In the winter of 2012, Daniel James, a Barista at The Peekskill Coffee House, brewed up a latte for me that had a rather strange looking face on the top. I asked him what the heck was that all about and he told me it was the Discontent Snowman. I whipped out my phone and snapped a photo of the gentleman's face floating atop my latte and now you see him on the cover of my new album of the same name. Each of the eleven new songs on the album are crafted to tell a bit of the story of this grumpy and frustrated guy. The album begins with the song 'I Trusted You', an avalanche of drums and beats along with haunting vocals that set the tone of our main character. Following this blizzard, the second song has a rather hypnotic sense to it which is why I named it 'Lullaby', but the lyrics are not something one would think would ease a person into sleep. After those two rather heavy numbers, I really wanted something much more upbeat and pop-like. 'Never Thought I'd Ever See' does that very well as it describes our Discontent Snowman's excitement about discovering the one he loves. In 'Took My Joy Away' I originally had some rather nasty lyrics about a guy who loses his love to another and seeks revenge, but this rhythmic piece that alternates between light and dark works so well as an instrumental that I decided to remove them. 'Hard To Love' is about the acknowledgement that, at times, we're not always the easiest people in the world to love. This song fits well with 'It Hurts When I Melt', about the process of moving from our cold, chilly selves to people who are open and present to those we love. Speaking of the one we love, the next song 'Cathy' is the closest to a pure pop single you'll hear on the new album. It's really fun to perform because of the vocal changes and guitar solo - I love the driving bass line and drums. 'Supermoon' is the second instrumental and was written just after the Supermoon of 2012. I imagined what it might be like to sit outside in the cold watching the massive moon rise in front of you. It's all electronic and hyperpulsating. Just pure fun and great to workout to as well. So crank it up! I was dying to do a ballad and nothing was coming out when all of a sudden 'We've Got Time' showed up. It's a nice, loving piece about knowing that time is always on our side when we're confident in our love for someone. I think you'll like the string and horn arrangements, as well as the bells and the harmonies. As we near the end of the album and winter thaws out our Discontent Snowman it's only natural to have a song called 'Take Me Home' show up, right? It's a shorter song and initially I didn't like it too much, but it has really grown on me and I love the simplicity of the interplay between bass and drum sounds. Closing out our story is 'Change of Season', an instrumental with three basic movements. The first is the uncomfortable release from the cold prison we sometimes keep ourselves in, the second is the movement into some form of waiting and transitory space, and the final movement is the joyous release and return to our love. Well that's it! I hope you enjoy listening to the new album 'Discontent Snowman' and I look forward to your comments and thoughts either here or on my Merwin Facebook page. I want to thank the following people and places for helping out with the album: Daniel James, The Peekskill Coffee House, Seth Freach and Cathy. All songs were recorded at Orb-Weaver Studios, Hudson Valley, New York in 2012. Stay warm, Kevin Merwin.
