Track By Track: Young Statues

Carmen Cirignano AKA Young Statues walks us through his new self-titled album, out today via Run For Cover Records.

“Spacism”
This was probably the song that changed the most between the early demo recording and the finished version. The last thing we tracked was acoustic guitar, but I feel like it was the most crucial addition, and really gave it a nice swing. This song is about not conforming or changing who you are for anyone else. I found myself in a situation where I was more into the idea of something rather than the actual reality of what I had. I thought I was happy, but I wasn't. This song was a reminder to myself to never let that happen again.

“Athens”
As simple as they may be, I was most happy with how the drums came out in this song. During the writing sessions, I really became fixated on drum parts vs. drum performances. I tried to focus a bit more on the idea of hard-hitting, well-performed drum parts as opposed to more intricately written ideas. Dan is an amazing drummer and took my ideas and turned them into something way better than I could have hoped for. The song is about being underappreciated, and knowing it. Sometimes it's hard to realize the truth, and you try to rationalize instead, but it will only become that much more disappointing when nothing changes.

“Half Light”
I wanted to try to give this song as much atmosphere as possible, which is where the slide part came from. We also used a big marching band drum, which is basically ringing throughout the entire song. For being one of the slower songs on the record, this one was probably the most fun to record because of how we were able to experiment with it. Lyrically, this song is about not feeling bitter or upset with a person about how things worked out, even though maybe you should be. It's about remembering the good things, and taking that with you as you move on.

“Bumble Bee”
This song is about the mind games that always seem to go on whenever two people like each other. I always know when I'm in the middle of it, but still it's always baffled me and I've never been very good at playing along! The verses are a back and forth dialogue with each line one person speaking to the other. Most of my lyrics tend to be very internal, so creating this kind of non-specific story was different and a lot of fun for me.

“Losing A Friend”
This song is truer to the way my lyrics seem to end up, very direct and internal. I was involved with a person that I cared about a whole lot, and although I could feel that things didn't really work out, I was still eager to have that person in my life. For whatever reason this feeling was unrequited, and actually fought against, which was hard to understand.

“Young Statues”
I had written all the music and melody to this song before the lyrics. So when it came time to write lyrics, I wanted them to fit the upbeat tempo of the song. I had been in a rut for a bit, but all it takes is a good night with your closest friends to bring that optimism of youth back into your life. This song is about snapping yourself out of whatever negative mindset you were in, and realizing that you are in complete control of where you want your life to take you.

“We Trusted Everything Enough”
I grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. We have one of the highest suicide rates among teenagers in the country. Personally, I know way too many kids that have chosen to end their own lives. This past year one of my closer friends made that decision, right around Christmas time, and was such a hard thing to understand. “When we were young, we trusted everything enough,” is just a reference to how drastic and different things become as you transition from a child into a young adult. Some people can't handle it, and make the insanely foolish decision to end their own lives.

“Keep It Dark”
One of my favorite sounds on the whole record is this little delayed keyboard part happening throughout the song. I bought this old Casiotone keyboard from a video store for eight bucks and since then have tried endlessly to include it on a song and finally this one was it. Everyone has that one person, habit, or feeling that they can never kick. You try, and come back to it, and over and over again. This song is about knowing that you want to kick this thing, but how easy it can be to sometimes just roll with it.

“Pretty Girls Make Raves”
This song is about being convinced to go to this crazy dance/DJ show, and then getting stuck there. I was running into all these people I didn't want to see that were causing all these old feelings to come back into my head. I remember the lyrics to “Panic” by the Smiths kept running through my head: “Burn down the disco, hang the blessed DJ. Because the music that they constantly play, it says nothing me about my life.” The title of the song was my way to acknowledge how the Smiths helped it come about.

“Your Seasons Stay The Same”
This is another song where I wanted the lyrics to fit the tempo. This is one of the faster, more in-your-face songs musically on the record, and I think the lyrics suit that well. Whereas “Losing A Friend” is a song where I was expressing a more understanding mindset, this song was my wake-up call. Sometimes unhappy people tend to project and blame their unhappiness on others; this song is a message meant to remind those people that their unhappiness in no one's fault but their own.

“Meet Me At The Hudson”
I reached a point where I was just kind of fed up with the way things were progressing in my every day life. I remember losing my phone and wallet in Philadelphia the night before, and having plans to visit friends in New York City the following day. I really should have stayed home but I went anyway, with barely any money, no phone, and no idea what I was going to do. I felt trying to be responsible and making good decisions wasn't getting me anywhere, so why not go out and do whatever I want. I learned a lot about myself that weekend, and I'm glad I did, but I don't think it's something I could ever do again. alt