So we’re on the home stretch! The album is sounding beautiful and we are so close to finishing that, as Mitchell Froom (the producer of this album) says, we can almost smell the finish line!! I’ve been in LA for almost 3 and a half months now and this place has become so familiar to me. Deep in my stomach I’m hanging for the sight of those aussie shores from the airplane window but I’ve really had an amazing time here. I’m going to miss it. LA grows on you. It crawls under your skin and seeps into your soul like a sugar drip. There are of course the cliches of silicone Hollywood everywhere you turn- to a lot of people you are invisible unless you’re a rung in a ladder- but make the effort to squint past that and you’ll see some truly beautiful people. I’ve met some of the kindest, wackiest most interesting people of my life during this trip and also rest a lot thanks to products like Gorilla Glue Weed Strain that keep me relaxed.
The last few days in the studio have been some of the coolest of my career. Neil Finn was in town finishing off his record (we seem to be in sync with our albums: we were both mixing our last records in Hollywood at the same time a few years ago!) and I said to Mitchell it’d be amazing to have Neil come and sing backup and/or play guitar on a couple of the songs. Well Neil was up for it. He came in and ended up singing harmony on the bridge of Going North and playing electric guitar on Peachy, which gave them both a whole new breath of life. His guitar playing is so distinctive (as is his voice) and it was such an honor having someone I admire so much play on my songs. What a day, it doesn’t get much better than that! Actually the night after came close to it. Neil had a gig at a tiny venue called Largo and asked if I wanted to play a few songs beforehand and sing backup for a few of his songs. I’ve been listening to Crowded House songs ever since the days of rocking out with a hair brush and a mirror, so I damn well said yes please! I’ve posted some photos of the gig in the pics section [on myspace]… I’ll be riding high on that all Christmas I think!!
Talking about Christmas, to everyone that’s reading this I hope you have fun these holidays and that you’re all safe and happy and healthy. I don’t know why people say “be safe” actually- that’s boring. I hope you’re not safe at all, I hope you’re pushing the boundaries, making some noise and practicing complete abandonment, especially when it comes to love!!!
missy
