Hearing God Overhead
№54 — Escalier Duras (demo)
organizing an accident is a once-weekly newsletter where I leak home demos of unreleased songs, first draft lyrics, thoughts on the creative process, and dispatches from music life in Paris.
Listen to “Escalier Duras” (demo):
This song was written on December 30, 2018
Sometimes, uninspired sketches against the clock are all we need.
As 2018 was closing her shop windows and hanging a “see you next year” sign on the door, I too was shut inside a third-floor bedroom in Trouville-sur-Mer to write one final song of the year.
Lacking my preferred tools, I used a small, MIDI keyboard to create ambience, dragged around some drum samples, and began singing into the computer microphone.
By the end of an hour, I sang a take into my phone’s voice memos. After recording, the geolocated title read Escalier Duras, tethering my careless scribbling to that of esteemed French novelist Marguerite Duras, who’d for years crafted stories in her hotel apartment next door.
I look back fondly on this decidedly forced and lazy exercise of musical will. More often than not, these experiments haven't resulted in the most memorable songwriting, but they have almost always offered lessons from my hurried and indifferent subconscious. ◍
From the vault
What I’m listening to this week
What I’ve been reading
John Steinbeck - Travels with Charley
Samuél Lopez-Barrantes - The Requisitions
You can pay a visit to my previous demos and writing via the Substack archive + find my official music releases on Spotify, Apple, or your platform of choice. Stalk me across socials at @thisryanegan.
With love,
Ryan
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