This is, along with “Progress”, one of my two favorite songs from the RPM Challenge. The tenth and final song from the challenge is a moody, atmospheric slice of minimal techno, and wrapped up a fun and exhausting month of songwriting, and now wraps a fun and exhausting two months of producing and mixing.
When I initially wrote and arranged this, it felt a bit like a throw-away. I bounced back to the comfortable style of music I stuck with for so many years rather than really challenging myself again. It was “write the tenth and final song and be done with this RPM thing already!” rather than an attempt to broaden myself.
But then I listened to it a few times, and it really stuck with me. I bounce between this and “Progress” as my two favorite songs from the RPM Challenge, depending on my mood at the moment. Not sure what about it sucked me in, but something intangible about it really resonates with me.
Islay, for the curious, is the region of Scotland where some fo my favorite Scotches comes from. Notably, in this case, Ardbeg, which is what I was sipping as I composed this song.