That Hurried Sound September 2022

This may very well be my favorite song we’ve ever recorded. It’s an oldie. In fact, it’s so old that was the first song we recorded with Dan after he joined the band in 2011. We were just never able to find the right spot for it on our records, so it ended getting cut.

I wrote That Hurried Sound after falling absolutely in love with a longtime friend. I visited her town and crashed on the couch in her apartment. I was working remotely—a foreign concept in 2010—from her home while she commuted to her job downtown. I’d feel every second in the silence as I waited for her to return, excited to hang out and explore the city. When my visit came to an end, I told her I loved her and took the train home. We hugged at the entrance to her stop.

I wasn’t single and neither was she.

After making Middle Coast, we wanted to try some new folks for the production of the song. Jordan Schmidt absolutely loved our work and offered some studio time and his engineering skills to track the song. It acted as a test to see if we could do a full length together. These sessions turned into Home Sweet Alone. We didn’t quite have a bass player at the time, so I recorded the electric bass parts while Dan’s wife Kelsey joined on upright for the intro. We also recruited Jac Cornelius on the pedal steel. We called every friend we knew that could sing for the backing gang vocals including Kevin Truckenmiller from Quietdrive.

I re-recorded the lead vocals in 2020, and got those tracks over to one of our favorite collaborators Andy Thompson who mixed and added a few production flourishes, including a banjo and general tightening of the production. Mastering was done by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room.

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That hurried sound
As you get ready to take on the town
I’m just laying here on the couch
As you come down those stairs

But my voice won’t work
As you get ready to take off for work
Your toes pressed against the wooden floor
As the sun pours through your hair

Why don’t we just hang around?
Skip your job and explore this town
Go ahead and take a chance on me

Now I’m alone
And somehow this place feels like home
The view from your windowsill
As you catch that awful train

And I can hear the clock
Between the silence as those seconds drop
The keys as you turn the lock
Are the only sound I’ll hear

Why don’t we just go out tonight
Put on that little dress you like
Go ahead and take a chance on me

Why don’t we just hang around
Skip your job and explore this town
Go ahead and make a mistake out of me
Out of me

All your things into a bag
Won’t you come away with me?