Awake & Breathe - Track By Track

This article has been archived from the former Official B*Witched website.

October 1999

B*Witched - Track By Track

'Going away to America and singing live every night has taken us to a different level, and so all the songs on Awake and Breathe are a bit more mature than the first album. There's lots of different musical styles on the second album; pop, ballads, psychedelic music, a Jam and Lewis type number, country and we even do a collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.'

'The inspiration for the cover art was home, the "Emerald Isle". It's quite sophisticated, and we just wanted to give the whole thing an Irish flavour. It actually took us ages to come up with the title Awake and Breathe, but then we were listening to the third track, "I Shall Be There" and those are the opening words to the song. They're quite haunting and mysterious - just two beautiful words linked together. Also, it's what everybody does every morning.'

'We hope you enjoy it!' - B*Witched

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If It Don't Fit (Lindsay's fave!)

Edele: 'This is a really feisty song and there's loads of attitude in it. We wrote it about each other, about Lindsay chewing her gum loudly and Sinead wearing clothes that maybe we wouldn't look at. It's a really cool song with funny lyrics.'

Jesse Hold On Sinead: 'We recorded "Jesse" in America. It's about two people getting engaged and the person who's been proposed to is on the way to say yes. It doesn't matter if Jesse's a girl or a boy - it can be anyone you want it to be!'

I Shall Be There

Lindsay: 'This is a really beautiful ballad we recorded with South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo when they were on tour in the UK. It's got Irish and American influences and is just a really, really beautiful song which sends shivers down your spine.'

Jump Down

Sinead: 'This is really influenced by our being in America. Its really jumpy like "C'est La Vie", but it's got scratchy sounds like you'd find on a hip hop record mixed with Irish sounds. It's really bouncy and up. I love it.'

Someday

Keavy: 'We like to go to different places for inspiration and the day we wrote this track we drove out to a field to get in the mood. It sounds so lush with all the strings and tight harmonies.' Leaves

Keavy: 'This is quite psychedelic and it's really different to everything we did on the first album. We recorded it in Bryan Adams' studio in Canada - but no, we didn't meet him though we'd met him before at the Royal Variety Performance. We had a few days off from the tour and instead of coming all the way home to record, it was easier to go to Vancouver!!!' The Shy One

Edele: 'This is a really good song with loads of attitude and a bit of an American flavour. We recorded it in the Mothership Studio which is where our producer, Ray Hedges, is based. Keavy sang this one and she did a brilliant job. Nobody could have done it better, it's really "Yeah! Get lost!!!"'

Red Indian Girl (Edele's fave!)

Sinead: 'This song was written about a guy we met in America, whose name was Miller. We met him when we were touring and we made a stop-off at a garage. He told us all a story about Red Indian girls. The lyrics we sing aren't exactly the same but we put our own twist on his story and made it our own. It's got some red Indian-sounding harmonies and a really strong storyline.' It Was Our Day (Sinead and Keavy's fave!)

Lindsay: 'A beautiful ballad that's about Keavy and Edele's nana. I love the harmonica on this track, it's very distinctive, but quite sad. It's about remembering someone and how they'll be your angel after they've gone. It gives you shivers.' My Superman

Keavy: 'Lindsay sang this track, it's a real dancey, clubby track with harmonicas and disco-ey sounds. It makes you want to gerrup with your mates and just have a laugh.'

Are You A Ghost?

Edele: 'This is a really beautiful song actually, really moving. It puts you in the story when you listen to it. It's just a beautiful song with sort of angelic background harmonies. It's really haunting.' In Fields Where We Lay

Lindsay: 'This song's really nostalgic, and we actually did it a cappella. Believe it or not, we did this in one take -usually, we go in to the recording studio separately and everyone does their lines by themselves. We're very proud of this track.'