With a gentle sway and a serene voice, Collington are charging through the music world upon the latest release, In Between. Opener “Trouble” sets the stage perfectly, executing the rock and roll folk beautifully. Throughout the EP, the songs are defined by their carefully layered melodies, riding between the delicate vocal presence. Take a listen below and read an exclusive track by track of In Between by Collington!
Trouble-
This was the first song I wrote for the record. When I finished it I loved it and knew I wanted to write a record around it. For me, it was also the beginning of an honest conversation with myself. I went through one of the hardest years of my life and put my hands to the plow to try to get through it. A friend of mine used to say “the painting knows more than the painter.” I learned about myself from the song. I started to come to terms with how I was feeling inside despite me trying to blow through a difficult time. I took this song, along with four more demos and sent them to my producer, (Eric Owyoung) to see which he liked best. Sending the rough iPhone demos off in an email, I crossed my fingers that this song would stick out to him. I’m so glad it did.
Safe-
“Safe” was a weird song to write and it almost didn’t make it on the record. I worked at a coffee shop and whenever I was making drinks, second-nature would take over and my mind would wander away. While zoned out and making lattes I just started making this song up in my mind. It stayed there for months before I finally started demoing it out. If you’re into Stranger Things, I’ve compared this record to a journey through The Upside Down. I was really trying to process through changes in my life. Sticking with the metaphor of The Upside Down, I think this song represents the haunting nature of being somewhere familiar yet so far away from home.
Cold-
When I wrote this song I sat down with the goal of writing something that wasn’t maxing out my vocal range. It was a song I had a lot of fun with building and I feel in love with how it developed in the end. Eric was able to give me some tips to really bring it to life. I returned to Sound Cave Studio’s in Salt lake City to finish the record with one of my favorite engineers and session players, Andrew Goldring. I really love what Andrew did on this track. It’s easily one of my favorite tracks on the EP.
Here We Go-
“Here We Go” was written when I was was finishing compiling demos. I wrote the verse and the chorus, got up to get a glass of water, and the pre-chorus popped into my head. I ran back to my guitar to demo the song with the new pre-chorus. I was so excited about this song but everyone except my wife hated the demo. I redid the record a few times before tracking drums and bass at The Halo in Portland, Maine. The song touches on a lot of the themes that the EP talks about as a whole as well as fighting through people being against a direction I was headed in.
War-
“War” is one of my favorite songs on the record. It’s a melting pot of ideas and emotions. When I was writing the song I felt like I was “In Between” (see what I did there?). The heart beat of the song is to faithfully put one foot in front of the other and fight against any barrier that would keep you from heading in the right direction. I think a common misconception is that if you’re going the right direction that it’s going to be easy. Another wise mentor of mine says, character is more important than talent. For me, I’d rather fail doing things the right way vs. achieving a twisted version of the goal with compromise.
