Long Tall J: Releasing a new album is quite a lot of work!

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In May 2020 we have an article about the band Long Tall J, and obviously  Long Tall J aka Jan Lievaart enjoyed what we wrote as he reach out to us with his new album The Spire.

Long Tall J aka Jan Lievaart have two years ago released the album 2020. An album with an in depth reflection in prog style about the different phases of human life. The track Ten,

The Ten Commandments are the inspiration behind this short up tempo prog piece featuring Megasbassman from Kyiv, Ukraine. Religious indoctrination is as old as religion it self. The high tempo and the short duration of this piece symbolize the many different sides of these problems and the powerful impact they can have on society and the individual.

Long Tall J is a Dutch guitarist and music producer living in London, UK, and in 2019 he released his debut album Albatross. His musical style is a fusion of prog and melodic rock. Melody and atmosphere are key to his work and both albums include a number of international cooperation.

Long Tall J is a multi-instrumentalist and he plays almost every instruments on his albums. He offers atmospheric and very nice guitar work and instrumental prog with hints of ambient and new age.

LTJ his style is a fusion of progressive rock or prog and melodic rock. Most of his music is instrumental with a strong emphasis on melody while some of the tracks feature a vocalist. On May 1 st Long Tall J will release album titled The Spire.

It contains ten tracks and on 6 of them there is a collaboration with a Ukrainian musician which by now has become kind of special now this terrible war has started there. Singer Amariia sings three tracks and she was early this year a semifinalist for the National Eurovision in Ukraine.

Lievaart says, «Releasing a new album is quite a lot of work. You have to create all the music. Arrange and record it. Mix it. Post production and mastering. And then all the PR work. Website. Social media. Make sure you have descriptions for platforms that host your music. Pictures. It doesn’t stop! Then send it off to on line radio stations for reviews. To websites that cover this type of music. And Heyy next you find yourself already working on material for the next album. It never stops lol. But I like it and it keeps you going!! May 1 The Spire will be released. You can already pre order the cd and you will receive a 15 page digital!».

«Hi this is Long Tall J from London. I am deeply moved by the plight of Ukraine. A country that is fighting for our democracy and freedom as well. Let’s hope a cease fire can be reached soon. Anyway the true evil of the Putin regime is very clear now. My Ukrainian collaborators on my new album that is released on the 1st of May are all out of income now. Sad sad sad. All we can do now is support support support. Financially, emotionally, morally etc…».

About the song Falling:

Falling is a subtle and very sensitive song, beautifully sung by singer Maria Arkhipova, alias Amariia, from Kiev, Ukraine. It is the story of two people in a relationship  in which something went really wrong caused by a serious breach of trust. The person in the story gets really hurt and feels she is ‘Falling’ but says she is holding on and running home.

The song was written together via an on line cooperation. It started with LTJ creating the music and singer Arkhipova improvising some melody while singing phonetically and recording it with a smart phone. LTJ created the lyrics based on the melody and the vocal rhythm. In Kiev she went to the studio to record the song and once the tracks arrived back in London they were inserted in the project and mixed together. Modern technology is a blessing with these things as it enables musical cooperation with the participants living miles apart.

The music uses samples for the piano parts. It is an interesting way of integrating keyboards that play repetitive patterns in a flowing musical structure.

At the end of the song there is a purring cat. That would be a perfect role for my cat who is called Earl Grey.

Lyrics:

​

And I see the light

Going through my mind

Holding in the air

​

And I see the light

Going to my home

Suddenly I’m dreaming it’s all mine

​

Getting stronger

Waiting longer

Falling over

Signing over in this life

I’ll keep counting on the one in your life

I can see the one you wanted tonight

I can hold it to the moment of falling in the light

​

Flooded in my mind

My mind

Flooding in my mind

​

To stretch my desire

Going through my head

The falling the overdosing

Doom, me dead

​

The falling of nowhere

Letting me tied up back to you

My darling back to you

​

And now a broken heart

Not stalling the morning

Oh I’m falling down

Now I’m coming to you

I’m now a ………..

​

Can leave my heart

Can break me down

I’m holding on

I’m burning out

I’m whole, not stressed

And still I’m owned

Hold on hold on hold on

​

That’s not cause the way I am

I will fall

You know I can

​

And now I’m hurting more

What is the following door

And while I’m running home

When I am feeling so free

To be fine

I don’t know

For my self

And I know

My name

My name

And I can stumble

Flat on my knees

And I’ve just fallen

Flat on my knees

​

And now take me down

I’m still

Cry tears

Hurt

My pride

And though I’ll mean tears

I fall

​Cat purring

The track Ukraine,

On the 24th of February became true what many feared; The Russian military invaded the democratic nation of Ukraine and started a barbaric war in order to destroy the country and its culture. To replace its government and to demilitarize and purify it from Nazi forces according to Mr. Putin.

By now it is clear that Putin greatly underestimated the fighting spirit and resolve from the Ukrainian population. But at the time of writing it is still totally unclear how long it will take but one thing is sure and that is that Ukraine will be victorious. Russia is not able to win by normal military means so it has reverted to terror bombings and attacking civilians in order to break the morale of the population but this is not working.

My track Ukraine is a short and emotional piece intended for vocals. The intro symbolises the suffering and the crying by means of a sort of a howling melody. The rest of the track resembles the power of the nation and its resistance. The intention is to release it as a single and to create a video for it with a help appeal at the end.

Vocalist Amariia from Ukraine (a collaborator on all three LTJ albums) is sourcing, buying and delivering protective equipment, medicine and other aid. If you like to donate to her support project please send a message via the LTJ contact form and I will provide you with all the information that you need to make your donation. Thank you so much!

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