Weight Of Words

The Weight of Words introduces Slau for the first time as a solo recording artist. The album includes 12 original songs in styles ranging from pop and funk to rock and jazz. From Slau: The creation of this album began with a phone call from my cousin's wife, Roma, encouraging me to capitalize on my years of recording experience to further my own music career. For years, I had put my own song writing on the back burner while devoting myself to other people's projects. Although I had long been aware that I was neglecting my own music, it was only when someone else pointed it out that it hit home: it was time to do something for myself. As a studio owner, I'm lucky to have the resources to record an album - but finding the time was another matter. One of the drawbacks of the studio business is long hours. I was accustomed to spending days, weeks, even months on my clients' projects. And after a full day of sessions, the last thing I felt inspired to do was spend yet more time working on my own material. It became clear that I would have to dedicate myself full-time to my own music if I ever hoped to complete an album. I spent the first half of 2000 working intensely to finish several projects already committed to with various clients, then devoted the second half of the year to The Weight of Words. Five of the 12 songs on The Weight of Words had already been written by the time I began work on the album. 'Cold One,' 'Once Upon a Time'and 'Emptiness' formed what I loosely considered a trilogy based on the disintegration of my marriage. The title track signified a final farewell to that chapter in my life. It also marked a transition to new themes, as illustrated by the album's final cut, 'How Do I Make You Mine?' The rest of the tunes were in various stages of completion. None were conceived in quite the same way and each had it's own way of surfacing. 'The Only Love' and 'What I Should Say' were written in a crunch just before their debut at a gig, while songs like 'Act Upon My Love' and 'What Did You Do?' enjoyed the privilege of being unhurried and propelled solely by inspiration. While sitting at the piano, I simultaneously wrote the music and lyrics for 'I Can't' over a relatively short span of two days, while the lyrics to 'I'm the One' simply flew into my head nearly a year after the music was completed. One song that almost didn't make it onto the album was 'Two Can Play.' Because I had written it many years earlier, I hadn't considered including it. But after listening to it again, I found that it was still relevant. Like every song, it had a special meaning for me. Songs are like children; you spend time and energy on them, you nurture them, then send them off into the world and hope they'll make you proud.