RESONATE - Track By Track

RESONATE - TRACK BY TRACK by Glenn Hughes via Classic Rock Magazine

HEAVY
Heavy was among the first songs I wrote for the album, and it set the tone. As unlikely as it might sound, everything was written on an acoustic guitar. I had the riff [which he hums down the line vociferously] but I kept the verse really simple and the chorus opened up. It's groovy but it's damned heavy. Maybe ten years ago it would have just been funky, but this time I wanted to spin things around.

MY TOWN
I don't know if I'm singing about Cannock, it's probably more about Los Angeles as I've lived here for forty years. It's just a Glenn riff thing that you might have heard before in Black Country Communion or California Breed, but it's a meaningful song for me because I'm ranting about how grateful I am for my life, which I live very much in the moment.

FLOW
[Tuning-wise] it's a Drop-D song. I wanted a dirty, heavy song, something in the vein of Can't Stop The Flood. It needed to be mid-tempo and groovy. I captured that, though the psychedelic mid-section came together on the spot in the studio, and we threw in the Mellotron as a kind of Beatles element. Kevin would not have allowed me to do that, but I pulled it off.

LET IT SHINE
It was one of the final songs to be written. It's Drop-D but the riff is in A, so the fuzz really resonates. I love the Hammond organ on it, when Lachy hits the major seventh on the verses it's so LA but very melodic. I'm talking about healing, growing and faith. It's a very, very uplifting song, one of my favourites on the album.

STEADY
I wrote Steady for the band California Breed at Jason Bonham's house in Florida. It wasn't finished in time for that album but I completed it for my own. My initial plan had been to record as a trio, but I added Lachy Doley who, let me tell you, is the greatest live keyboard player in the world right now. It's a bold claim but I believe it's true. What he plays at the beginning of Steady is a tip of the hat to Jon Lord.

GOD OF MONEY
For years people have asked whether I've done anything purely for money, and I really have never put finance before art. This song is a rant about the people that do so. You can hear from my voice how pissed off the subject makes me feel. I played the riff to Jerry Cantrell who said, '**** me, that's dark', and there's no darker riff-master than Jerry.

HOW LONG
This one's a little harder to explain than the rest. Maybe I'm singing about something from my past that there's been talk and gossip about for years and years. It might be Purple-related or whatever, but I've kept my nose clean and stayed out of the subject. How Long, for me, is a song about truth, but also letting things go. It felt good getting it off my chest, you can hear my anger.

WHEN I FALL
I have been in grace, a more spiritual person, since my heart operation. I'm calmer and more sensitive. I can't be around people who shout or cause a commotion. I'm very grateful I'm still here. When I Fall is a song of happiness at so many things, including the fact that I still have the voice I was given as a child. I've been through so much in the following years, that's little short of a miracle.

LANDMINES
Landmines in life, for me, are anything that's bad for me. They're there for all of us to step on but we manoeuvre through our daily existence; we learn lessons, take hits and then we get back up again. Landmines is about taking those knocks and never being afraid of moving forward. It's got a swagger to it. I've used lots of different vocal timbres on this album, and this one is unique.

STUMBLE & GO
It has a real flavour of New York. I played it to one of my best friends, John Varvatos, who bought CBGB the legendary club in New York's East Village, because of its Big Apple flavour. I'm not a punk rocker but I'd like to think Stumble & Go has an element of Rockin' In The Free World [by Neil Young] ~ it has those basic three chords E, D and C. It's simple and has an edge to it.

LONG TIME GONE
As implied by those lyrics about footsteps in the sand, it's a song about walking with God. I'm not trying to offend people by talking about religion but I'm always walking with God. I spent a long time gone ~ hence the title ~ but I'm back and he's with me every day. The groove reminds me of Trapeze, baby. I think it's one of the best songs I've ever written, a great way to close an album.