Eight New Roses Album

https://www.amazon.com/Eight-New-Roses-Junior-Chills/dp/B01I2YCU1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468021455&sr=8-1&keywords=junior+chills+eight+new+roses

After a while of preparation my first album is now finished and online. The songs which comprise the album were wrote quite quickly and I suppose I didn’t waste any time in recording the songs too (which was to my own detriment in one particular song). I suppose the first place I should start is with the title of the album. I didn’t make it up as a romantic album name but it was rather the combination of three records which were in my line of vision as I recorded the songs: The Hateful Eight soundtrack, Escape from New York soundtrack and Red Roses For Me, first album by The Pogues. I took a word from each and made the above title…it also was fitting since I had wrote 8 songs for the album too!!

1) Old F Chord – To be honest there isn’t much I can say about this song other than the style of play and convoluted lyrics differ from the other songs I have wrote. The title is based on the F chord shape which I play throughout the song…not very adventurous but I do like its difference.

2) Father Told Me – I wrote this song following the birth of my first child in June 2016. I think at the time I was positively overwhelmed by the birth and wanted to reflect on my father’s role with the birth of me in this song so it is both a song about my father and what I hope to aspire to as a father.

3) Smell That Night – One of my friends had a habit (maybe even a fetish haha) for commenting on how nice the night air smells in Ireland… I’m not sure if it was the smell of turf, home fires, air after rain or just a fresh smelling night air which appealed to him so much but it is something which I can appreciate and have tried to reflect this in the song. It is also a bit of a new departure for me as I tried to use my voice to sing in a different key while also harmonising at points.

4) Strange – I really like this song as I find it a very deep and meaningful song based on witnessed personal experiences. I sing about people only changing when certain things happen in their lives…for example: people only change their attitude about drinking / taking drugs when they don’t have money to buy them. They also don’t see the problem with indulging in one or the other when they have money to pay for them!! I suppose it is a message from me to the world that change is a good thing if you can do so in a positive way…it is a good thing as it can impact positively on those around you and is not a selfish action.

5) Bridie – Bridie is my attempt at a song about the Irish Famine in the 1840’s. I try to explore different aspects of the period in each verse from a person experiencing The Famine, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a coffin ship, trying to make a life for himself in New York and finally writing a letter back home about his experiences. It is also a song which I have dedicated to my great aunt Bridie who passed away a number of years ago…if anything she will always be immortalised in this song.

6) Autumn Leaves – I like this song for its simplicity and the way I sing the lyrics. I try to reflect back when I first started (attempted) to sing and I have noticed a massive improvement in confidence more than anything…this is a song about the futility of time and how quickly it can pass us by. I think somewhere before I commented on how when you were younger summer time seemed to last so long yet nowadays months fly by like autumn leaves caught in the wind.

7) Alone – I don’t know what influenced my mind at the time of writing this song but it delves into the whole idea of loneliness. It’s a reaction in a sense to being left at the side of the road or at the other side of the train tracks by yourself and culminates in a revelation at the end that no matter who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing you really are not alone.

8) Mermaid and The Man – This was the last song I wrote for the album and one which was wrote in the space of 30 minutes. To be perfectly honest the recording of this was rushed and which in hindsight I am not happy with (or at least the last 30 seconds of the song). I’ll need to remember for my next recordings to take my time and critically evaluate before putting it online. This song is a random look in to the life of a man who marries a mermaid. I think it is my attempt to replicate Christy Moore’s ‘Reel in The Flickering Light’ song where his story looks at a person who allows his sister to be married by a Johnny Long Legs / Daddy Long Legs insect…very random but an absolutely great song!!

So there it is. My first ever album recorded and one which I am very very proud of. If you get around to listening to the album remember that this was recorded in a room in my house…there has been no filters or add ons….it was simply me with my guitar, microphone, amp and lyrics.

I hope you can appreciate it at the very least for what it is – an original album reflecting on life experiences.

Here is a link to the album:

https://www.amazon.com/Eight-New-Roses-Junior-Chills/dp/B01I2YCU1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468021455&sr=8-1&keywords=junior+chills+eight+new+roses

D.M.