This morning we pulled the Chevy up to The Bronx's Los Angeles recording studio as a thick black cloud of human ash from the nearby crematorium wafted across the perfectly blue south Californian sky. An odd sight, even by Hollywoods bizarre standards.
It's not all sun stars and Chevys though. We're here to work hard, our daily routine starts with a fifteen mile commute from our place in the hills, down interstate 101, deep into the heart of the valley.
The studio is small but perfectly formed, and The Bronx's Joby J Ford knows his way around it. We've got more guitars here than I've ever seen in one place. Amps from all corners of the world, and a king kong size drum kit, and that's about it.
We've hardly seen outside the studio in all the time we've been here, we've worked faster and harder than we ever have before.
I'm guessing what you want to know is what the songs are like. What they're about, what they sound like, what their individual vibe is, so you can sketch and idea in your head about what the record is going to be.
Well, I'll tell you. The first few songs are classic Enemy. "Saturday" and "Turn It On" are two forgotten gems from the very first writing sessions. Both guitar led sing along up tempo blasts. They're essentially what the Enemy is all about. Simple hooky melodies over rock guitar and power drums. They remind us of tracks like "Had Enough" and "Be Somebody".
"Make A Man" (Working Title) is in a similar vain too, with a typically British tip to it, a bit of The Kinks DNA and a great drum break in it. "1234" is a new punk anthem which pokes at the coke fuelled consumer youth culture that's consuming the UK.
It's kind of important to stress that the sound of the album is phenomenal. Joby J Ford has created a sound that is spot on, he's made a firecracker of a record. There are techniques that are common place over here in the states that we simply don't use in the UK, thats not to say the record sounds American, because it doesn't, it sounds Cov as anything! But like the Colonel, Joby has a secret blend of herbs and spices.
Some of you might remember "This Is Real", from the demo version we put on our website to download, it's been re-recorded from scratch in the last few days, reworked to showcase Liam's superb drumming skills with additional lyrics, a virtuoso fiddle player and a Grammy award winning Hispanic vocal trio called Mariachi Rayna De Los Angeles. It's got something of "You're Not Alone" in there for sure.
"Gimmie The Sign" stands out as a step forward in the right direction, keeping the classic Enemy sentiments but with a more anthemic vibe. Still guitar led, still rocking. "Bigger Cages Longer Chains" reminds me of early songs like "Pressure". It's got an urgent intent about it.
We're still young and on the cusp of discovering what you can really do with music, we're all stupidly excited about this record, we've made huge strides without forgetting where we come from and belong.
While we've been out here we've had a young photographer called Kevin Donnelly from Coventry take a few snaps, here's some of us working and hanging around L.A. You can check out more of Kevs work here: http://www.kevin-donnelly.com
I'll also tweet some more casual ones later. Enjoy!
Tom Clarke
@tomclarke_enemy
@theenemyband
www.facebook.com/theenemy
www.tomclarkeofficial.blogspot.com
Welcome
Hello everyone! Thanks for visiting TheEnemy / Blog. I'll try to keep you updated and informed with all the latest. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to you all for your passionate support, you're the best fans a band could ever wish for and we have untold amounts of love and respect for each and every one of you! Take it easy! - Tom.
