Monthly Archives: November 2023

Checking In: end of year plans and a playlist

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Hey ho, still here, still doing revision work on Queen Ophelia’s War and taking care of Real Life stuff in the interim. I’ve been busy!

So, what’s the plan for the end of the year, you ask? The plan is to return in December with my usual year-end reviews and thoughts as always. Same as with Welcome to Bridgetown, I’ve decided that I’ll at least aim for one entry a week as a doable goal and see where we go from there. I’m not pushing myself because my day job is in retail and it’s the holiday season, and my mental and physical health come first.

Will I return to where I left off with The Belfry Years? Maybe not until the new year, and I might retool it a bit so I can feature some new music here as well. Doing The Boston Years was equally enjoyable and cathartic but ultimately took a bit too long and I’d really like to get back to posting about new things here again. I’ll have it ironed out come January.

On that note, I’ll be back soon, most likely on 5 December or thereabouts. See you then!

In the meantime, here’s a not quite finished playlist of music for Queen Ophelia’s War. It’s full of…autumnal sounding songs, and I think you might like it!

Fly-By: Now and Then

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Okay, so the brand-new ‘last’ Beatles song just dropped early this morning:

Did I sleep terrible last night in anticipation of this release at 7am PT this morning? Yes, yes I did.

I’ve only heard it twice as of this post — both times on KEXP’s morning show with John Richards, of course — so I’m still trying to process it all. I’d been familiar with the grainy bootleg version for a few years now, and I had a feeling this was the song the Threetles had been working on and abandoned back in 1995.

It was one thing to be blown away by two all-new songs back then, especially with the dreamlike “Free As a Bird”, but it’s still pretty wild to be able to witness a third new song from the band that inspired and influenced me for decades, a band that had broken up a year before I was born.

So, thoughts so far:
— I am now dearly hoping they play around with “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” to make John’s voice clearer on those as well, especially the latter. I love both tracks, but the vocals on that one are extremely warbly and muddy.
— Dare I say, the ending of this track sounds a bit…Radiohead-ish? I mean, it’s a very Beatle-ish ending with a melody that’s a variation of the theme but still very different. Still, those darker chords give the song, and the band, an unexpected freshness. It’s like ‘hey, we might be a 60s band, but we still mean something in the 20s.’
— Did I immediately buy the single off Amazon? Of course I did! I’ll have to give it a few further listens, as well as its b-side — a brand new stereo mix of their first official single, “Love Me Do”.
–Did I also pre-order the new 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 CDs that are dropping next week? Of course I did! And yes, I will definitely do a post on those releases here when I have a moment.

…and on that note, I’m back to the writing mines. See you sometime soon!