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Jodie Marie
Mar 12, 20212 min read

Hanging By A String: Celebratory Track by Track (Day Nine)

Celebratory track by track of songs from The Answer: Hanging By A String

I recorded Hanging By A String at Studiowz recording studio (the converted chapel) with Owain Fleetwood Jenkins producing, and Gethin Pearson co producing. I had previously recorded it in StudiOwz mark one (on the dairy farm), but myself and Owain weren’t completely happy with it. So, as we were re recording The Answer, we thought we might as well give this one a second chance too. I’m so glad we did, it came alive in the studio the second time around, with fresh new ideas from myself, Owain and Gethin.

I LOVE writing and singing backing vocals, I mentioned this with another track on the album. I’ve spent years listening to Aretha Franklin - queen of soul & gospel music. If you listen to her music, like “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”, or “Respect”, Aretha’s backing vocalists are singing lines that are almost like lead parts. This is something that I wanted to experiment with on several tracks on the album, this one in particular.


I love the journey this song takes you on. It begins quite sparse, but develops gradually throughout - a huge payoff by the time you reach the end. In music, I sometimes tell myself that in order to make a song sound ‘big’ and ‘epic’, you need to have lots of instruments in, all guns blazing - when in actual fact, if you drop some instruments out of the mix, it has much more of an impact. For example, in the second chorus of Hanging By A String, Jack Beddis’ drums drop out. You’d think this would make the song lose momentum, but with Tom Sinnett’s solid bass line holding the fort, it actually enhances it, building excitement, then when the drums are re introduced, it ramps the song up another level.

Another moment I love, is the electric guitar part that Jimmy Brewer plays, we ran it through an Electro Harmonix micro synth pedal, which makes the guitar sound backwards - but in real time.


It’s always a joy to have the luxury of time in the studio, experimenting with different ideas, being creative and feeling inspired - that’s the beauty of working with such talented musicians and producers, everyone brings something new to the table and you never know where it’s going to take you.

You can buy a physical copy of the record on Vinyl/CD here:


Or on all digital platforms here:

Carmel Records - a Caru Music Ltd Company

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