Track By Track: cln tells the story behind every song on his sophomore album Over, All Again
cln’s second album is a captivating 12-track collection that takes the listener through to a lighter, more pure, celestial phase. In this exclusive track by track, the Australian electronic/alternative-R&B music producer dissects Over, All Again and lets us in on the story behind each song.
1. ‘Dust (reprise)’
‘DUST’ was a song I dropped a few years ago and is probably my favourite song I’ve ever written. I wanted it to be on an album, but also wanted to refresh it a little bit. So I opted to rework/re-mix/master it and give it a new life as the opening song.
2. ‘Undone’ (feat. Holly Hebe)
‘Undone’ was the first single and probably the most radio-friendly song on the album. I experimented with a few indie-pop-ish songs on the album and this was one of them. Holly’s verses are exceptional and really pull the song together.
3. ‘Over, All Again’
The title of the album actually comes from a lyric in ‘DUST.’ It’s sort of a play on repetition and the expression ‘all over again’. Life is filled with all sorts of cycles, many of which you can’t really avoid, and that was sort of what I was thinking about when I decided on the title.
There are two owl species calling in the recording at the end of the song. A Powerful Owl and an Australian Boobook.
4. ‘Golden Sea’
This song sort of goes back to my slow broody roots. I think I wrote this one about a week before the album was due! I wanted the vocal to be super clear, front and centre. My favourite part of this song is the subtle piano part in the background.
5. ‘Into the Night’ (feat. Eilish Gilligan)
I’ve been a fan of Eilish for a very long time. When I wrote the instrumental for this song, I couldn’t help but thinking her voice would be perfect. I reached out and was very stoked that she was keen to work on it with me. This song is also a bit of a different direction from what I usually make, but I’m very happy with how it turned out.
6. ‘Wait For It’ (feat. LUUNG)
I did a post on social media asking for vocalists who would be keen to work on the album with me. LUUNG reached out so I sent him and instrumental. He sent me back the full vocal part super quickly and that was pretty much it! It’s really great when songs come together easily (I must admit it doesn’t happen very often, I have to force myself not to overthink)
7. ‘Endlessly’
This song started with a recording of an Albert’s Lyrebird that I made in the rainforest in the middle of nowhere. I thought it was such an awesome soundscape, so I just wanted to write over it and see what happened. I kept it very raw, and all of the vocals in the song are the original demo takes. It’s one of my favourite songs on the album.
8. ‘Supersonic’ (feat. Stephen Geisler)
This is probably the song I spent the most time getting right. Stephen’s part was perfect from the start but I really struggled with my vocal and the instrumental. I ended up with two versions with two different drums. I couldn’t decide between the two so ended up using both in the song. 😅
9. ‘Eclectic’ (feat. Blve Diamond)
I found Blve Diamond on triple J unearthed. I was really impressed with his flow and lyricism so I sent him a really basic beat with the hook already recorded. He sent his verse back super fast, and I just sort of re-worked the beat around the verse.
10. ‘False Start’
This song also started with a rainforest recording. There are a few species in the recording at the end but the most prominent one is a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, a beautiful bird with gorgeous metallic green/bronze colouration. Definitely worth a google they are pretty cool.
11. ‘That Place’ (feat. px)
Dave (px) and I are good friends and make a bunch of music together. I just send beats to him every now and then and we play with ideas until one sticks. This song is in a similar realm to ‘Switch Gears,’ a song I released with Dave a few years ago. The vocal ideas he comes up with are really unique and intricate, very fun to work with.
12. ‘Alchemy’
My favourite part of this song is the outro. I find it really hard to end an album, so wanted something a bit special. There’s a key change into that final piano section, and the recording that you hear right at the end is a Marbled Frogmouth. They are a fairly rare nocturnal rainforest bird with an incredible call. At the end of the call they snap their beak, which is the sound you hear right as the album ends.
When you’re done here lose yourself in our full library of features.