Written by Solder
Recorded by Andrew McEwen
& Solder
Mixed & mastered by Andrew McEwen
Featuring:
Timu Raubenhiemer (Guitar and Synth)
Finn O’Shea (Drums and Vocals)
Lily Harding (Vocals and Synth)
Sarah Hellyer (vocals)
Cosmo Feltham (saxophone)

‘Biography’ explores a first person point of view. It is an expression of our comprehension and contemplations in observation of the desire for humanizing ourselves, navigating the implications of the things moving around us, the role of history and the trajectories we are creating.

It captures in its writing both practiced moments of structure and improvisational moments of autonomous freedom. This play between structure and openness was important for us to refine without restriction.

Building on the momentum of a theme running through the album it features on, ‘Biography’ exists in movement. There is a kick drum that doesn't stop, propelling us in rhythm through the throws of calmness and chaos. It keeps time, but not timing; similar to that of our most internal time-keeping heart beat. You understand the rest.

This recording consists of two full length takes of which we cut in one spot. That cut can be seen in the live video. We chose to use the tools of recording as a formative part for this version of the song, which is naturally different every time it’s performed.

It was recorded in a large room by the ocean by Andrew McEwan, who can also be seen brushing their beautiful long hair during take 2.

The writing of this song was done with the help of miscellaneous objects which we associated with the sounds of particular sections. This allowed us to move parts of the song around and to give the structure a physical representation. This method was inspired by the indigenous knowledge systems of the First Nations Peoples of the land on which this song was written. Indigenous Australian songlines are many things as well as a complex memory map for navigating through country. This approach and understanding of memory inspired us to create a memory map through the objects, allowing us to navigate through the hour.  We feel very grateful to be able to live on Aboriginal Land and learn the complexities of their culture and take inspiration from connected ways of indigenous living. We also acknowledge the importance of indigenous knowledge systems as a requirement for healing the actions we take on this land.

Biography’ was recorded live, face to face, with our objects on one side and Andy and the ocean on the other. There are 3 main live improvisational sections in the song. For these sections, friends/extended members of Solder, Cosmo Feltham, Sarah Hellyer and Lily Harding, also improvised by recording without hearing the track beforehand. We used only first takes.

Other structured parts were worked out together.

‘Biography’ is about half of the playtime for our upcoming album, almost acting like a single body to asymmetrically mirror the other songs, connecting back to them in commentary and reflection, playful reimagination and chaotic deconstruction: and so it is a big representation of what is to come.

Digital Album, handmade CD’s,  Photo zine and clothing in next few weeks.