LYRICS:  What I learned from love left a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was just enough to keep me coming back for more…

INTERPRETATION:  “You can do whatever you want with your life, but one day you’ll know what love truly is – it’s the sour AND the sweet.  & I know sour, which allows me to appreciate the sweet…”

~Brian Shelby (Vanilla Sky)

Of all human experience, love is perhaps the most immutable.  Regardless of how potentially devastating its ramifications, we’re inevitably drawn to the elusive, yet existential essence of its nature; something readily manifest, despite its mystery.

INSPIRATION:  Like many tracks on Shadowlands, Bittersweet was largely influenced by the abstract minimalism of a passing thought.  Much as I love progressive long-form songs & thoroughly layered productions, I’m also very intrigued by the concept of simplicity, both thematically & structurally.

INSIGHT:  Bittersweet was recorded live with one room mic.  That track was then run through a digital bit crusher in post-production, which accounts for the tone’s warm distortion (aka the bitter).  Matt then added a few subtle alternate chord voicings near the end of the track using a syrupy chorus effect (aka the sweet).  Bittersweet is also something of a sister-piece to Forty-Four Divide, as their chording patterns are intentionally very similar.