For The Record is one of the more musically interesting songs on this album. This track is written about manufactured music and the issues that lie in its conception and that of any artform when forced out just for the sake of meeting deadlines and hitting production milestones in the name of commerce. Though it is a necessary evil in many cases, forcing out music with no clear inspiration or underlying theme tends to result in musical works that are rather thin and hollow sounding and musically lacking in flow. In popular music many professional songwriters, composers and arrangers can easily come up with the basic elements to a song that will give it that “hit potential” Things like an infectious hook, a memorable melody, a lyrical chorus that leaves you humming it the rest of the drive home. Most of these things that, on paper, look to be all you need in a formula to go multi-platinum with a song. Though a lot of the subtext and transitional nuances that create a truly thick and memorable song tend to be lacking when it’s pumped out like on an assembly line.

This piece was written to reflect that compositionally. Many of the elements such as a catchy rhythm, a grooving bassline, a full repertoire of instruments, a recurring melodic motif and a healthy amount of dynamic intensity are all present here. What is also present as mentioned above is a “blocky” musical roadmap weaving in and out of unpredictable tangents in several musical styles right and left that don’t necessarily seem to transition smoothly from one to the next while also giving the practical illusion that we are still gliding through one single piece. Forced artwork tends to be many small pieces woven together very loosely with no easily identifiable story or sonic arch.

This is something that I have experienced in the past many times attempting to write for the sake of making a project bigger and it has always resulted in me finding many pieces that work well on their own but that do not possess that flow of a well-crafted song backed by the necessary drive and inspiration to create those naturally smooth elements and transitions. It’s like tring to put together a jigsaw puzzle with several boxes worth of pieces that aren’t even part of the same picture. This piece also, as well as being a story about not telling stories right, is also a song about the frustrations of trying to finish such a piece. As such you will notice the level of anxiety and energy gradually increase and a sense of tension persists as the song progresses to symbolize the impatience that comes in a creative process that has been forced.

So, enjoy this wild roller coaster ride of a song that I’m sure will keep you at the edge of your seat wondering what crazy unexpected plot-twist lies around the corner