Author: Tom

Part of the truest realisation we will make about suffering is just how vulnerable we are alone.” Alone Watching black jackets fade into the night, out of the blanket of warm lamps, And dim windows shielding sensual mutterings from the outside. Sitting staring at cream walls, shabby tiles, and immaculate cupboards, A cluttered sideboard and… Continue reading Nightwork2- Alone

It’s early – or it’s late, depending on when you wake. I think I’ll sit outside and have a cigarette, pulling on three layers just to be out in the cold The gentle slide of the window ends in a creak and thud once it’s at the top (I hope I don’t wake the neighbours… Continue reading From the Balcony

I first stumbled across Norm’s comedy by accident, with YouTube’s algorithm working the wonders that it does in suggesting new and exciting video rabbit holes to fall into. My first prominent memory was a video of him promoting one of his podcast sponsors, the “Mangrate,” which he read, was ‘revolutionising the way people grill… Chicken,… Continue reading Norm MacDonald

Youtube Analysis Available Here: https://youtu.be/l0TYmRy-8bU During the chorus of Summer’s End, the dense texture of the instruments provides the perfect backdrop upon which to experiment with melodic choices in the vocal. The first section features a descending sequence of C# minor, B and A, played twice over. The first melodic line follows six key tones,… Continue reading Summer’s End- Colour Tones in Melody

Youtube Analysis Available Here: https://youtu.be/AIftpqvxXg0 During this song I wanted to channel some of the vocal and chordal choices which would resonate with the likes of Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. The piece starts with a dissonant and jarring double stop of F and C# over a D major pedal, only to resolve to F#… Continue reading The Night Smoker- Dark and Light

Youtube Analysis Available Here: https://youtu.be/C3lUDoG_J9Y The middle section to “Paper Aeroplane,” is my tribute to three of my jazz guitar heroes, Joe Pass, Lenny Breau and Ted Greene, whose work in creating other worldly chord melodies with all sorts of inversions and techniques, inspired much of my guitar study towards the end of university. It… Continue reading Paper Aeroplane- Chord Melodies

Thematically, this track deals with the anxiety of finding the next place to belong once everything behind you is starting to disappear. I used lots of open chords to experiment with less definite major and minor sounds, the suspense reflecting the subject matter. The tag line from the chorus is over the most common pop… Continue reading Nothing Left in this Town- Sticking with the Basics

Youtube Analysis Available Here: https://youtu.be/nrLsB2ZKCgU Throughout this song, the chord progression mainly revolves around the ii-V-I in the verses and at the end of choruses, but the chorus’ main progression features a pedal between B minor and A, which sort of implies a V-I in D, being that D occupies the 3rd, 5th and 7th… Continue reading Another Kid with a Dream- Creating an Interesting Middle 8

Youtube Analysis Available Here: https://youtu.be/fzCpvBObJ8s The song came to partially after waking up from a dream, the day before I had spent time by the sea in the early hours of a summer morning under the influence of a mild psychedelic drug. I wanted to create something which captured the susurration and the movement of… Continue reading A Garden Called Morning- Extreme Modal Interchange