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The Lost Tapes (2010) album cover

The Lost Tapes 2010

31 Dec 2010

LT·2010 [01–09]

We open with ‘Ad Lucem’, which translates to “to the light.” I have always been deeply drawn to strings and orchestral music, and this track holds a very special place in my heart. Although I had written a few tunes before this, starting around 2008, this feels like the true beginning of my musical journey.

Another piece in this collection is ‘Flora’, which I composed for a project about the artist Flora Twort for a museum. I spent a great deal of time poring over years of her diaries to build a picture of her life, and this riff became the foundation of the soundtrack I created for it. You can hear echoes of it at the end with ‘War’, inspired by Flora’s account of the Blitz.

‘Come Alive’ is a song I shared with friends at the time, receiving much praise. A close friend and fellow musician once told me that this song is the reason he can sing falsetto, which I find incredibly beautiful and touching.

This collection of mostly unfinished songs marks the real beginning of my journey towards finding joy and catharsis in music. I look back on these days with a deep sense of nostalgia.

They were the days of innocence.

  1. 01

    Ad Lucem

    The first light. A piano line gathering strings, drums, momentum.

    LT·2010·01 [01]

  2. 02

    My Road

    You used to walk down my road Where few would ever did go Where bravest birds never flew To find the one that you love You didn't know where to go You didn't know where to go You used to walk down my road A long time ago You didn't know where to go It was so cold You look so closed Then behind those eyes Nothing behind those eyes Nothing behind those eyes Nothing behind your eyes But the last of sunlight It's getting dark Your soul departs With the sundown dawn Reflects your mind Oh by day or night You don't ever walk down my road You got nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go Why don't you walk down my road It's a place you know You used to walk down my road Down my road It's just like when you told When you told me so You used to walk down my road

    This is the song where I first recorded into my crackling wired earphones. There was no plan. It came out in one take.

    Life was changing fast in early 2010. I was getting pulled deeper into a future full of new people and places, while still holding on to the road I’d come from. I think I was finding comfort in the past just as the future came calling hard. I don’t even know if I was singing this to myself or someone else. Maybe both.

    This old demo feels like looking at an ancient dream from far away. It still comforts me.

    threads · compass · the figure

    LT·2010·02 [02]

  3. 03

    We Are

    Summer's flowers fell out of bloom As we prepare to go somewhere new Leave all the people that we always knew Think of all the things we used to do They moved us into our new home A place where we would learn to roam Feel the changing in our bones Lying to piano tones Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Swim Oceana, fly so high In the room by day or night Spend so long we miss the sky Together letting time go by Nights we have sometimes go wrong People can't always get along In time we've had to grow so strong When day is done we still belong Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are Don't forget where we are Don't forget where we are Don't forget Don't forget who we are Don't forget who we are Don't forget who we are Don't forget Oh don't forget, don't forget, don't forget Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Where we been Where we are Where we're going to now Don't forget where we are now Don't forget where we are now Don't forget who we are now

    Recorded in halls of residence, on the upstairs grand piano in the round room above reception. Nobody ever went up there. I used to play this by moonlight.

    The vocal is distant and slightly distorted — that’s how the world sounded to me at the time. Everything felt nostalgic even as it was happening.

    The line “don’t forget who we are now” is one I think the rest of my life has been spent trying to obey.

    threads · compass

    LT·2010·03 [03]

  4. 04

    Coming Home

    A short version of the opening hook from Skylar Grey’s Coming Home. Recorded as a prayer at a time when “coming home” felt more like an idea than a place.

    LT·2010·04 [04]

  5. 05

    Imagine

    When I came across a barren land I didn't know where to go But I didn't mind I didn't mind One less place tonight to find Imagine there's a place for you and me Tonight, tonight, tonight Where we can make the stars burn bright Tonight, tonight, tonight When I came into a morning light I didn't know where to go But I didn't mind I didn't mind One less place tonight to find Imagine there's a place for you and me Tonight, tonight, tonight Where we can make the stars burn bright Tonight, tonight, tonight It doesn't matter when we reach The morning light Doesn't matter, if we just Imagine there's a place for us tonight Tonight Imagine there's a place for you and me Tonight, tonight, tonight Where we can make the stars burn bright Tonight, tonight, tonight

    Written like a daydream, wandering through a place I didn’t know yet. A kind of soft hopefulness, believing there could be a somewhere meant for two people who hadn’t met.

    threads · compass

    LT·2010·05 [05]

  6. 06

    Come Alive

    My waking life My sleeping love It's what I'm dreaming of I know you're out there I know you're somewhere So I roam the streets of a town I know But never been before Hoping everywhere I go Reminds me of something more Then I see you See you crying Beneath your tree You look at me Look at me now Look at me now Here comes the lightning Sky is brightening Lights are blinding Won't stop me climbing 'Cos the world's come alive Come alive now 'Cos the world's come alive Come alive now Just like a dream You were enough A different kind of love I used to be bare Going nowhere Come alive 'til morning and watch the sun Then disappear once more Roaming wide 'til day is done Know what I'm searching for Then I see you See you crying Beneath your tree You look at me Look at me now Look at me now Here comes the lightning Sky is brightening Lights are blinding Won't stop me climbing 'Cos the world's come alive Come alive now 'Cos the world's come alive Come alive now Then I see you See you smiling A different view I look at you Look at you now Look at you Here comes the lightning Sky is brightening Lights are blinding, oh 'Cos the world's come alive Come alive now The world, It's alive now

    The first song where I tried to summon something bigger than myself. A cinematic urge, a piano line gathering strings and drums and momentum, the world igniting at someone’s arrival.

    This melody returns across the archive more than any other. Eleven (2016) closes by quoting it. Honour Among Thieves (2025) reaches it back at the line “in this honesty we’ll come alive”. I didn’t plan that. It just kept arriving.

    threads · compass

    LT·2010·06 [06]

  7. 07

    War

    Soundtrack piece for a biographical commission. Weaves Flora Twort’s wartime diary entries into the score.

    LT·2010·07 [07]

  8. 08

    Flora

    A piano-led piece written while reading decades of Flora Twort’s diaries and looking at her paintings. For a moment I felt connected across time, as if her voice and mine were sharing the same room.

    LT·2010·08 [08]

  9. 09

    Carol of the Bells

    A winter version recorded in halls over Christmas 2010, when the building had emptied out. I’d loved this piece since hearing John Williams’ version in Home Alone as a kid — it always felt both haunting and hopeful.

    The slow opening, the climbing octaves, the swell of strings. I set it to a montage of friends and family and posted it with headings like “live / play / study / escape / work / miss”. The reaction made me feel unexpectedly whole — like all the different parts of my life touched for a moment.

    One of the rare moments back then I felt complete.

    LT·2010·09 [09]