The Inspiration
One day, I was listening to Sade which was a direct influence on 'When the Night Comes'. Pulsating yet soft and alluring music guided by a voice you'd swear you can touch and feel it's so smooth. The instrumentation and groove aptly derived the song name and the album cover was a conscious forethought (my horn bell and the moon as one over the sea). The song feels like the time just past dusk, the city lights begin to twinkle and people of the night begin to take to the streets. The night comes.
The Music
Other than the verses, I'd set out to compose the intro, chorus and end vamp built around a single chord augmenting colors and textures from the instruments to develop the various moods. The verses are sparse and airy and my flugelhorn mimics Sade's velvety voice gliding over simple rhythmic percussion, guitar and electric piano accompaniment.
The melody, as melodies sometimes do, fell right into place the first time my fingers hit the horn.
The chorus aligns to a new rhythm with smoky horns and guitar seductively carrying the melody. Nothing fancy. It's just really sultry. Listen for the subtle rolling marimba ducking underneath the main melody. It adds an aura of mystery. The night is shaping up.
The bridge turns the listener around a corner, a very different corner featuring a masterfully crafted guitar solo by Greg Mullins soaring over the backbeat that crescendos toward the end of the night. But the night's not over yet.
As the song and the night comes to a close, the stabby harmon muted trumpet and silky guitar tones enter into a deep duality as they fade off into the night...or do they? They hold a secret at the fade as they come together in unison and suddenly...dusk.
The Sound
Two factors that contributed to the warmth and feel of 'When the Night Comes' are two of the best musical choices I'd made.
Enter Greg Mullins. We've long shared a wide musical chemistry and attention to detail and it's been incredible to create with him again. He adapts to and can play anything.
Playing all guitars and bass on this song, he seamlessly fits all of his parts together in such a distinct style which melds perfectly with mine. Every nuance Greg played sounds like it was always meant to be there.
The next factor was the mastering of my final mix. With an overall warm sound as my goal (and what I'd heard in my head),
I had an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of having my music echo through Abbey Road Studios in London. It was mastered by world renown engineer Andy Walter.
Abbey Road was one of the first mastering houses in the world to be approved by Apple to produce Mastered for iTunes masters. Fidelity coupled by Abbey Road's custom mastering console was exactly what I wanted. A timeless studio to present and preserve timeless music. The result is absolutely amazing. I hope you'll agree. (Listen in headphones for a special aural experience.)
The Credits
Pete Lacey has made music with members of The Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Train, George Clinton’s Funkadelics, Last Comic Standing Alumni Chris Porter and shared the stage with music icons Leslie Gore, Clark Terry, Del Shannon, Toots Thielemans, Frankie Avalon, Little Anthony and The Imperials, Smokey Robinson, Chubby Checker, The Drifters, The Temptations, The Platters, The Shirelles, The Del Vikings, Lou Christie, Bobby Lewis, Freddy Cannon, Tom Dreeson.
Greg Mullins has rocked stages with Eddie Money, Ronnie Montrose, The Doobie Brothers, Greg Kihn, Damn Yankees, Night Ranger, Steve Vai, Keith Emerson, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, John Waite, Ginger Baker, Peter Frampton.
Andy Walter has mastered numerous projects for The Beatles, David Bowie, Jimmy Page, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, U2, The Cure, Robbie Williams, Radiohead, The Bee Gees, The Who, Simple Minds.
'When the Night Comes' and all of Pete Lacey's music is available wherever you buy or stream your music including here at www.petelacey.com, iTunes, AppleMusic, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, iHeartRadio and more.
