"Red Tornado" is a descriptor of the emotional state that each of these songs came out of, whether it be depression, frustration, or high anxiety – the common thread running through this album.
Whether it’s album opener "Lucky Bastards", a song about ambition and poisonous envy, the American dream vexed to nightmare by the vapidity of pat aphorisms, or "On Your Way", a kiss-off song to a friend full of high ideals and low standards. To "Salt In the Wound", a song Marble describes as "a memoriam to a number of slow-suicide cases I’ve known in Portland. Frustrated artists that forget their beauty and drink themselves to death", Marble pulls no emotional punches in his pursuit to speak his mind and let his voice be heard.
"I took chances letting more people into the creative process. Working with two musicians in the band now (keyboard maestro Ben Macy and feral drummerkind Jason Russell), working with some outside engineers for tracking. I had a couple key overdub sessions with friends Peter Broderick (Horsefeathers) on violin and Mike Apinyakul (Shoeshine Blue) on guitar, both of which helped push songs in a new direction."
Marble also admits he was more sonically adventurous this time around. He tracked drums with more distortion from the beginning. He stacked up guitars more than he had in the past. And he tried to follow what each song was asking for, rather than relying on his preconceptions of what the arrangements were going to be. This less rigid, more organic approach resulted in a more vibrant expression of his vision.
"I was willing to lay some stuff down, like a rock record, and not mess with it by polishing it," states Marble. "I left the rough edges in this time."
Red Tornado was recorded at Leigh's Fishboy Studios, and was mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman.
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"Red Tornado" remixes are out now, on the "Twister" EP!
If you're viewing this on CD Baby, please see the link at the bottom left to "Twister". Otherwise, please hop over to CDBaby.com and search for "Leigh Marble", and you will find "Twister" there!
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