Alison Fleming

TRACKLIST 

1. Play On Words   4:33                 
2. The Fisherman   3:45
3. No Good Child   5:44
4. Ophelia   4:14
5. Catch You Out   3:23
6. In A Daze   4:40
7. Lover In The Sun   3:34
8. Let It Rain   4:03
9. Run Riot   4:59
10. In The Country Now   3:37

"Creating this album has been a thrill. We took our time and went the extra yards, which has more than paid off - we love how it has turned out, and feel honoured it's garnering such fantastic reviews." ~ Alison

Alison's approach to writing a song is, not surprisingly, instinctive and spontaneous. Sometimes there’s a general topic or direction in mind. First she experiments with chords on guitar or piano. Melodies come in, to which lyrics are added and eventually a song emerges. This process has been the norm from day one.

“The chords inspire the mood. The lyrics might start off as gobbledegook but then phrases emerge to guide the process - things are decoded and organised.  It’s a never-ending experiment. In practical terms it's much like writing a letter. I have to use pencil and paper. Computers get in the way. If  not in the mood, nothing comes out or it's all disjointed so it'll end up in the bin. But when the mood hits, it flows effortlessly. Song, The Fisherman was written in 5 minutes."

Work on the album began in May of 2020 and was done over the internet over the course of 2.5 years, completing in October 2022. Using Logic Pro and Ableton DAWs (digital audio workstations), Alison in the USA sent demo-song mp3s and their respective audio files to music producer Paul Baggott at his studio in the UK. 

“Sometimes there were maybe 4 tracks being edited and/or revised at the same time, plus (later on) Remixes came into play for a complementary electronic album. We were flying from the seat of our pants to make sure all the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed. Intermittently we were working with other artists on songs and projects external to Play On Words. It was all Go!"

"Most songs had been written many years ago. It was rewarding revisiting them in all their youth and naivety. With more experience under the belt and with Paul's incredible gifts as a musician and producer, the tracks grew into the wiser souls of their carefree beginnings." 

Alison wanted her songs to sound ‘just as they are, only better’. Their original essence, the lyrics and arrangements remained much in tact while being developed. The album is definitely all-Alison and all-Paul, ie no ‘reference’ tracks (almost). Only one song track #10, In The Country Now, is a shout out to Van Morrison whose feel is evident throughout, thanks to Paul.

Between August and October 2022 various tweaks were considered and some were made. 

Paul arranged a shorter version of the soulful Let It Rain. Stripped of its orchestration and percussive elements, the track worked wonderfully with Alison's piano and vocals alone. Paul digitally honed the keys' dynamics, for feel.

The Fisherman's mid-section was edited for harmonica and orchestration.  

In A Daze and Run Riot both needed some stripping back, to create more space. 

For the title track Play On Words, there was discussion on how to approach the rhythm through the middle-8. After much persuasion by Paul, Alison saw the merits of Paul's suggested diversion from the grooves of the verses. This resulted in the more captivating and progressive feel you hear.

“Only when both of us were satisfied with every nuance, did a song go for mastering.”

ALBUM TITLE

Initially The Fisherman was a strong contender for the album's title. It lost its buoyancy when Play On Words, not least with its catchy name, was found to sit so well as track number 1. So Play On Words became the name of the album and the artwork was adjusted accordingly.

TRACK ORDER

Album track order was an ongoing consideration.

Alison created playlists galore, quite literally naming them from A to Z and onwards - listening, changing the order, listening again. Given the wide variety of moods, tempos, and rhythms great care was taken to ensure a seamless and natural flow from one track to the next.

COVER ART

A variety of concepts were batted back and forth. Design ideas went through many stages - not least due to the swing in album title from The Fisherman to Play On Words. Par for the course, a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor.

The chosen concept utilises photographs taken by Alison's brother Stephen Hugill, notably the famous London cityscape as seen from the location of the Royal Observatory at the top of the hill in Greenwich UK.

The wallet cover design is by Paul who is also a talented visual artist and he was more than happy to assist. (Paul also helped with art for the 2017 Freeway albums). The design consists of a close-up of Alison at the podium of a telescope. 

At first Alison was in two minds about it. To her it resembled the barrel of a gun pointing at her solar plexus. Eventually she saw the originality of the composition and its curious vibe and came to love it - its colour palette too.

The lyrics booklet contains images of rough scraps from the original song scribblings; and sections of skyline magnified as if seen through the telescope. The booklet's centre spread - the perfect place - displays the whole Greenwich panorama.

Open up the CD wallet and there's the cityscape again, this time dwarfed by the vast expanse of a starry heaven above.

ARTWORK SYMBOLISM - CITYSCAPE

“In a literal sense the album holds plenty a mention of urban life. 

The Fisherman - the location begins in London (the London Docklands riverfront is silhouetted in the booklet).  

Lover In The Sun begins in a classroom - the lyrics pair with a city silhouette of the Millennium Dome showing what could be construed as ladders pointing up to the sky - to the land of dreams and possibilities. 

Catch You Out is set in suburbia. 

No Good Child mentions a skyline from the off. 

Other tracks depict news, roads, trains, cars. 

Final track, In The Country Now has us leaving the city behind."

Finally, the very nature of the Observatory is an analogy. We can watch closely as well as from afar; as humans we look both inwardly and outwardly. We listen and observe - things are revealed. We marvel at that big wide sky full of stars and we experience that inner human-universe of experience, awareness and imagination.  It's a great big melting pot that creates a song."

[Quotes ~ Alison]