"X" [THE 10TH STUDIO ALBUM by STEPHANIE FIERCE]Photography by Chris Cunningham Track By Track (3.2.2020-3.30.2020)
March 2, 2020; The Meeting An overview of the first day of making the album "X". It was March 2, 2020; 7:03am in Manhattan, New York time to be exact as an ambitious Stephanie Fierce makes her way inside her very own recording studio conveniently located in her high rise home for day 1 production of her 10th studio album. Her and her long time friends Daniel (Daniel the Free Nerd; respectively), Orca (Who worked on "Newborn", "Free" and "Love is Lust"), Howie B (Worked on "Free"), and Chris Cunningham (Creative Art Director for "Free") were all collectively waiting inside the studio to begin brainstorming song lyrics, sounds and ideas for the album.
The day was raining and gloomy but the spirit in the room was contradictory. Prior to the meeting, Fierce and the room of artist and producers had helped themselves to some tea and a light breakfast to the get their minds going for a very productive day. Throughout the years the bunch had kept in touch and even experienced holidays together but never worked on music, so today was a special day in light of what was about to happen.
The group was sitting around in a circle on a comfy section that surrounded the corner of the studio which had sound proof walls. The studio was very well decorated and had many live plants hanging to give the room an earthy feel. Hue painting and photographs graces the walls for inspiration and visual eye candy. Fierce even had her very own private butler that will periodically go around in the studio and ask the group if they needed any items such as a cigar, food, water, alcoholic drinks and anything you can possibly imagine.
"Be The One" by Moby had been playing loudly as all of the sudden it comes to a stop. Fierce takes a seat the comfortable sectional and begins to talk to the group of eager artists.
"I've been calling this album "X" for 5 years now and honestly I just might stick with that title. It's only a coincidence that this is my 10th album even though it was supposed to be my 9th" Fierce says over to Daniel and the others.
"I like it. It's simple and edgy" Daniel says laughing.
"What is it exactly that you want this album to sound like in terms of sound" Orca says as he takes a sip of his freshly brewed tea.
"I don't want it to be too commercial that's for sure and you guys know what I mean by that. Like Lost in Electronica is a pop album that I wanted to give to my fans because they've been wanting that from me for the longest but I also don't want to leave out my other fans who appreciate my more experimental side which I personally enjoy more. Like a lot of the songs I've written for this record don't really have that song structure that radio will eat up you know so that's why I have you all here. This is honestly my first time having you all together in a room to share our ideas and I feel like you guys are perfect. You guys have helped me create some of my best songs" Fierce says passionately.
"Are we going to do combination of strings and flutes on this album, you seemed to be obsessed with that on Free" Howie B says in a mocking but joking way to Fierce.
"That's very Free like and I honestly cringe at the idea of repeating that as beautiful as it sounded on that album. I do want this album to sound tough. I want it to have some grit to it. so no strings. The first song though is very poetic and beautiful so it will have a bit of the Free elements in it in terms of that haunting piano sound I created but I want it to kind of escape from that and evolve as the album goes on. The last thing I want to do with this album is recreate what I've already created in the past" Fierce responds laughing a bit at Howie B's dig at her hitting him lightly in the arm.
Fierce and the group took a few minutes to brainstorm on their laptop computers. The room was in complete silence, which would be extremely awkward for any human that's never been in it . This is how they worked best when it came to brainstorming. Complete Silence. Not one spoke a word, not a thing. Fierce began to think of how emotional this song was for her and she was mentally preparing herself to talk about it.
"The first song is called Kiss of Death. As beautiful as its going to sound, it really isn't such a happy song. I kind of want to create this contradictory element with the song. Where the sound is beautiful but message isn't". Fierce says over to the group.
"As far as the visual on this album. Are you planning on making any music videos, are there any particular singles you want to focus on visually?" Chris Cunningham asks Fierce as he takes out a pen and begins to take notes on his notebook.
"I didn't have anything particular in mind in terms of a theme or anything. I don't want it to be uninspired looking but I don't have a specific tone in terms of the visual. I just want it to be authentic or maybe a little darker" Fierce says in response to Cunningham's question. She begins to pace around the room with her finger on her chin. Something she often did when recollecting her thoughts.
"There wont be any singles but there is one song I do want to film a music video for and that's for a song called "Finale". I actually want my daughter Helle to sing it, because she wrote it." Fierce says as the whole room is filled with shock. Fierce often refused the idea of having her daughter featured on one of her records but within reason that she wanted the consent of her daughter organically.
"My daughter has been taking vocal lessons and she's been doing this Opera thing which I find so beautiful. This will be the first time people actually hear her sing, so I'm quite ecstatic about it, and I feel like the song she wrote would be a perfect way to end the record" Fierce tells the group who's now seen taking notes.
For the remainder of the day the group of men and one woman went over all the lyrics Fierce had written for the record which were 8 songs all together. Fierce felt that the song's length will make up for the fact that the album only had 8 songs. Fierce wanted the album to be designed as a combined listen versus a body of work full of singles. After reviewing the lyrics of all of the tracks are propose to be on the album, the group began brainstorming sound ideas for many of them. After a successful first day, the group headed out of Fierce's apartment around midnight as they would return first thing in the morning at 10 am to continue work on the record.
1. KISS OF DEATH Name: "Kiss of Death"
Album: "X"
Recorded: Spring 2020
Writer/Composer: Stephanie Fierce
Producer: Stephanie Fierce, Orca, Howie B
Length: 4:01
Genres: Experimental, Trip-hop
Record Label: Hot Eye Records
"Kiss of Death" is the first track heard on the album "X" . The song is an experimental, trip-hop track that talks about forgiveness and resentment. Specifically, the song describes a situation when two people make amends but things quickly turn ugly leading to an tragic outcome. The song was written solely by Stephanie Fierce and produced by Orca, Howie B and Fierce respectively.
The first track on the album
"Kiss of Death" opens up with an unidentified animalistic sound and brief humming. Then sharp strings are heard with a haunting piano and sound effects created from a sound board. The sounds clash against each other not following a particular song structure as Fierce begins singing in her highest pitch of voice. Her voice grows with more emotion each line and the sounds grow with her voice. The song reaches a section where there is an orchestra of violins and horns are heard carrying the song to the bridge. The bridge of the song is quiet and haunting. Very minimal beats are heard, but each beat can be identified on its own. The final part of the song combines all of the different elements heard in the song and slowly starts to die out into a peaceful acapella section. The song ends with just the haunting piano going until the song fades.
The song is purposely sung in a slow dragging pace. Vocals are soft but haunting giving a sense of sadness and pain. Not much vocal range is showcased but there is harmonizing in the bridge and ending of the song. The song's melancholy feeling also adds a bit of sadness in spite of the beautiful keys of the piano.
"I wrote this song in spite of a time me and Johnny were not getting along. We've been married for more than 10 years now, so our love is really deep and complicated. We have such a mutual understanding, however whenever things do go south we both can hold a but of a grudge. We both know we can fight a long battle. Kiss of Death represents that moment when you forgive but there's still a bit of poison left and unfortunately things kind of fall apart" - Stephanie Fierce
Official Lyrics "Knives on a piano, baby you're killing me
just like a bittersweet symphony
that's what you make of me
with a heart of bigotry and agony
This feels like a kiss of death
there's no light in your eyes,
and only salt in your tears
wishing all of this was a lie
that's why days feel like years
I wish I could erase this feeling
you keep breaking me apart,
a piece of me left,
played me from the start
I said I would forgive,
I said I would commit,
but I guess maybe I lied
cause all I did was quit
quit everything we had,
everything we felt
it's so intense
this feeling is so intense
I'm giving you the kiss of death
Kiss of death is all I'm giving
Kiss of death baby
I guess it's never getting any better,
but I want it so much to get better
Maybe, Maybe
But there's no light in your eyes,
and only salt in your tears
wishing all of this was a lie
that's why days feel like years
I wish I could erase this feeling
you keep breaking me apart,
a piece of me left,
played me from the start
it's so intense
this feeling is so intense
I'm giving you the kiss of death
Kiss of death is all I'm giving
Kiss of death baby "Sound like:
PART 2/7