There are things we do because we want to do them Others because we feel an obligation And then there are things we do without knowing why we do them, because we feel compelled. There is an article of faith in schools of philosophy and spirituality that says the path to freedom and enlightenment comes from non-attachment, that it is through conquering our impulses and detaching ourselves from desire that we become our ultimate selves. But I say fuck that. I prefer desire to enlightenment. I want to love passionately until the flame goes out and, when it does, I want to go with it. So I wrote some songs on the subject and named the collection Compulsions. On March 25th of this year, I rented a studio in Brooklyn and ran through a bunch of songs with a bassist named Julie Rozansky. Four days later I ran through the same batch with the drummer Chris DeRosa. The next month, the three of us rehearsed the songs together for the only time before heading into the recording studio in May and knocking them out in a few hours. Over the next few months - between bouts of Covid, weddings, and vacations - I went back into the studio to overdub vocals, guitars, piano, and anything else I could think of to flesh out the original arrangements. It was my good luck to find four people who helped me mold the rough clay of my songs into something beautiful. In addition to the aforementioned rhythm section, the stringmeister, Luke Cissell, arranged and played the violins and other stringed instruments, while the wizard of the wavelengths, Reed Black, worked his magic as producer. Over the next 8 days I will be posting the individual tracks, with some notes on each. I hope you are able to find a little time over the coming days to give these songs a listen. The music is available wherever you get your fix: https://linktr.ee/mikepowernyc
Words & Music by Mike Power 