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THIS IS THE STORY OF THE ALBUM MY BLUE HEART...

FAR FROM THE CROWD
Crashing Down had set a standard in recording for the band to replicate on their next track "Far From The Crowd". This was a rework of a 1982 This Final Frame track originally called ‘My Disguise’. A song about concealing your true identity, in order to fit in to society. Rosie McMahon was drafted in to play trumpet faithfully replicating Jim’s original score. Carl and Paul felt that the album needed some reference to This Final Frame’s past work and to record a track originally recorded on a Radio 1 Kid Jensen session was a challenge, as the update turned in to a new song with elements of the old. It was too far removed to be the same song, hence the re- title.

MY BLUE HEART
The next track to be recorded was the title track "My Blue Heart". Out of the Blue the This Final Frame website received a message from a man claiming that the landlord of his local pub ‘The three pigeons inn’ was the one and only Jim Short. These wild allegations turned out to be true and Paul immediately contacted Jim and the distinctive This Final Frame sound was back in the bag. Paul drove out to meet Jim on the Halloween night of 2008. Carl had recorded a whole backing track which Paul played repeatedly in the car on his way in to Wales to meet Jim. The song came alive almost instantly as the lyrics and the oboe fell in to place. Frejya Winterson was drafted in to play oboe and recorded on their next track The ways of the world. As the This Final Frame genre of music has been referred to as Blue Romantic this was a defining statement.

CRASHING DOWN
This Final Frame were contacted by a couple of record companies who were interested in releasing new material in the United States and The Philippines. It was only then that the band discovered just how popular their 1985 single had become in the Philippines. Page upon page of emails came in through the myspace site from Philippino fans who had been trawling the internet for news of this band who had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. Inspired by this interest Paul wrote "Crashing Down" around the Christmas holidays of 2007. It was a reverberation of the events which had caused him to write ‘the Love that Lies’ as Christmas times tend to highlight just where people are with their lives and personal happiness. Paul’s studies for his doctorate meant that the song was not actually recorded until Easter 2008. The song went down in its entirety in one day. There were no trumpets at this stage as Carl and Paul had lost contact with Jim Short the dominant trumpet sound from the original This Final Frame. Jim later recorded the brass with some arrangement suggestions from Sean Pugh (ex Flock of Seagulls).

ALWAYS
The first song recorded together by Paul and Carl for the album was "Always" a song about commitment and enduring love. A theme that is often portrayed but seldom fulfilled these days. Paul has been married for over 20 years and felt reasonably qualified to write about it in an informed manner. As it was the first song Carl and Paul had recorded, the quality was rough around the edges and a return to engineer Mike Watson helped with the recording structure and the track developed from there. Paul and Carl felt confident that they had something to work on together and the decision to carry on was made.

ACROSS THE WIRE
The last piece in the jigsaw was "Across The Wire". Paul had watched a TV show in which psychic Tony Stockwell had performed a reading with the parents of a soldier killed in Iraq. The harrowing tale led to the basis of the song. Carl structured the heavy drums and rhythm section to echo the military reference and Paul provided the metaphors. Dave Wood later worked on the video to accompany the song and Paul met Tony Stockwell to tell him about the track.

THE LOVE THAT LIES
Feeling more confident after recording their first joint effort, Paul and Carl then embarked on "The Love That Lies". Paul had come up with the basic idea for the song whilst on holiday in Spain after hearing about the break up of a marriage of a couple he had known for some time and the messy realities of the separation and divorce. The track was recorded in the summer holidays of 2007 on Paul’s return from holiday. The song file later became corrupted and the song was re-recorded in 2009 with Jim playing cornet which was not on the original demo.

WHERE IS THE LOVE
The idea of doing a more upbeat dance track had appealed to Paul and Carl. Inspired by the dysfunctionals that occupy England, as represented on the Jeremy Kyle Show, Paul came up with an idea for "Where Is The Love". Carl structured the song and rewrote the verse to give it a more darkened mood to contrast with the hugely uplifting refrain and injected the pulsating rhythm. A departure from the tracks recorded so far giving the album some light and shade.

SOUND OF THE WAVES
The recording techniques were beginning to improve and the confidence of two well recorded tracks were beginning to see the prospect of an album becoming a reality. Marcel from Germany was a fan of the band and had sent over some ‘Blue romantic’ literature in the shape of Yukio Mashima’s classic novel "The Sound Of Waves". The song is about the love relationship between the two main characters in the fishing village which is the backdrop to the novel.

FLOWERS IN THE SPRING
The first track written for the album was "Flowers In The Spring". This was a solo effort by Paul in 2007. Paul had been contacted by a couple of German fans, Caroline and Marcel. Their interest in a band now defunct for over 20 years gave Paul some confidence to try to write and sing again. Paul booked a studio with engineer Mike Watson who worked with the Lotus Eaters in recent years. The song simply represents the feeling of rebirth. Spring time leading to the emotions, colours and sensuality of summer. This was Paul’s return to music after a long winter.

THE WAYS OF THE WORLD
With Jim Short back on board, the songs recorded so far were given the Short treatment. A series of melodies were strung together and hooks provided by jangly guitars, brass and oboe. The song revealed Paul’s grumpy old man’s view of the world.

An eclectic journey of two years. The story behind the album "My Blue Heart". Now it is out there, it takes on a life of its own: in cars, cd players, radios, internet, performances and more importantly in the lives and minds of those who hold the sentiments dear.

 
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