The Making Of 'Great Unknown'
Album Story Series: Chapter 4 | Behind-the-scenes of my debut album
‘Great Unknown’ started simply with a conversation.
Most of my songs are spun from stories or nature or myths or folklore or paintings or ideas that fall from the stars. But very few find their roots from direct conversations. This particular song was inspired by a discussion I had with my bass player and friend, Jake S.
I don’t recall exactly how the conversation went, but I do remember that we had been talking about space travel. About the frustrating lack of urgency to care for the planet, about the greed of humankind, of things out of our control, and of the wild, wild universe. Some time later, I came back to the conversation when I began writing a new song, which would become ‘Great Unknown’.
This song, I suppose at its core, is about hunger.
One type of hunger is greed; a greed to explore and take more, to be gluttonous, materialistic, and selfish. It was inspired by the conversation we had, about chasing something bigger just to conquer it, while ignoring what’s right in front of us - in the context of the album, the earth.
But it’s also about hunger in the sense of filling your cup, of healing yourself and nurturing that emptiness. It’s a restlessness, an itch to explore - not for ownership but for experience. It’s the craving of curiosity, of seeking out magic and all the things that give us purpose and make life exciting. It’s the impulse that we want to step into the (great) unknown and see what else is out there for us.
As always, I couldn’t help but be pulled into metaphors of nature, but I think that actually emphasises this idea of a balance between hunger and taking only what we need. The song offers new meanings every time I listen, which is the beauty of writing and listening to music. It grows alongside us.
Writing The Lyrics
Some time in July 2019, the song took its first breath.
As I’ve said many times throughout this Substack series, the writing of these songs is hazy, only wisps of memories come to me. I become lost to the flow state when writing them - that and the fact that 2019 was 6 years ago!!!
July 2019
In my old songwriting notebook, dated 01/07/19, I’ve found the first notes and ideas for the song. The core elements of the opening verses are there, with slight variations, for instance, the opening line originally began as ‘I am as a restless as a breaking wave’, which isn’t hugely different from its final refined version ‘I am restless, like a breaking wave’. I probably tweaked it to fit the melody when arranging it to the music. The end of that verse line ‘there is something the night would like to say’, became ‘I am shaken by the need to get away’.
But the essence of the song is there, and I remember wanting to keep the idea of repeating the same pattern with similes: ‘I am restless’, ‘I am sleepless’, ‘I’m troubled’ almost like a poetic stanza. Each line highlights a curiosity, yearning and hunger for more.
‘Great Unknown’ was written around the time we finished recording ‘The Wishing Tree’ in the studio. I had worked with my producers, Matt and Joel, for the first time and they had just blown my mind, demonstrating how my music could sound when I moved away from my folk roots, while still incorporating them into something explorative and exciting.
Huh, maybe it subconsciously inspired the concept of ‘Great Unknown’ - stepping into uncharted territory musically and personally. I’ve never thought about that until writing this now.
Musically, I have vague memories of sitting at my piano at home and playing with some of the patches on my keys to create ‘Great Unknown’. In hindsight, I suspect my desire to experiment with sounds other than the piano came from being so inspired by that studio session.
Looking for something that shimmered with ethereal quality, I eventually settled on a bell-like electric piano patch. I’ve found a phone recording from the day I wrote it. There’s a lot of ostinato in the right hand that feels really dreamy, while the bass line grounds it all. The vocal melodies are there from the beginning, but over time I re-structured them and I remember the band and I discussing that the vocal run down between verses and choruses was too repetitive, so we made it a feature later in the song.
First version of ‘Great Unknown’ from 1st July 2019
The first time I played this song live was a couple of months after it had been written. The band and I had played a series of festivals that summer, but I had yet to work on a live band version of ‘Great Unknown’, so the first time I chose to debut it was at a solo show in a magical venue called Button Warehouse. Some of you reading this may have even been there at the time!
Getting The Band Involved
Early Oct 2019
In early October, I met for rehearsals with the band and we gave ourselves the time to play with new songs and ‘Great Unknown’ was one of them. We worked on the verses, scrapping the melodic ostinato, and instead I played atmospheric rich synth sounds on my keys and the song was driven by an undercurrent bass line and swirling electric guitar. In this early version, Jake G (drums) switched between different rhythms, testing them out.
Late Oct 2019
By the end of the month, we had something more solid put together as a band. We picked up the pace a little, but I kept the bell-like synths and introduced some of the original piano melodies. The drums found their footing a little more this time around, opening into something more tribal in the choruses and grooving in the verses. Meanwhile, Liam’s electric guitar floated with a laid-back attitude.
Jan 2020
The new year rolled around, and we were in and out of rehearsals preparing for our tour. Our ideas had developed even further, and Jake G and I had worked on a simple backing track, thickening the sound with vocal harmonies and atmospheric synthesisers that you now hear on the final album recording.
The biggest difference in this demo version was the introduction of the slide guitar from Liam. What started as a joke soon become more serious, when we realised that the slide added a wild energy and was completely unexpected compared to our other songs. When I listen back to the phone recording, I can hear an unintentional Fleetwood Mac vibe!
Here’s a video of us playing ‘Great Unknown’ live (for possibly the first time?) on tour in London at the start of 2020! 👀
Making The Album Version
At the beginning of 2021, I’d saved up enough money to buy myself a laptop so I could start making music on GarageBand, having spent the past year in a lockdown away from my band, which limited my musical colour palette.
Excited by the possibilities of creating music in the box, I wanted to see what version of ‘Great Unknown’ I could make by myself. This was one of my first fledgling attempts at ‘production.’ It was basically a rough demo that captured the energy of how I wanted the track to sound. I aired it on my Facebook livestreams many times, so some of you may have heard that version.
I can’t remember, but I think this became the skeleton for creating a fuller, refined demo version with Jake G that we then took into the studio when we recorded the album.
Into The Great…Studio
June 2021
In June 2021, we officially began making my debut album ‘East Of The Sun’, and ‘Great Unknown’ was one of the first tracks we worked on in that first studio session.
Because we worked on three songs in every session, the details become blurred on the start to finish of making the track, as we hopped between songs throughout the week.
I’m pretty certain that the opening atmospheric synth pad and the bubbling arpeggiator came from the demo I made with Jake. I remember Joel later adding the crashing waves soundscape and I just loved the effect that had, anchoring us back to the natural world, while adding lush texture.
Getting The Drums Right
Another part that’s a little misty in my head, is the drums in the first half of the song. They were likely a rough version that Jake and I had worked on pre-studio session before Matt and Joel built on the idea and suggested we make an intentional decision to make the beat more minimal and electronic.
We did this firstly, because we thought the sound was interesting and a refreshing change as we use a lot of big drum earthy sounds on the rest of the album.
But secondly, we felt that the rhythm simmering away underneath would help build the intensity of the track. That’s why the first verses, chorus and second verses all remain at a similar energy level; it pulses like a heartbeat. The wonderfully obnoxious drum fills going into the chorus tease you into thinking we’re about to launch into a big chorus.
I didn’t want to limit the song to only electronic beats; I knew that I wanted a ‘live’ spirit to run through, and that’s why it was the perfect contrast. We opened up the song through big, reverb-drenched drums later in the track, so when it eventually hits, it punches with impact.
Combining this with complementing bass parts by Jake S, and a more refined guitar accompaniment by Liam, I think we found the perfect balance. I wanted to weave organic sounds (live drums and bass, electric guitar, crashing waves) with the electronic elements (cascading pads and synth motifs) - a folktronica vibe, if you will.
Vocal Delivery
I love singing ‘Great Unknown’ live. The latter half of the track, in particular, is my favourite part. Like the rhythmic undercurrent of the track, I keep the vocals steady and grounded in energy until it’s time to unleash the full power.
It’s a cathartic feeling, and I like that there are glimmers of this raw power sneaking in during the second verses, such as the emphasis on ‘in its angry arms’ - it’s like a pre-cursor for what’s waiting around the corner. I also like how the repetition of ‘into the great unknown’ becomes its own kind of mantra, too.
The syllabic, playful ‘ha-hey-ya-hey-ya-hey-ya’ vocals remain similar to when I first wrote the song. I was having fun exploring vocals without singing words or lyrics. I often naturally want to vocalise in this way. Something about this type of vocal expression just feels so ancient and instinctive! I’m glad we kept this as a feature of the track.
Blending the Ending
The album was made to be listened to from start to finish. There’s a thread of a story running through it and I loved the idea of emphasising that by blending some of the songs into each other.
This also partially dictated the track listing for the album, because to make some of the song seamlessly flow into the other, they would need to be in the same key. I did this for the opening tracks ‘East Of The Sun’ into ‘The Garden’ (which I talk about here).
‘Great Unknown’ and ‘St.Lucia’ were also a perfect match!
I wanted a mystical-sounding outro that guided ‘Great Unknown’ into ‘St.Lucia’. We devised a plan to make it happen. I used some more vocalisation ideas, a variation of the ‘ha-hey-ya-hey-ya-hey-ya’, to create this whimsical, feminine vocal, which overlapped and entwined with another breathy vocal expression.
Beneath this, you’ll find the heavier, masculine sound of the drums which offer a spacious-feel. The synth undercurrent continues churning away, until my voice effortlessly blends us into a synth pad of the next track, ‘St.Lucia’. I adore how seamless the transition is, like it’s part of one song. It was my idea, but I can’t take credit for the slick execution; that was all down to Matt and Joel.
We all loved the final version of this track so much that it became a contender for a single release. In all honesty, I love every track on the album, and I found it really hard to select songs to release in the lead-up to the album.
For whatever reason, we decided to keep ‘Great Unknown’ for the album only, and I think we made the right choice, because this way you get to experience the fusion of ‘Great Unknown’ and ‘St.Lucia’ together. And I think that’s kind of special.
Until next time,
Meg x