The Paint @ 10
The story
I started writing songs for The Paint in 2006 and finished in 2011.
This is the longest gap between music projects in my discography.
Unlike other projects, these songs weren't necessarily recorded to be part of an album. They were relatively loose and free of concept except for motifs I wouldn't notice until much later. I guess I don't really know why the songs came together at all in the end.
I felt a bit washed up as a rapper since transitioning from the fertile days of MySpace to the wasteland of Facebook. In the 5 year span there were nearly 50 songs, ideas and scraps recorded for a "solo" project.
During the editing phase I noticed there absolutely was a central story and character floating between the songs.
Our nameless character finds a book under his bed written by the mysterious Thomas. The stories in the book keep influencing the dreams of our narrator and the people around him. Soon reality itself becomes unstable. Distant towers turn into windmills, buildings into trees and writing quills are produced from peoples chests. The characters start to wonder if Thomas' stories are fictional or biographical. The title 'The Paint' is a reference to Thomas' fascination with hiding from death. He claimed that the universe isn't as intelligent as believed and that simply by painting one's self to blend in with their surroundings they can hide from death.
He believed that the moon held a pigment necessary for full invisibility and eternal life.
The stories on the album weave in and out between Icarus and Don Quixote. Ambitions, narrative confusion, love, loss and fear of being considered uninspired all run throughout the music.
As I listen back, 10 years later. there are certainly some different choices I may have made. Editing here and there for length. Production, lyrical, mixing (or lack there of) choices that annoy me. There are also some ideas, deliveries, tonal and arrangement choices that I don't know if i'd have the courage to try and pull off today.
Overall I'm very proud of this album and I hope that people who are familiar with it find some new insight in the older songs along with the companion project.
And to all the new listeners I really hope that you enjoy both parts of this project. I don't believe you'll find much of it 'dated'. I've always been proud of myself for not jumping on any sonic bandwagons and really trying to make music that sounds fresh or just different and exciting.
The Paint
1. If You Are Still Here...
2. Constant
3. Moments Ago and Before
4. Still Life Series (Prod. by Tapurekoda)
5. Broad Shoulders of the Earth
6. Briny
7. That Dark Works Perfectly
8. ...I Will Wait
9. Head Coma
10. Wake For Waves
11. Under a Lemon Tree
12. Old and Dead
13. Thomas, Full of Fireflies
14. Cloud Cover
15. Empty Stage
I Want to Die in Your Sleep (The Paint companion)
1. Intro
2. Umm... and the Paint
3. Single Title
4. Eternals
5. Tiny Fabrics
6. Mercy & Despair
7. The Paint
8. Bandit Mask
9. Campfire
10. RPG Fantasy Love
11. Still Life Series (Original)
12. The Book Beneath My Bed
13. Spine