Red Flower Lake‘s new song “Flying Dream” was just released, and it’s a tune that will calm you down with its leisurely arm and foot swings. The songwriting will undoubtedly make you happy. In the piece, there are some quite personal observations expressed. The song has layers of emotions going through it, which are beautifully depicted in the arrangement. The language is maintained straightforward and comprehensible to all ears. Red Flower Lake is a musical collaboration by Abel and Rahimah Wright. They’ve been producing music together since they were teenagers, but Red Flower Lake signifies a greater clarity and confidence, a coming into being, after more than two decades of partnership.
The writing focuses on the truths that make us feel good and joyful on the inside. Throughout, there is a continuous level of energy. The tunes continue to evolve and flow like a stream. The arc is refreshingly distinctive, and the lyrics are inherently strong in their orientations. We get the impression that the atmosphere is trapping us into the soundscape. With its lofty energy, the song has the ability to rise and fall at its own cadence.
The music of the song is mostly electro pop in essence. The sound design, in particular, holds your attention till the very end. There are a few little delicate aspects that play an important role in keeping us captivated to the music as the song develops. The arrangement’s synthesis tones are very addicting, and they’re backed up by a deep bottom and a tight, powerful groove rhythm. In a word, the song features an introspective writing style that is really engaging if we really focus on the lyrics. Furthermore, the album is well-produced, which will entice a wide spectrum of listeners to groove along.
We also have an interview with Abel and Rahimah Wright, who walk us through their songwriting process as well as some further insights into their musical influences and studio tales.
1. The arrangement has some really inventive components as well as some fascinating modulations. How did you approach the song’s arrangement?
Rahimah: My experience was that the arrangement happened very organically – albeit unconventionally.
The first sounds of the song were a high hat sound Abel was making with his mouth and some lyrics rolling around in my head.
Abel: I started with just a few chords and a soft keyboard sound then I added a few sounds and rhythms with my mouth. Each part came from the part before, as rahimah wrote the lyrics I would make new sections
Sometimes we play music just to see what comes out. This song was born from one of those sessions. Sculpted over a year in more than a dozen sessions, this song crosses the lines of conventional songwriting and hopefully sparks curiosity about what it feels like for you to feel good – leaving convention, tradition, and expectation behind and embracing the reality of your powerful and magical truth.
2. What were some of the most incredible moments from the studio sessions? Do you have any amusing stories to share?
When we were almost done recording Flying Dream last winter, a cousin came to visit for her winter break from university. We were excited to find out that she had her Lyra with her and we ended up setting it up on our back porch so she could practice. While she was visiting, she choreographed and performed a Lyra dance to Flying Dream which she performed for our family on a very cold January night. Lots of questions came up in the process of making the performance that we were lucky enough to be engaged with her about. Particularly questions about her personal self expression as it relates to her family and religious expectations, the role of the body’s form in dance, what boundaries are healthy to break and most particularly what are the priorities in self expression? It was a provocative process and it was really fun to keep coming back to the same answer/question from the song with each of the questions that came up – “what feels good to YOU?”. It was really amazing to watch her process as a performance artist.
3. Tell me a little bit more about the music. What’s the tale behind the song’s creation?
Rahimah: Flying Dream was written at a turning point in Abel and my relationship. Hard things were revealed which required us to get honest with ourselves and each other about what wasn’t working in our relationship and the things we actually cared about. The question that kept coming up for me was “what feels good? What does feeling good even feel like?” The working title of the song was Feel Good for the majority of the time it was being crafted.
At points this question felt desperately unanswerable but I was consistently able to invoke some gratitude for what was happening around me in nature. As a lifelong student of the body, I knew all the truth and wisdom of this question would be in my body. When I remembered what flying dreams felt like and that flying dreams feel really good to me, I started to remember other things that feel good to me. Flying dreams offer such a surreal opportunity to be in something like 3D reality but doing something we know as impossible in 3D reality. I love that sleeping dreams skirt a line of a million paradoxes.
What actually feels good is unique to each individual and their experience. Nobody else can answer for us what feels good to us. And knowing what feeling good actually feels like to us is really important for going in the direction of our actual wishes and dreams.
Flying Dream was written at the moment of really asking with an open mind, “where are we headed, what do we want? Oh, we want to feel good? What the hell does that even feel like?”.
4. Which bands and musicians have had the most influence on you?
Gosh. So many.
There are of course the musicians that have rocked me since I was a baby and that list is seriously way too long to go through here (it’s true that when we go down this rabbit hole, we go to the center of the earth and do the depths of space) but to name a few off the top of my head: my mom, my dad, my grandma, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Cat Stevens and his iterations, Lady Smith Black Mambazo, Sade, Queen, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cowboy Junkies – particularly the Trinity Sessions album – Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, The Cranberries, Portishead, Mazzy Star, Mad Professor, Zap Mama, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, Cake, Morphine, Sara Mclachlin, Enya, Lauryn Hill, Cachaito, Bob Marley, Beyoncé, Frank Zappa, Bill Withers
The list is seriously endless and the one above is not cutting it and is also beyond worthy.
And more recently
Winona Oak, Billie Eilish got me good for a solid minute, Fleurie, Natalie Taylor, Calum Scott, Michl, Rosalia, Bad Bunny, Sia had me all to herself for a solid year.
And on and on and on.
It really is endless.
Musicians and their magic feed me. What would I do without all those portals? They have literally helped me survive when being out in the world has felt too dangerous. I am so grateful for the musicians and the magic of music. It has opened up doorways and answers my souls longing, it has held me in my darkness, and literally carried me through my life.
5. What might fans anticipate from your next releases?
We are finishing the artwork and mastering for our next single “Lights Me Up” which we plan to have available early 2022. We also have an EP or possibly a full length Album in the works… we are minting our music videos as NFTs on the Ethereum Blockchain for our fans to own and invest in our artwork and music. Our mailing list is our source of connection and where we are sure to post content for anyone interested in following our journey through 2022. We are experimenting with a space on Discord that we have named Safe Space where we can connect, process, get real, and engage at a more personal level with anyone who wants to get real and process. It’s new for us and we are really looking forward to what opens up from that.
Enjoy Listening to “Flying Dream” by Red Flower Lake on Spotify!
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
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