I’ve posted a ‘Sound of’ post for both Killing Gravity and Void Black Shadow, detailing the music (or, for Void Black Shadow, audio performance) that inspired each book, but this time around, I wanted to do something a little different.
If you want to know what the inside of my head sounded like while I was writing Static Ruin, you only need to listen to Young Widow’s full discography, starting with Old Wounds, then onto In and Out of Youth and Lightness, and then finally to Easy Pain, listening to the full album from start to finish. Also add a heavy dose of MY DISCO’s album Severe, though I did have to put this one aside any time I was writing an action scene.
But, as I neared the end of the book, I knew I needed to do something a little different.
I always listen to complete albums, from start to finish, without skipping any tracks. This is why I can’t listen to an album for an extended period of time if there’s even one track on it that I actively dislike. I could remove that track from the playlist, but I don’t see that as a viable choice. The way I see it, an album is like a book, and you would never tear a chapter out of a book.
Anyway, when we’re talking about individual songs, I find that I tend to really latch on to final tracks – usually melancholic, sometimes outright depressing, sometimes uplifting – endings so strong they make you want to start the album again right from the beginning. So, I thought, why not put together a playlist of these final tracks, to set the tone as I was writing the final chapters of the final book in the VoidWitch Saga? And that is what I have here for you now – a playlist entitled Endings. That is the spotify link, but the full list is below. Each one of these songs is from an absolute favourite album of mine, and I recommend listening to the full album if any song takes your fancy. Bandcamp links are included where available.
- These Arms Are Snakes – Briggs (from Tail Swallower & Dove)
- CHELSEA WOLFE – The Abyss (from The Abyss)
- Isis – Threshold of Transformation (from Wavering Radiant)
- Clann Zú – You’re Listening to a Dead Man Speak (from Rua)
- Fiona Apple – Waltz (Better Than Fine) (from Extraordinary Machine)
- Chelsea Wolfe – Lone (from Pain is Beauty)
- Clark – The Autumnal Crush (from Body Riddle)
- Autolux – Becker (from Pussy’s Dead)
- Isis – Garden Of Light (from In the Absence of Truth)
- Fiona Apple – Hot Knife (from The Idler Wheel […])
- Purity Ring – Shuck (from Shrines)
- These Arms Are Snakes – Crazy Woman Dirty Train (from Easter)
- The Mars Volta – Zed And Two Naughts (from Noctourniquet)
- Genghis Tron – Ergot (Relief) (from Board up the House)
- MY DISCO – Careless (from Severe)
- Young Widows – In My Living Room (from Easy Pain)
- Mark Lanegan Band – Tiny Grain Of Truth (from Blues Funeral)
- Future Of The Left – Why Aren’t I Going To Hell (from How To Stop Your Brain in an Accident)
- Isis – Grinning Mouths (from Panopticon)
- Russian Circles – Memorial feat. Chelsea Wolfe (from Memorial)
- Tom Waits – Blue Valentines (from Blue Valentine)
- Fiona Apple – I Know (from When the Pawn […])
- Autolux – Capital Kind Of Strain (from Future Perfect)
- Liars – The Other Side Of Mt. Heart Attack (from Drum’s Not Dead)
The playlist always had to open with Briggs – the final song off the final album of one of my all-time favourite bands, and (for those playing at home) the place where I took the name for the villain from Killing Gravity. And it was always going to end with The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack. I can’t listen to this song without crying, and I’m not even sure why anymore, but I know I want it played at my funeral. For the purposes of Static Ruin, think of it as Mars & Squid’s song.