UK artist George Gretton has a new single to share with us this week called ‘Clear’, which is just the first of many singles that he has planned for release over the next few months, and it’s also his debut release with Mammal Sounds Records.
As George explains below, ‘Clear’ was in-fact one of the quickest songs that he has written to date, and while it doesn’t quite sound anything like Kayne, George says the man was a big inspiration for this song, mainly in the way that he uses samples in some of his older music.
“Clear is the quickest song I’ve ever written & produced in my life. Although it doesn’t sound anything like him, I was returning to some of Kanye’s old music and thinking about how he uses samples. That made me want to work with some samples but I kind of just wanted to sample myself.
It took me about 5 mins to record some improvised singing, which I then chopped it up into one-line samples and played them on some sample-pads until I heard something that felt like a hook. I like writing this way sometimes, as it can give the track a huge focal point that isn’t a huge chorus. Once I had the vocal samples and a drum loop the basis of the song was pretty much there.
It was written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered all in a week. I usually like spending a long time pouring over every last detail of my songs, but I kind of felt like this didn’t want diluting at all. Just the concentrated ideas from one or two days and nothing else was all Clear needed. That’s why it’s pretty short, concise and to the point, at least sonically.” – George Gretton
During lockdown over the last 12 months George has been living back at his parents’ house in Nottingham, and not being able to spend time with his friends and live out any new real-life experiences, it was tough finding the right inspiration for this song’s story & lyrics, until he realised he just needed to take a closer look at himself…
“I’ve been living back at my parents’ house over lockdown here in Nottingham. Since everything is closed and I haven’t seen my friends, it’s been kind of hard to do the living required to write experience-inspired lyrics. So, I’ve been looking at myself a lot.
This song is about the distance between present and past versions of yourself, better and worse previous versions of yourself. In your own head, it’s clear to you who you are and who you want to be. But to others you could be any of these different versions you’ve presented at different points. Even if you’re the most consistent person in the world, to everyone else you’re just their impression of you.” – George Gretton
‘Clear’ is available everywhere now via Mammal Sounds Records, and if you missed his special live performance from inside a church for Sofar UK recently, you can check that out just below as well.
Stream:
https://fanlink.to/GeorgeGretton_clear
Artist Connect:
https://soundcloud.com/georgegrettonmusic
https://www.facebook.com/georgegrettonmusic
https://twitter.com/ggrettonmusic
https://www.instagram.com/georgegrettonmusic
Credits:
Production by George Gretton
Mixing & Mastering by Sam Wain
Artwork by Esme Hallam
Press Photos by Sam Nicklin
Artwork:
