Rosemary by BAAN

Recorded in East Lothian late October early November 2020.

All tracks composed by Peri Urban and Largy Baan, except "middle class hero" which was written by Peri Urban and Michael Cobley.

Produced and engineered by Peri Urban.

This album came as an unexpected gift. It seems to me that it's an Allegorical Metaphorism

We were experimenting with combining two discrete drum styles - jazz and modern dance - with no intention beyond that. So, five over four with a four to the floor feel, or straight fours with jazz-like ornamentation. Twelve collections of drum patterns were prepared, without forming any defined structure. That was achieved on day one just by experimentation, each collection being in a deliberately different tempo from all the rest.

Frappa had been collecting guitar effects pedals, and wanted to write product reviews for them. What better way than to actually use them for recording? Days two and three saw the addition of the majority of the guitar parts, with the initial emergence of nascent structures. Introduction, verse/chorus, break and ending were more or less established.

On day four DD added the bass guitar, and Largy began writing lyrics and gathering melodies.

On days five and six the structures were solidified and vocals were added, all singers combining throughout the tracks to provide lead and backing. Keyboards and additional guitars were also added at this point.

By day seven all tracking was complete and mixing began.

Within a few days that process was completed and the album was mastered and uploaded.

None of the songs were pre-written, except for part of “middle class hero”, which stems from a collaboration between Peri Urban and Michael Cobley in 1978.

The album was completed so quickly that I have almost no idea of how it happened, what it is, or where it came from. I provided the meat and the metal. Anything beyond that is more of a mystery to me than it is to you.

Like all musicians I wished I had the same number of limbs as an octopus. My wish was granted, but not in the way I had hoped for. My cephalopod partner is an enthusiastic volunteer from the worldwide animal charity Save Humans From Themselves. We share a special kind of love.