Look Back

I've been quiet on here - obviously not on Twitter if you follow me there, that's where I write all my nonsense - because I've been working hard both with the day job and with the edits on the book! Round one finally submitted! 

So to celebrate, let's get some music on board. It's the only thing that's sustained me through the madness of this tale. I've been toying with this story for a while. It's a whodunnit because why not? Then the pandemic hit and we are all wearing masks, not touching, having video calls with our grandmas and how would a whodunnit at a wedding when the guestlist is down to thirty with no reception work? Cue Hot Muse Hank. While listening to a great podcast by John Sweeney, HMH told me that I could keep everything as is, but have the characters talk about what happened to them as though it happened years ago, rather than currently. 

"You're a fucking genius!" I said to Hot Muse Hank. He made a face and said, "Well try it and see if it's easy."

Spoiler alert - it was NOT easy. You really forget things that were happening last week, let alone twelve nearly thirteen years ago, and then thirteen years from that date. I changed names and forgot to change names all the way through. I changed genders and forgot that I'd done that and read through thinking, who the hell is she? when I meant he. Foolishness. Did Hot Muse Hank help? Did he fuck. He reminded me that while it'd been his idea to take things way back into time, it was also my idea to follow his idea. 

Also, let me do an early warning on the content of this book. While it'll have my trademark humour, it's pretty dark. There's a lot of murder, discussions on sexual abuse and assault and stalking. Once I have the book up, you can download a sample to see if it's for you but please be assured that if it's not, I promise you, I understand. 

Anyways, the podcast within a book within a whodunnit takes place in 2020, with the murder at a wedding taking place in 2008. With me? For authenticity, all the music tracked is either from last year or 2008 or earlier. If you had seen me having a whole concert to myself doing this, you would agree with Hot Muse Hank that I have lost my natural mind. All good though! 

Music a la podcast style:

For The Last Time Soundtrack

1. 2WEI – Echoes
2. Sam Sparro – Black & Gold
3. Foals – Like Swimming
4. Tom Mc Rae – A Day Like Today
5. Interpol – The Heinrich Maneuver
6. Rufus Wainwright – Not Ready To Love
7. Placebo – Pure Morning
8. Björk – Unravel
9. Kate Nash – Nicest Thing
10. Zero7 ft Mozez – I Have Seen
11. Tom Ashbrook – Klass
12. She Wants Revenge – Tear You Apart
13. Radiohead – Talk Show Host
14. Bloc Party – Biko
15. Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
16. Guillemots – Little Bear
17. TĀLĀ – Cabin Fever  
18. Portishead – Undenied
19. MJ Cole – Sincere
20. Aqualung – Good Times Gonna Come
21. The Naked And Famous – The Sun
22. Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry On Their Own
23. Damian Marley – Welcome To Jamrock
24. Kanye West ft Consequence, Cam’ron – Gone
25. Stevie Wonder – I Don’t Know Why
26. Madonna – Candy Perfume Girl
27. David Bowie – All The Young Dudes
28. Tricky – Ponderosa
29. Portishead – Strangers
30. Radiohead – Nude
31. UNKLE – Price You Pay
32. Madcon – Beggin’
33. Lamb – Lullaby
34. Coldplay – Spies
35. Paramore – We Are Broken  
36. Death in Vegas – Hands Around My Throat
37. Damien Rice – Eskimo
38. Tom McRae – Walking2Hawaii
39. Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do
40. Tricky – Hell Is Around The Corner
41. Basement Jaxx – Everybody
42. Mark Ronson ft Daniel Merriweather – Stop Me
43. New Young Pony Club – Ice Cream
44. Massive Attack – Teardrop
45. Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
46. Radiohead – Paranoid Android  
47. The Ting Tings – We Walk
48. Low – Breaker
49. Radiohead – Everything In Its Right Place
50. 702 – You Don’t Know
51. Cassie – Me & U
52. Ledisi – You And Me
53. José González – Killing For Love
54. Sigor Rós – Svefn-g-englar
55. U2 – If God Will Send His Angels
56. Bobby Womack – California Dreamin’
57. PJ Harvey – The Garden
58. Faithless – Crazy English Summer
59. Little Dragon – Twice
60. Malcolm McLaren – About Her
61. Bon Iver – Creature Fear
62. Air – Photograph
63. Bonobo ft Fink – If You Stayed Over  
64. White Lies – Unfinished Business
65. Coldplay – Prospekt’s March/Poppyfields
66. Alexandre Desplat – Elegy
67. Linkin Park – Hands Held High
68. Bloc Party – Kreuzberg
69. Vanbur – In Cold Light
70. Active Child – Cruel World 

Let's Do It Again

Is this month ever going to end? It's been January for 84 years and I've had enough of it. I'm not doing any of the restrictions for this month. It's hard enough as it is without inflicting more misery on myself. I'm sticking with sugar - just reducing, although I made about a hundred pieces of salted caramel fudge yesterday and it's delightful! I have one meatless day a week - not doing it the whole month when I have so much bresaola that expires next month and I'm not paying for the gym when I'm saving for the two hundred holidays I'm taking this year. Yay me!

Anyways, given the longest month of time, I thought enough of that has passed for me to not spoil owt but clarify what songs go with which bit of Murano. I haven't done that for my previous books for fear of giving key things away. And I feel like we're at the stage where it's time for a second read and a second read with tunes as I maestro intended. Lol! Me going on like I'm Paris Hilton at a gig! You've known me long enough to understand my musical leanings, my love and adoration of Sir Hans Zimmer, that I'm so obviously an eighties baby judging by said musical leanings and that the strangest songs will make me emotional for no reason. If I told you the number of times I listened to I Know What I Do just staring at a wall crying, you wouldn't believe me. Routemaster to the rescue was born from being on the N44 streaking through London roads after far too many lychee martinis and praying the bus would go faster so I could throw up in peace. I don't travel anywhere without music, so Hans kept the need to projectile over my fellow passengers at bay. Now it's tied up with Bep being... well Bep. I maintain Radiohead should have been given the Spectre song which is why it's included so I can't listen to it without coupling it with sleek, silencer-ed weaponry. And I can't include Smack My Bitch Up unless a bitch is gonna get smacked up. Said bitch does get smacked up. And it just makes me love Mimi more.

So there we are. A glimpse behind the thought process of what goes into my tracks. There's a reason for the weirdness. Always. Gosh, really wish I could apologise to my English teacher. I was always convinced that she looked for meaning behind everything when it could be that the author just wanted something that way. Now look at me - giving parallels.

Nope! I take it back!

Murano on Spotify

An Old Man’s Path

• Progeny – Hans Zimmer

Giuseppe Nardiello

• Hey Mami – Sylvan Esso

Lost Boy/Wendy Darling

• You See All My Light – Jacques Greene
• Change Is Everything – Son Lux

Last Wedding

• The Dream of Gerontius, Op 38/Pt 2 Praise to the Holiest – Edward Elgar

I think I want to see

• It’s Magic – Dinah Washington

Goddamn Sheen

• Too Original – Major Lazer

Sweet Sixteen on Coke

• 212 - Azealia Banks

Come out with me

• Playinwitme – KYLE ft Kehlani

Date Musicals

• Suddenly, Seymour – Rich Moranis, Ellen Greene

Nonna’s Speakeasy

• Sing, Sing, Sing – Benny Goodman
• You Give A Little Love – Paul Williams

Mini Cab?

• Ultralight Beam – Kanye West  

Marseille! Marseille!

• Palm Trees ?Téoذ

I Have Never…

• Shadow & Light – Martin Luke Brown

Defiling The Inner Sanctum

• Surprise Yourself – Jack Garratt

Leisurely

• Waking Up – MJ Cole & Freya Ridings

Fractured Family

• Back To You – Benjamin Gordon

This Is Beppe

• I Am – Rock Mafia ft Wyclef Jean

Neighbours

• Breathe & Stop – Q-Tip  
• Tell Me That You Love Me – James Smith

The Sacrilege

• Oh Baby – LCD Soundsystem

Why Are You Still Here?

• Same Drugs – Chance The Rapper

Happy Easter

• Movement – Hozier

Dear Sg Nardiello

• The Gulag Orkestar – Beirut

Darjeeling Comfort

• Not Dark Yet – Bob Dylan

That’s Not My Name

• Lost Boy – Ruth B.

Tomasina’s Protection

• Lie – Halsey, Quavo

New Start

• Do You Remember Jarryd James ft Raury

Routemaster to the rescue

• Fear Will Find You – Hans Zimmer

34 Letters

• Hell To The Liars – London Grammar
• War Prayer – This Will Destroy You
• If I Go, I’m Goin – Gregory Alan Isakov
• Slide – James Bay  
• Cloudbusting – Kate Bush
• Don’t Forget About Me – Cloves

The Safe House

• On The Nature Of Daylight – Max Richter  

An Italian Kiss

• Decks Dark – Radiohead

Book Me A Table At Claridges

• Elephant – Tame Impala
• On Thin Ice – Hans Zimmer

It’s A Trap

• Set This House On Fire – Nick Vallee

On the Common

• I Know All What I Do – Jack Garratt

Casual As Fuck

• Overture – Michael Kamen
• Romantic Flight – John Powell

Solemn Stag Do

• Hard Place – H.E.R

Venezia To The Bone

• All For Us – Labrinth

I Know Who You Are

• Selah – Emeli Sandé

She’s Dead

• Strange Weather – Anna Calvi ft David Byrne

Chances in Zurich

• Alone In the Dark – Will Cookson

Brace Yourself, Wendy Darling

• Carry You – Novo Amor

The Night Before

• when the party’s over - Billie Eilish

The Weirdest Day

• Outro – M83
• God Only Knows – John Legend and Cynthia Erivo
• The Vow – RuthAnne  
• Etta James – Til There Was You

An Assassin’s Mistake

• Under Attack – Kin Palo ft Amy Stroup

My Lovely, Brand-New Wife Amelia

• Smack My Bitch Up – The Prodigy

He’s Got Two

• Mean Demeanour – Run The Jewels

Waiting

• Ruelle – Take It All

Nice Work

• Mount Everest – Labrinth

In Deep Water

• Why Do We Fall – Hans Zimmer

Checkmate

• Vasily – Martin Phipps

How was the wedding?

• We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow – Soko  

Epilogue

• What You Won’t Do For Love – Luke Burr 

Murano on Amazon

Lost Boy

So six years later... Here we are! The herald of the coming of a little story I've been working on. No big deal. Just the seventh book in the Italian Knights Series. Forewarning - it's nuts - as you'll be able to tell from the sheer variety of music that I've included in this soundtrack. Enjoy, brace yourselves and send any complaints to the BBC!

Murano on Spotify

1. Progeny – Hans Zimmer 
2. Hey Mami – Sylvan Esso
3. You See All My Light – Jacques Greene 
4. Change Is Everything – Son Lux 
5. I Was Glad - Hubert Parry 
6. It’s Magic – Dinah Washington
7. Too Original – Major Lazer 
8. 212 - Azealia Banks 
9. Playinwitme – KYLE ft Kehlani 
10. Suddenly, Seymour – Rich Moranis, Ellen Greene 
11. Sing, Sing, Sing – Benny Goodman 
12. You Give A Little Love – Paul Williams
13. Ultralight Beam – Kanye West  
14. Palm Trees ¿Téo?
15. Shadow & Light – Martin Luke Brown 
16. Surprise Yourself – Jack Garratt 
17. Waking Up – MJ Cole & Freya Ridings 
18. Back To You – Benjamin Gordon
19. I Am – Rock Mafia ft Wyclef Jean
20. Breathe & Stop – Q-Tip  
21. Tell Me That You Love Me – James Smith 
22. Oh Baby – LCD Soundsystem 
23. Same Drugs – Chance The Rapper 
24. Movement – Hozier 
25. The Gulag Orkestar – Beirut 
26. Not Dark Yet – Bob Dylan
27. Lost Boy – Ruth B. 
28. Lie – Halsey, Quavo 
29. Do You Remember – Jarryd James ft Raury 
30. Fear Will Find You – Hans Zimmer 
31. Hell To The Liars – London Grammar
32. War Prayer – This Will Destroy You 
33. If I Go, I’m Goin – Gregory Alan Isakov
34. Slide – James Bay  
35. Cloudbusting – Kate Bush 
36. Don’t Forget About Me – Cloves 
37. On The Nature Of Daylight – Max Richter  
38. Decks Dark – Radiohead 
39. Elephant – Tame Impala 
40. On Thin Ice – Hans Zimmer 
41. Set This House On Fire – Nick Vallee 
42. I Know All What I Do – Jack Garratt 
43. Overture – Michael Kamen 
44. Romantic Flight – John Powell
45. Hard Place – H.E.R 
46. All For Us – Labrinth
47. Selah – Emeli Sandé
48. Strange Weather – Anna Calvi ft David Byrne 
49. Alone In the Dark – Will Cookson 
50. Carry You – Novo Amor 
51. When The Party’s Over - Billie Eilish 
52. Outro – M83 
53. God Only Knows – John Legend and Cynthia Erivo
54. The Vow – RuthAnne  
55. Etta James – Til There Was You 
56. Under Attack – Kin Palo ft Amy Stroup 
57. Smack My Bitch Up – The Prodigy
58. Mean Demeanour – Run The Jewels 
59. Ruelle – Take It All
60. Mount Everest – Labrinth 
61. Why Do We Fall – Hans Zimmer
62. Vasily – Martin Phipps 
63. We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow – Soko  
64. What You Won’t Do For Love – Luke Burr

Listen Before I Go

My love for Twitter has its limits which is why I'm constantly grateful for the block/mute/report options. But sometimes, it is a treasure trove of delights. User Cameron Rice asked about favourite film scores barring John Williams' Star Trek. I mean I love a bit of Cantina Band, but Sir Williams (I'm just going to knight him arbitrarily because he deserves it) has created some beautiful music. Take Memoirs of a Geisha intense and spiralling cello solos, transporting you to China pre and post World War II. It doesn't get nearly as much love as it deserves.

You all know and understand my obsession with Hans Zimmer and how he's aurally held my hand through every single one of my books and since the opening strains of "Progeny" in Gladiator, every single one of my examinations. The majority of Murano is accompanied by The Dark Knight Rises, so that should tell you it goes off.

Here's always a better place to state my love for the film scores that I always go back to and the ones that will always place me in a peaceful zone to compose whatever it is I need to write. Here are my favourites as in not the select few, but the ones I will listen to from beginning to end, no skipping a single track.

Sir Hans Zimmer (also arbitrarily knighted because it's my blog and I can)

Man of Steel
Gladiator

Interstellar

King Arthur

Batman Begins

The Dark Knight 

The Dark Knight Rises

The Lion King

Sir John Williams

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkerban

Superman

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Howard Shore

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies 

Klaus Doldinger

The NeverEnding Story

Martin Phipps

The Virgin Queen

War & Peace
The Woman In Gold

Trevor Jones

The Last of the Mohicans

Craig Armstrong

The Great Gatsby

Romeo + Juliet
Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Michael Kamen

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Trevor Morris

The Tudors - Season 4 

Tyler Bates

300

James Horner (the late, great and always beautiful use of a pan pipe) 

Legends of the Fall

Willow

Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan 

Michael Giacchino

Star Trek (2009)

Alexandre Desplat

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Shape of Water

Dario Marianelli

Kubo and the Two Strings

Pride and Prejudice 
Atonement

Yann Tierson

Amelie

Harry Griegson-Williams 

Kingdom of Heaven 

Dan Pemberton

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 

It's a surprisingly short list, given to what I usually rely on but this does exclude the television scores, otherwise, it'd be hella longer. I'm deeply grateful to these creatives who help me in turn find that the limits of my imagination are endless.

Army

Look how pretty!?

I like shiny new things and this is the first shiny new thing I've had in a while! Okay, not that long, I did replace the usurper with another model, but that was necessary. For real.

So! To the wonder and delight that is Madeline and Cain's story, with a side of marc de champagne chocolates. To survival and discovery. To new beginnings and love across the distance. To a bit of a banger to Mariah Carey getting back to the sexy I've always loved.

This is the soundtrack to Army of Me and You:

1. Together - The xx 
2. Can't Hold Us -  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton
3. #Beautiful - Mariah Carey ft Miguel 
4. Human - Daughter 
5. You & I (Nobody in the World) John Legend
6. Chevaliers De Sangreal - Hans Zimmer 
7. Fire We Make - Alicia Keys ft Maxwell 
8. Explosions - Ellie Golding 

Army of Me and You on Spotify

Hideout

You know I like a little music to go with my tales and Hideout is no different. Being unusually dark (for me anyways) the music needed to fit, so here we go:

Hideout on Spotify

1. Mr Martyr Young Fathers
2. Kveikur Sigor Ros 
3. Don't Cry For Me Stormzy ft Raleigh Ritchie
4. Almost Over Aquilo
5. Radio Silence James Blake 
6. You Don't Know Me Son Lux 
7. Heartbeat Childish Gambino
8. On Fire Raleigh Ritchie
9. Easier Mansionair 
10. Percogesic Gallant
11. Figure 8 FKA twigs
12. Garden Emeli Sande
13. Gosh Jamie xx 
14. Hadron Collider Blood Orange 
15. Dots & Lines Lupe Fiasco 
16. I Love You Woodkid 
17. Im U Beacon 
18. No Witnesses Keaton Henson 
19. Whole Lion Babe
20. The Hills The Weeknd 
21. Slip Elliot Moss 
22. Technicolour Beat Oh Wonder 
23. U Boat Kasabian 
24. Me and the Devil Gil Scott-Heron 
25. Settle Vera Blue
26. Panic Forest Swords 
27. Back From The Fire Gold Brother 
28. My Body Is A Cage Arcade Fire
29. Albatross Foals
30. Move Along Alexandra Schultz 

Beautiful Surprise

This soundtrack is a little bit like a tagine. Taking some meat, vegetables, spices and a little water, then let it bake for a year and a bit... Then open it up just to throw in some new stuff because James Blake has a new album and my God it's helped with edits. Flowing like water! So, yah, he deserves a double spot. Then you have my discovery of the gorgeous Ibeyi (cheers Beyoncé!) and ginger man of the hour (this changes on a regular, you know this) Jack Garratt. Bring the base, blud. Bring the damn base.

So in anticipation of getting this done sooner rather than later, here is the soundtrack of Scottish love - via London and Marrakech.

 Wynne's Surprise on Spotify

1.  Michael Kiwanuka One More Night 
2. Corinne Bailey Rae The Skies Will Break
3. James Blake f.o.r.e.v.e.r. 
4. Chløë Black Cruel Intentions 
5. Raleigh Ritchie You Make It Worse 
6. Sara Hartman Stranger In A Room 
7. David Bowie Valentine’s Day
8. Vaults Poison
9. The Proclaimers I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) 
10. Hassan Hakmoun Sala Alla ‘Alik Dima Dima
11.  Jack Garratt Breathe Life 
12. Elbow One Day Like This 
13. Years & Years Eyes Shut 
14. Gallant Weight In Gold 
15. Walifa Heartburn 
16. BØRNS Electric Love 
17. Halsey Hold Me Down 
18. Coleman Sitcom 
19. Coldplay Hymn For The Weekend 
20. Foxes Devil’s Side 
21. Jack Garratt Fire  
22. Texada All My Life 
23. Florence + The Machine Third Eye 
24. FKA Twigs In Time 
25. Bibb Bourelly Ego 
26. CHVRCHES Afterglow 
27. Foxes On My Way  
28. Ibeyi River 
29. James Blake I Need A Forest Fire 
30. Ellie Goulding Army