We're Mostly Water by Simon Nield

What?
An album of original songs and instrumentals written by Simon Nield, and performed by Simon with lotsa help (see Who?).

How?
* Recorded in The Shed by Simon, using the astounding ProTools Digi001.
* Mixed and mastered a few houses east of The Shed, by the also astounding James Hewgill.
* Feet photos taken at Cottesloe beach, in midwinter (hence blinding white with goosepimples).

Who?
* Dave Johnson (the Fling, the Cortinas): Backing vocals
* Greg Sheehan (where do you start?): Skinned tambourines
* Jennifer Tingley (Miles to Go band): Cello
* Kerry Fletcher (Hammer and Tongues, PanArkestra): Backing vocals, piano accordion
* Marco Quiroz (Latin-Gypsy Experiment, Los Chasquis): Congas, guiro, cha-cha bell
* Paul Barrett (Tok Pan Tok, Freo Samba): Sudo drum and shaker
* Peter Keelan (Tok Pan Tok): Didgeridoo
* Richard Beavitt: Saxophone
* Rosie Johnstone (Band of Angels): Backing vocals
* Simon Nield: Vocals, electric guitar, steel-string and nylon-strong acoustic guitars, bass guitar, mandolin, mandola, piano, rainmaker, shaker (yes, all at the same time, honest!)

Tracks
1. Men Are Strange     (3:24)
This is an attempt to open the album with a bit of fun. Greg Sheehan's cute little skinned tambourine, miked close, sounds like... well, something much much bigger.

2. We're Mostly Water     (3:53)
I like the theory that the missing link was a water-borne ape. Why else would babies swim underwater like little dolphins? The playful guitar riff is inspired by a Bjork song.

3. Smouldering Male    (4:01)
Hollywood encourages men to smoulder just as much as it encourages women to be anorexic. If I could just get my pout right...

4. The Gilded Cage    (1:40)
This guitar instrumental (in DADGAD tuning) popped out during mastering of the album. The gilded cage is the belief that money brings happiness. The door is open.

5. Take Me In    (4:26)
A clear-eyed, only slightly daft love song.

6. Day's Over    (3:47)
This spilled out in a moment of blissful, lazy solitude. Marco Quiroz's latin-styled percussion helps the cruisy mood.

7. Lucy    (2:47)
Lucy was an Australopithicus female who lived in Ethiopia 2.5 million years ago. We've got her bones but we're not sure how close a relation she is.

8. Backbone    (3:56)
This is about finding the strength to move on after an argument.

9. Leapfrog    (2:30)
This instrumental chugs along in open C tuning. It was originally written on a 12-string, but in the end sounded better with fewer notes.

10. Colour in the Soldiers    (3:15)
This appeared out of nowhere in August 2001. It made a completely different kind of sense after September 11.

11. Amen   (4:23)
A teacher once told me that "Amen" means "me too". I can't think of a better thing for us to say to each other.

12. Take the Money    (3:40)
The oldest song on the album, and was written after an attempt at an inner-city office job in a suit. The seductive, destructive lure of the lira.

13. Run Out    (3:00)
Written after the 2001 state election. I was actually pretty elated at the time, which gave an unusual perspective for a cheerful song about being miserable.

14. Slow Down the World     (2:48)
This is a letter to myself, telling me to calm down. I buried this song several times under layers of instrumentation, and each time I peeled them away again and rediscovered the song. A last-minute key change (thanks Kerry!) took the mood from cold, epic green (E minor) to rich, warm red (D minor).