‘Philly Cheese String’
I wrote this frenetic track while on holiday on Hawaii. The title comes from a story someone was telling me and I misheard the phrase ‘Frilly G-string’. Funny thing is, even though I thought she said ‘Philly Cheese String’ the image in my mind was definitely a frilly g-string!
‘Clipnosis’
Written on the morning of my recording session in Minneapolis. It was quite a head trip to teach two of my compositions to some of my musical heroes. 15 minutes later, we rolled tape. Contains amazing synth gymnastics from Dr Fink (The Revolution) as well as solos from Eric Leeds (The Revolution, D’Angelo) on sax, and drummer Petar Janjic. Sonny T from the New Power Generation is on the bass. He played on Cream, no big deal.
‘There It Is’
Chantal Mitvalsky is a brilliant vocalist and an old friend, I’ve wanted to do a co-write with her for years. It was a very quick process, I sent her the backing, she came over to my house with a melody and some lyrics and we finessed them together, recording a demo that very day. We just made a video clip, which was only released yesterday. Every time I hear the introduction I think “In the criminal justice system…”
‘Tarmac’
This is your theme song when you‘re disembarking your private Lear jet, crossing the runway in slow motion in your fly-eye glasses with the band in tow, just before you step into the limo and zoom over to the stadium for soundcheck.
‘August’
My dedication to August Darnell, the frontman of Kid Creole and the Coconuts – a mutant disco band whose flamboyant style is a great inspiration, both musically and visually. Saxophonist Eric Leeds was a huge fan, and turned Prince onto them, and Prince liked them so much he sent them a song called ‘The Sex of It’ which ended up on their album Private Waters In the Great Divide (1990), featuring Eric himself on sax!
‘Enamoured’
Another tune written in Hawaii, this is a sweltering future soul jam with a lysergic solo bubbling under a spoken word verse by Silver Lining’s Françoise D’Argent. According to Funkatopia it’s “like a re-imagining of the cassette tape that was playing in Prince‘s bedroom during Purple Rain”
‘Moon Room’
Inspired by the documentary film Room 237, which investigates conspiracy theories about the Kubrick film The Shining, this is a hard-swingin’ jazz tune with a sinister edge. Jon Hunt plays the Bari sax solo at the end and it may just cause your speaker cones to shoot across the room.
‘Money Runs Out’
A frenetic, anti-capitalist psych-out in a major key. The stock market may crash tomorrow, but there will always be life affirming art to invigorate the spirit and get you through.
‘Out There Bout There’
The second track to feature Dr Fink, Eric Leeds, Sonny T and Petar Janjic. Eric’s sax solo is biblical and Sonny T’s unorthodox technique (he plays a left-handed bass strung like an upside down rightie) gives rise to a solo that reaches right into your face and twists it into a fonky grimace.
‘4AM Bunker Funk’
4AM began as a jam over a drum loop. At first it was just me on keys and St. Paul Peterson on bass. It moves through a few different sections that all evolved spontaneously. Dr Fink and his wife Andra have this hilarious improvised routine where they do the full-on Minnesota accents. I grabbed a phone recording of them in a car park in Minneapolis, and it made it to this track! You’ll learn new words like “lunker”, donchaknow?
‘Rare Love’
A tune I wrote years ago gets given new life via some killer soul vocals from Shannen Wick, and a slick arrangement that evokes the sound of Morris Day and the Time. St Paul Peterson himself from the Time is making the bass rumble. Ironically, it’s much closer now to how I originally imagined it. Features a red-hot four-piece horn section playing the curliest sax line I’ve ever written, inspired by the intense funk bebop stylings of Eric Leeds.
‘The Miracle Kind’
No one tears into a soul vocal like Henry Manetta, his controlled intensity exploding into a supernova on this anti-gravity ballad. The Oberheim drips pure Vangelis treacle onto the vinyl groove, and the incendiary guitar sets it alight.
