Track by Track: Rachel Bobbitt and Justice Der
Alt-indie duo Rachel Bobbitt and Justice Der have released their collaborative LP ‘When The Plane Goes Down’, they took a moment to talk to us about the release - track by track.
Swimming pool
RB - A song about the transition from childhood to being a young adult, and how things you do as a kid can have different implications when you grow up.
JD - The first track we wrote together. Written in the summer of 2017 while we were both in our respective homes a few provinces apart.
Iris Road
RB - This one is about a utopic relationship in its early stages and the sense of tunnel vision that can bring.
JD - The song started from the chord progression in the verses, and the lyrics stemmed largely from the voice memos app naming the demo by our actual location of Iris Road.
Marry the Apathy
RB - A song about realizing your mortality and feeling helpless in the wake of it.
JD - This one started as a minimal acoustic demo and then we added the noise, static and layered guitars that made the final track. The drums were a last minute decision which is funny to me in retrospect.
Ourobouros
RB - Lyrically this song addresses the cycles and patterns we experience in life. The title came directly from that idea.
JD - This one was inspired a lot by Sufjan Stephens and started from a demo of layered acoustic guitars. A lot of the guitars that made the final version were actually from the original demo.
Stall
RB - This song is about the feeling of being isolated or estranged from the one person you want to connect with.
JD - We had a lot of fun with the vocal mixing on this one and felt it served as an intermission or interlude for the album.
Passed out Trees
RB - A nostalgic song about lost love and childhood memories.The title came from Justice mishearing the lyric “pastel trees” as “passed out trees”.
JD - This is probably the most heavily rearranged song that made the album. The original had no drums or bass groove and was built on stacked harmonies and a bit of guitar. We wanted the end of the song to feel like sifting through memories.
Alex
RB - A song about being in a bad place mentally and the negative effects that can have on your relationships.
JD - This track was born out of the main guitar riff which was heavily insirped the Mk.gee song “I”. We originally named this one Sliver but ended up sticking with an abbreviated version of the original working title which was “Alex G”, because we were listening to him a lot at the time.
Like a Bull
RB - I wrote this song a few months before going home this summer. It is about the anxiety surrounding feelings of being manipulated and not wanting to fall into old patterns or habits.
JD - Rachel had written this song almost in its entirety and I didn’t want to add too much to it because it is one of my favorite songs she has ever written. My main contributions were the guitar riff at the end and the ambient sounds you hear throughout the track.
Beneath Our Feet (Exit Music)
RB - A tongue and cheek look at youth and mortality that was inspired by Alvvays and Soccer Mommy.
JD - I wrote the lyrics and melody of the chorus for this one as well as the instrumental, which is pretty rare. Its an upbeat sounding song but its really about death. Just feeling the reality of life and being ok with it in a peaceful way.