How does your song fit with those around it? No song is an island, entire of itself (what? Paraphrasing John Dunne like that is silly?), it will always stand as part of a live set, mixtape, song-cycle or even (dare I say it?) an album.

There’re all sorts of interesting debates going around about the album. Is it commercially viable? Have single song downloads and our attention span 2.0 ruined the album?

In this day and age, mixtapes and playlists are perhaps more prevalent than ever. Every listener has the option of creating their own playlists. Do you want your songs to turn up on only one user-created list? Or do you want to have a track in the ‘mellow’ playlist, the ‘party’ playlist and the ‘out-jogging’ playlist?

Personally, I like albums and want to keep listening to collections of songs arranged in such a way. As this blog isn’t about the music business (I don’t know what’s commercially viable, wouldn’t know where to begin) let’s instead think about how your songwriting can reflect the fact that songs don’t exist on their own.

Concept

The idea of the ‘Concept’ album is not the most fashionable, which is something I’ve always found odd. Yes, you might not want to write a two-hour musical narrative or call your work a ‘concept’ album, but there’s still going to be an idea that joins your songs together isn’t there? If there isn’t, why on earth are you not putting out seperate singles? The concept could simply be that you’re creating the perfect dance album, the ultimate ambient-techno-folk work, a pleasant collection of country songs (is there such a thing?).

If songs are going to be put together, in a live set album (or even a mixtape of different artists) they need to make sense there. A classic example of this not being done is the title track from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’. The whole of the musical is mock opera, except for one completely incongruous synth-pop song, complete with electric drums and guitar.

The arrangement of the song, while fine on it’s own, doesn’t quite work in context of the whole show. Your songs need to do the same, musically, thematically, lyrically.

Pace/Groove/Time Signature

As listeners, we need variety if we’re not going to get bored or burned out, and we need the pace of a set of songs to make sense. Steve Vai makes sure that the seventh track on each of his albums is a slow, meaningful ballad. Iron Maiden start every album with the song that will be the fast paced, high energy set opener.

As a broad rule of thumb, I’d say the energy level of a set or album has to follow this basic pattern: start ‘high energy’, take the energy level down a little, then rise again for the finale. Not doing so, for example by not ending ‘up’ or staying at the same energy level for the entire set risks losing the attention of the audience. Exactly what counts as high energy depends on the genre you’re writing in, and a longer set might have more peaks and troughs, but the basic shape should hold true.

Energy can also come through the groove or time signature – a sudden break from the punk rock beat to give some reggae can work wonders in varying the pace. Similarly, a whole hour at 300bpm might be a tad draining.

Length

Variety is key here as well. Starting out an album or set with the nineteen minute epic might not be the best idea. Best to build up to something so demanding via a couple of smaller chunks. Variety is your friend here as well – too many songs of the same length risks losing the attention span of the audience.

Key

Variety of key is more important between songs than it is within songs. For the listener to stay interested, you’re going to have to think about using both a variety of tonic notes and a variety of kinds of key. Is everything in a major key? Is the root note always E? Then you’re going to loose your listeners.

Conclusion

Whether writing an album or considering a live set, you need to think about the listener. Songs don’t exist on their own, never mind what the shuffle function has led you to believe. If you don’t think you’ve got exactly the write mix of songs – rearrange or write something new. I’ve often written a song precisely because I needed something fast-paced to get the pace of the set right.

It’s worth doing, because no song is an island, entire of itself and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls… (all right, all right no more silly quotes).

Related posts:

1. Spinning the Compass – A Steampunk Album