focused around the slow
looping guitar riff which I try and shadow with the keys sound. We recorded a phaser as well as a Rhodes sound
for this one and it’s definitely one of my favourite tracks from the album”.
Jack (Guitar): “I perceived it as a stoner / eerie psyche kind of vibe when I first heard it. I’ve always loved ‘Space
to Bakersfield’ by Black Mountain and it made me think of that. My parts on the recording seemed to just come
out of the jam really. Jose always encourages everyone to just jam along and see what happens when we’re in
the studio. I have that to thank for quite a few guitar parts on this album.”
6. I Couldn’t Love You More
Kenny (lyrics): “I think I must have been listening to a lot of Nile Rodgers and CHIC when I wrote this track. I
was trying to do something a little different and show another string to our bow”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “Kenny had the riff, and he suggested the backing singers. I was excited about this
as I wanted to create a bit of gospel choir vibe in the chorus with our backing singers Rosalie and Molly. The
wah on the guitar gave it that 70’s New York funk vibe. I also love the way me and Jack have a ‘question and
answer’ solo on this one. After jamming it in the studio the last part came in as a fast change of pace with a
tight guitar part. Great to finish the song like that when playing it live”.
Ste (Keys): “When I first heard Kenny’s vocal melody for the chorus, I imagined a ‘big band’ sound which I think
comes across with the backing vocals and brass in the chorus”.
Jack (Guitar): “When in doubt, get the wah out.”
7. Don’t Need Money
Kenny (lyrics): This track came about as a result of all the corruption, self-service and greed we’ve become
accustomed to with the Conservative government and leaders around the world in recent years. The lyrics are
intended to remind us that money doesn’t mean happiness and money certainly doesn’t guarantee love. Some
of the lyrics are also a nod to Peter Green (“all the love I have, man, I dig that more”) which I listen to a lot.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “Don’t Need Money was one of the few tracks that started off as an instrumental
demo in the studio between Jose, Ste, Andy and Mark whilst waiting for Kenny and Jack to arrive. Then Kenny
and Jack heard the idea and brought it to life”
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “The drum tracks are actually from the demo session we did. These were done in
one take after jamming to the initial riff idea. I intended to come back to it and re-record it for the final take,
but as the track started to come together it didn’t feel like it needed it”.
Ste (Keys): “I remember playing around with a few repetitive melodies on Jose’s Fender Rhodes in the studio.
There was only a couple of us jamming along at first, and it had a bit of a ‘driving’ vibe to it. I enjoyed it because
it sounded a bit different to the rest of the tracks we were working on at the time and I’m made up with the
final mix”.
Jack (Guitar): “This came together remotely. Jose put a video into the band group of him playing a travel-size
guitar that he got for Christmas which ended up being the basis of this tune. I had a play around with it at home
and the parts came together quite quickly but wasn’t sure if they’d work in a full band context; then tried it in
the studio and was quite surprised by how well it fit.”
Andy (Bass): “I had been doing a lot with arpeggios in my spare time at home. There were four of us in the
studio at the time and the guitar chords & melody was being played through the speakers. I began messing
about with arpeggios of the chords and settled on a hypnotic variation that occurs throughout the song. This
also gives a dramatic feel to the chorus when moving from the hypnotic melodies to the syncopated stabs.
Easily one of my favourites to be a part of writing.”
8. Play It Safe
Kenny (lyrics): “I’d been listening to a lot of Dan Auerbach’s solo album at the time and really enjoyed the laid-
back vibe. The song itself is about having that dream to look forward to, something to chase and seek out – which I think is important in life, especially with the rubbish weather we get! It’s nice to feel the sun on your
face and let your day-to-day worries slip away”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “This song is very special as we have Rosalie and Molly as backing singers and
Northern String Quartet, as well as some brass. It was a joy to record the strings live in the studio”.
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “I know Kenny wanted to have some drums or percussion on this track, but
everything I came up with felt like it took away from how good the vocals and instrumentation was. I felt better
to let them be the rhythm and I just added some concert drum style hits here and there”.
Ste (Keys): “Kenny shared an acoustic demo of ‘Play It Safe’ with me in late 2022 and I knew we needed to add
it to the next album. I wanted to hold back a bit on the piano and keys on this one and not make it a piano
ballad. I think it was important to include the backing vocals, string quartet on this one which added a new
dimension to the final track”
Jack (Guitar): “This took a lot of time and many experiments with tunings but got there in the end. I was very
conscious of making it sound too busy (which is very easy to do with 3 guitars). Had some fun in the studio
when putting the parts down, experimenting with pedals etc.”
9. Rosanna
Kenny (lyrics): “Rosanna is probably the closest track to being the counterpart of ‘No Good’ from our last
album. It’s a song about someone in a relationship who feels unhappy, doesn’t feel they’re being treated well,
and it’s basically got to breaking point. I’m sure most people can relate and or know someone who has been in
that kind of relationship”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “I always wanted to have a harmony with two guitars in a solo me and Jack had so
much fun recording it. I am a big fan of the Black Crowes, and you can tell the Rich Robinson influence in our
style”.
Ste (Keys): “As soon as I heard the intro idea for this track, I knew I wanted to have that ‘wet’ Hammond sound
and throw in some slides. I knew I could also be a bit ‘messy’ with the keys on this track too, and similar to ‘I
Couldn’t Love You More’, I knew this track would sound great as a ‘big band’ style track”.
Jack (Guitar): “We had loads of fun with guitar harmonies on this one, like playing the same simultaneously in
different octaves. It’s one of my favourite things we do.”
10. Forever Without You
Kenny (lyrics): “When I wrote this song I’d been listening to David Bowie’s last album Blackstar. I was also
inspired by the loss of a good friend’s father during COVID. I really tried to put myself in that position which got
me thinking about mortality. I came to the conclusion that I’m not actually frightened of dying, but I’m
frightened of the thought of never seeing loved ones again. For the last part of the track, I wanted to try and
portray the individual responding to their grieving loved ones, as if they’re shouting back”.
Jose (Production & Guitar): “Kenny influenced me on the production as he told us what the lyrics meant to
him. You can feel the journey of the song as a beginning and end and the dark side of the feeling of losing your
loved ones. Especially in end when the strings, fuzzy guitars and heavy drums kick in – as well as the dark
distorted vocals (with credit to my telephone microphone to achieve that sound!)”
Mark (Drums & Percussion): “I call this track the ‘Anti-As Long As You’re Here With Me’, because both albums
end with a waltzy ballad but with different themes – with this definitely being the darker theme!”
Ste (Keys): “I think we all knew this track had an ‘end-of-album’ feel to it and knew we could add a crescendo
towards the end of the track. There’s something nice about how the track finishes with the keys melody I
recorded on the Fender Rhodes”.
Jack (Guitar): “A few of us had been to watch the Brian Jonestown Massacre around the time the album was
put together. I think that’s what inspired a lot of guitar parts on this song. Some of the lead lines pull from
Barry Cadogan a bit too. It’s been great to really bring in our influences on this record.
