Promise

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2009

Label: Make Mine Music

Album info:
"Promise" was recorded with a "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" approach. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, and it's too long. As such, I find it difficult to listen to. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it's my least liked Portal album by some distance. Conversely, it seems to be many people's favourite. Each to their own...

Recorded at home in Oxford, UK, to Tascam 788 digital 8-track portastudio. Mastered by Tim Turan at Turan Audio, Oxford.

Sleeve photography by Scott Sinfield. Sleeve design by the NME award winning Ben Curzon (www.bencurzon.com).

Personnel:
Rachel Hughes – Vocals
Scott Sinfield – Squier Stratocaster guitar, Peavey Milestone III bass, Boss DR202 groove box, Casio FZ1 sampler.
Effects: Ebow Plus, Boss CH1 Chorus, Boss DD3 Digital Delay, Boss SF1 Super Distortion Feedbacker, RAT Distortion, Alesis Midiverb 4.

Track notes:
Lacuna – The earliest track on the album, written in 2001 and premiered as the opening track of our live set at the Oblique Lu Nights festival in Nantes, France.

Hold (2) – Far superior version to the mix that appeared on the Split CD with Yellow6. The track is based on guitar chords and a melody that I'd had hanging around for about ten years, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

An Open Sky – This track began life as a remix for the band Tristeza, which they rejected on the basis that it sounded nothing like the original. In fairness, there was very little of the original in it, largely because I didn't actually like their track very much. Anyway, after their rejection of it, I reworked the track even further to replace all of the original elements and turn it into a Portal track. The title is a reference to The Young Gods' "A Ciel Ouvert", simply to recognise their influence on what I do and my love of their music.

The Sun Will Rise – The first Portal song to be written entirely on the DR202 groovebox, with guitar parts added much later. The song suffers a bit from a really bad mix, the result of the limitations of the 8-track and having to mix tracks down before everything was recorded, but it's not without merit. Any similarity between "The Sun Will Rise" and Donna Summer's "State of Independence" is entirely appropriate.

Into the Light – An instrumental that started life as a Slint-influenced track, before mutating in other directions. The samples were found during a Google search for audio files of dialogue, rather than specifically looking for the voices of astronauts. The samples that I eventually used in the final track just seemed to fit. One of the rare successes of the album, to my mind.

A Day Before July – Programmed into the DR202 whilst sat watching the TV news on the evening of June 30th 2002. A nod towards Philip Glass.

Ghost in the Sand – During a holiday in Cornwall, I photographed the sand on a beach spiralling high into the air in the wind, which is where the title comes from. The same beach was photographed for the album's inner artwork.

Hope – The lyrics were written whilst revisiting a hillside on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, where I used to sit when I needed space to think and some time to myself when I was a teenager. Another attempt at writing something 'folky'. Again, not a piano, but a sampled bass pitched far higher than it has any right to be.

From May to September – When I was a child, and absent from school, I used to be able hear the other children playing in the school playground from our house. The sound of children playing always reminds me of this. I quite like this track.

Safe – A simple love song. There are reversed vocal loops in the background, if you listen hard enough. They should have been louder to make the track sound a little more strange, a bit more like early His Name is Alive.

Henna – I was never happy with this song. It's on the right lines, but it never really got there, for me. It was based on a sequencer pattern inspired by one of the greatest songs ever recorded, OMD's "Messages". I apparently annoyed one of my then-housemates when I recorded this song because of the pounding, repetitive drum pattern. Sorry, Rich, wherever you are.

Arion – I don't really remember anything of note about this track, I'm afraid, yet it is one of my favourite tracks on here. There should have been more feedback on Portal tracks, I think.

Visions – In his generous review of this album, Jonathan Leonard correctly noted the similarity between this track and Cabaret Voltaire's "Automotivation." There was honestly no intention at all to rip it off when I wrote it, despite the Cabs being one of my favourite bands since the age of 14 or so. In fact, I had to dig the track out when I read Jon's review to see if he was right. One of those subconscious things, I suppose.

Always – Written and recorded in one afternoon, after connecting an old Casio keyboard sampler that I'd been given to my drum machine, just to see what MIDI was all about. Quite a nice track, really, I suppose.

The Rain That Clears the Air – The start of this track, with the crossfade and guitar feedback, was originally much longer, but I was persuaded (against my better judgement) to shorten it at the mastering stage. Oh well...

Free download from:
http://portal-archive.blogspot.com/