A 15 track album on CD-R (SHR11CD) & A 5 track REMIX album on mini CD-R (SHR11CD2)

AUDIO

LONG LOST TRACKLIST

- The Story Of Us
- A Song For You
- Before You Know It
- Stranger
- Mistakes
- Don't Say It's Over
- All We Shared
- For Always Forever
- Thinking About Her
- Long Lost
- History
- Limits
- A New Religion
- Hold On
- Hope

LONG LOST REMIXED TRACKLIST

- The Story Of Us (Dub Version)
- History (Alternate Version)
- For Always Forever (Orchestral Mix)
- Mistakes (Organic Version)
- Stranger (Acoustic Mix)

View the lyrics to this album

RECORDING INFORMATION

LONG LOST was released on November 1st 2006. This was the first new album since 'Appetence' was completed in March 2000. The longest ever gap between releases. So why did it take so long to finish? It's hard to think what has happened during the past five years! It's best to say a combination of factors; moving home, buying a new recording machine (Korg D1600) and getting used to that, a writer's block and other distractions as well as not having as much time to record as before. The project started out with a completely different title and a mainly different set of songs. There are a core of songs on 'Long Lost' which were there from the beginning and others which have been added since. There are a number of songs, still in various stages of development, that were set aside to try and focus on finishing this CD-R. It's great to have finished it at last. The name LONG LOST was decided upon some time ago and a CD cover was made up. The title could refer to lost love, friendship, youth, memories or a CD of Shining Hour songs that seemingly failed to materialise for a long time! Incidentally, the CD cover is reversible (if you really want to!). I decided not to print the lyrics within the CD booklet as these are readily available from this website. Click on the Lyrics button above for more detail.

LONG LOST REMIXED is a mini CD-R which slips inside the main CD-R and contains five remixes of songs from the main CD-R. Descriptions are below of both the original and remixed versions.

THE STORY OF US One of the core songs from the beginning, recording started in August 2001. The backing track was completed 5 months later but the song sat on the Korg machine unattended until vocals were added 4 years later. I always liked this idea though, with the funky drums, bass, wah-wah guitar and brass. I imagined it to be like a breezy Sundays style song. Although the title was always there, the lyrics chopped and changed numerous times. A good opener I think. A Dub version appears on the remix CD-R. This was a fun thing to do. I was going to call the version, 'The Story Of Dub' a la New Order titles from the 80s! (i.e. Touched By The Hand Of Dub etc). This version is over twice the length of the original version and plays around with its structure.

A SONG FOR YOU Along with 'Safe And Sound' and 'From England With Love', this is only one of three songs which were recorded and finished in a relatively short period of time. 'Safe And Sound' was completed in April 2004, 'From England With Love' May 2006 and this song was recorded and mixed in November 2003. 'A Song For You' and 'Safe And Sound' have been available for download for some time now. During the past five years, I have become interested in finger picking styles, although I'm not great at them! This idea came about from that interest and is similar in style to 'History' also on LONG LOST. I think this is a very pretty song. I love the orchestral string sounds towards the end. There are some lovely chords there. The percussion is based upon a Nick Drake song. I reluctantly had to remix this from the version which was finalised on the Korg D1600 in November 2003. Unfortunately there was a major glitch on the 'unmastered' mix and therefore I decided to remix it on the PC. It's probably very slightly different in some levels although it's hard to tell. In any case, it fits in better with the overall sound of the other songs.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT Another 'core' song which was the first to be started in July 2001. I really liked the dual jangling guitars. One part is played an octave above the other to give it a quasi-twelve string electric sound. Again, the title was always there but the lyrics went through several permutations. I really love the bass sound. I can't remember what I did to it but it sounds like a Rickenbacker bass similar to what can be heard on songs by The Jam (one of my all time favourite bands).

STRANGER This was an idea from July 2002 but the recording process started quite late in mid 2005. The original idea was for it to have a more acoustic guitar based sound with an underlying Fender Rhodes piano but as I'm not great on the keyboards, it went in a more electric guitar based direction. This is one of quite a few songs on the CD-R to feature an E-Bow (first used to great effect at the beginning of 'Safe And Sound'). The E-Bow is a useful electronic device which when held above a guitar string, prolongs the note being played. The E-Bow belongs to my friend Neale (who also guests on the CD-R). He kindly let me borrow it ages ago. I really think I should give it back! A stripped down version, an 'Acoustic Mix', appears on the remix CD-R. This version has just the vocals and acoustic guitars plus a couple of other elements.

MISTAKES This is a relatively new song. The idea came about in April 2005 when messing around with an alternate guitar tuning shown to me by my friend Kevin (who also guests on the CD-R). He wrote some really good songs using it. For those interested it's CACFCG (I tuned up one half step to make all the notes sharp). The tuning gives the chords a rich drone style. It's the longest song on the CD clocking in at 6.38. The arrangement has some brass, piano, organ and a choir of me singing about 6 parts. And if one wasn't enough...! The 'Organic Version' on the remix CD-R is a shortened, stripped down version which contains organ, vocals, bass guitar and the brass at the end of the song.

DON'T SAY IT'S OVER In July 2003 came up with an idea based around two acoustic guitar chords which was then expanded to a full song. I had the title from the beginning. I didn't start recording it until July 2005. I think I must have been influenced by the debut album of Budapest called 'Too Blind To Hear' which was released in 2002 (well worth checking out). The song shares a similar acoustic guitar build up to an 'epic' finale, all in under 5 minutes. I really like the strings and the guitar atmospherics in this song.

ALL WE SHARED Another core song. My friend and Fragile band-mate Neale Harmer is guest guitarist on this song. I had the idea for this song back in mid-1999, influenced by one of my favourite ever bands, Daryll-Ann. The idea was for the acoustic guitars to start and the drums and bass to fade in. Eventually, I decided that it would be better if the whole track faded in. Recording commenced in early 2005. I wanted to record some jangly guitars but couldn't think of anything to play so Neale suggested that he might be able to add something. I gave him a CD of the basic track and rough vocals and in March 2005, he recorded two tracks in one take each. His idea was to record one track and then provide an alternative version. I liked both of them so I decided to pan them left and right in the stereo field. The song also features the E-Bow. A good song with nice vocal harmonies.

FOR ALWAYS FOR EVER I had the idea for this song in March 2000. It was originally titled 'Den Baron Song' after the elusive Apricot popster. I felt an affinity with Den Baron and his 'romance-pop' as the Apricot team called it. I recorded 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitars to a 'click-track' in early 2003. I had trouble with the keyboard string parts as I couldn't get the arrangement which was in my head onto the computer. I finally cracked it nearly two years later in 2005. I re-recorded the acoustic guitar parts shortly after, adding in electric guitar, bass, a fantastic whooshing Hammond organ sound and an oboe. This song has been a long time favourite and I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out.

THINKING ABOUT HER An idea from my birthday in 2004 with a working title of 'Thinking It Over'. This song features a Hammond organ style sound which appears in a number of songs on LONG LOST. This song also features the E-Bow. I later employed a piano bass riff featured in this song on 'From England With Love'

LONG LOST I came up with this song in February 2005. I had the idea for the title of the CD some time before and it seemed to fit perfectly and I decided to make it the title track. I had been listening to The Cardigan's fantastic album 'Long Gone Before Daylight' and Ryan Adam's sublime 'Love Is Hell' and both probably influenced me. Certainly the pipe-sounding organ and lap/pedal steel sound are typical of (alt)-country styles. I was quite pleased with the way the lap/pedal steel sound worked as no stringed instrument for this part is played at all! (Anyone who's heard me try and play slide guitar will know why!)

HISTORY A 'sister' song to 'A Song For You' . The idea for this was from November 2002. Although the picking style is similar to 'A Song For You', I wanted to use a different percussive backing and couldn't think of what to do. Neale suggested that I use a tambourine instead and to that I added a percussive triangle. I think it works very well and makes it distinct. I originally recorded multi-harmony vocals but decided to opt for the simplicity of one vocal for the final mix. The multi-part vocal version appears on the remix CD as 'Alternate Version'.

LIMITS An idea from 27.01.02, on which day I recorded a rough 'live' version which has been on the website ever since. My friend Kevin really loves this song and regularly plays a lovely 'gospel' flavoured piano version. I recorded a fairly straightforward 3/4 time version but added 12 string electric guitar, dulcimer (a sound used on the song 'Blue Water' from Appetence and Postcards From Home), and some accordion sounds (no, really!). Thinking about it, it would be really great to get Kevin to record his piano version sometime... and maybe a gospel choir... maybe that's too ambitious!

A NEW RELIGION An idea from May 2001, this was another core song. I had the title for ages. It's not really about religion, it's about meeting someone new and that feeling of elation when you know you've 'clicked' with them. It's partly based on a true event. It's a very pretty song I think. Again it used the Hammond organ sound in the background. The vocals worked out really nice too.

HOLD ON An idea from October 2001 with a working title of 'Hold On To Your Heart' although I had no idea what I was going to sing about! The title was shortened after the lyrics were finally written. The arrangement - organ led with sparse guitar - was based on an REM bootleg of a song they never fully recorded which still remains a favourite. My friend Kevin came over and I got him to record 3 backing vocals. He sang two lower harmonies and an octave harmony which sounds really lovely. He has got a really nice but also powerful voice. I recorded him in April 2005 and also ten of his own songs, of which 'Sunshine and Showers' is just stunningly beautiful.

HOPE Inevitably, it wouldn't be a Shining Hour CD if there wasn't an element of love lost somewhere in the lyrics(!) so I thought it would be good to end on a positive note. The original idea was from February 2004 and was entitled, 'The Feeling has Gone' but when it came to lyric writing, I found myself burdened with a title I couldn't write anything about, hence the name change. The multi vocals at the end of the song are singing 'Hope' in case you cannot make them out! I love the drums fills on this song as it fades out.

I hope you enjoy!

Mark on Worthing seafront October 2006.		Neale recording his guitar parts to 'All We Shared' on 16.03.05.		Kevin recording some of his songs at my house in April 2005.