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R/R Coseboom
(Halou)
What inspired you to record 'Beneath Trembling Lanterns'?
Rebecca: We wanted to write an album where the
songs progressed naturally, not through a formula or
pre-determined structure. We wanted to try to make emptiness
feel full and harsh, gritty sounds feel beautiful.
Ryan:It’s nice to do something a little differently
than we usually do it. We had an idea to make
a record that relied less on structure and that forced
us to change the way we work a bit. To be honest,
I think our initial plans weren’t very solid
in that we didn’t have a clear idea what we were
going for until the songs were well on their way. Once
things started to take shape, you could hear where
things were headed and then we just kept on working
until it got there.
Instead of feeling like the songs
needed to evolve and change in a certain way – like verse, chorus,
verse – I paid more attention to what pacing
felt right. There was definitely not right or
wrong choice in any of the creative decisions we were
making for this record. In fact, we were able
to incorporate a lot of the more whimsical ideas we’ve
had over the years into this record and they fit quite
nicely, I think.
It was enjoyable to take essentially
the same palate of tools I used on the last Halou record
and use them in a completely different way, including
Rebecca. I
was always anticipating using her vocals as an additional
texture, not only as the vocal center of the songs. Of
course, she was in control of the main ways in which
her voice was used and her lyrics on this record are
more focused than ever. Describe the process a little bit?
Rebecca:It was our intention to be entirely uncensored
and self-indulgent. It was very difficult for
me to get there at first because I discovered that
structure is an insidious foe and I had not realized
how much I had come to rely on it. Without
those expectations, I began to feel a little overwhelmed
and lost, which are feelings that tend to cause my
paralysis. Once I got over that hurdle, things
swiftly picked up momentum and the album was finished
in no time. I was thinking too much.
Ryan: Well, as opposed to isolating myself as I often
do with Halou, Rebecca was in the room a lot of the
time when I was working on intial ideas. A lot
of my enthusiasm for this project came from hearing
her ideas very early on. That is something I
learned that I will definitely incorporate into the
way we work in the future. I think as I’ve
gotten a bit older, I’m able to ‘be creative’ with
other people in the room.
Once I got things started,
I just dumped tracks onto Rebecca’s ipod and then she’d figure her
parts out. Rebecca is never at a loss for vocal
parts. She always has three or four overlapping
parts for every part of every song. We don’t
often use them all in the songs, but it allows us choice. For
this record, I recorded everything in early on and
was able to put the different vocals into places she
might not have originally intended. Since we
were willing to have seven minute-plus songs, I wasn’t
too concerned about placing them end to end instead
of overlapping them.
How does it differ from Halou?
Ryan: Mainly, as I say, in that the songs are longer. Things
take more time to happen. Truth is, this really
could have been a Halou record in some ways. It
would have been an unexpected follow-up for Halou,
but it wouldn’t have been that strange. Maybe
the main reason it isn’t, is so that people listening
to it won’t have those expectations of what it
should sound like. Expectations can really screw
up a record from a lot of people. Using the R/R
Coseboom name makes it clear that this is a different
thing.
Why
use the R/R Coseboom name as opposed to a ‘band
name’?
Ryan: It’s interesting, really. Originally,
I thought this record was going to be much more abstract
than other things I’ve done, so I liked the juxtaposition. Usually,
when people use their own name, it implies intimate
or personal work. I thought it would be fun to
reverse that. However, once Rebecca began writing
lyrics, this record became probably the most personal
work we’ve done. The fact that we combined
that lyrical intimacy with songs that are a bit more
strange is the best thing about it all.
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