Does it start with piano melodies or lyrical ideas?
On this record, it was generally music first. There were a bunch of ideas that I wanted to talk about, but even when the lyrics took the lead, there was still a musical tilt in there. I would say the music led the way on a lot of the songs. Is it a very “New York” record? A lot of people say that. On the one hand, it’s intentional. You write what you know. On the other hand, it really wasn’t. I didn’t out to write an East Coast record. I’m from New York. I was born and raised in New York. It’s flavored a lot of the songs. No one song is about a location, other than “Angel Town,” which is about L.A. New York is subtext to the greater ideas of the songs. What’s the story behind “Witches Brew” and “The Country Life?” “Witches Brew” was one of the first songs written for the record. I wanted the music to be a musical brew to mirror the lyrics. I think there are a lot of different styles in that song, from the classical to the blues elements. “The Country Life” just came to me. I hope I got
