Indie rock band, Search Party have a busy year planned. With three singles lined up for the first half of 2024 and then a new EP in the second half before a headline show in the Empire Belfast in November. The first of those releases ‘Paradise’, is led by a driving riff put together with the help of Neal Calderwood at Manor Park Studios.
We tasked the band with setting out the artists and songs that influence their sound.
Chris (Keys)
CMAT – Stay For Something –
Stay For Something is an outrageously brilliant & catchy tune that dominated my listening for the end of 2023. When it came to recording Paradise in the new year, those soft pads & backing strings from SFS were definitely of influence.
Bryan Adams – Run To You
There’s been a lot of talk about Paradise being a new Indie Pop banger. Let’s be honest, it’s an 80’s rock ballad that’s arrived forty years late.
So think of us as like Bryan Adam’s troubled nephew. For keys, I adore the blaring synth throughout the chorus of this song. The cherry on top of a thundering chorus which had a big influence on my playing for Paradise.
Lime Cordiale – Money
This song ticks so many boxes for keys. Jangly synth line to start, piano following the bass in the verse, building up and eventually descending into this muddy blues lick calling to the chorus melody. Class. However, the less is more approach in the verse is something I felt is also present in paradise, giving space to a massive chorus.
Seán (Vocals)
Randy Newman – Feels Like Home
The lyrics for Paradise are all about longing to come home from wherever you are to be with the ones you love. No one encompasses that ‘no place like home’ feeling like Randy Newman and ‘Feels Like Home’ makes me feel the same things that I felt when we were writing Paradise.
Boy Meets Girl – Waiting For a Star To Fall
As far as 80s pop goes, this song is as close to perfection as it gets. When I first started playing the Paradise chord progression I thought that it wouldn’t sound out of place in this era, so I started thinking of all the tracks that first come to mind when I think of the 80s to give me some inspiration. The bouncy rhythms and hooks found in songs like this makes them such good ear worms and force you to sing them all day after hearing them on the radio in the morning.
The 1975 – Oh Caroline
Once we established that Paradise was going to be a call back to older styles, I had a think about who was doing this type of thing well. I realise how cliched the idea of using nostalgia in music is at the moment, it seems like every hit is using samples from some 00s RnB song or doing a cover of a 70s funk tune. However, It doesn’t stop me from listening over and over again. Even though it’s an overused method of songwriting, incorporating some form of nostalgia into your music is quite effective. They have their critics but I really admire how The 1975 have done this of late, they use all the ingredients of a song from a certain era to make their song feel familiar, while still maintaining their own style throughout.
The War On Drugs – Thinking of a Place
Tonally, TWOD always use their instrumental sections so broad, lush and atmospheric. You hear the guitars front and centre in the mix, it’s crystal clear and you feel like you’re there in the room hearing them roar from the stage. Their definitely on our moodpboard when it comes to crafting a song.
Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over
All the open chords on the chorus rich guitars do a lot of work in filling out the sound especially sitting on top of the keys the way that they do. I’ve always loved the way those type of chords just ring out forever and fade into each other, it reminds me of the Irish traditional guitar players I would have played alongside in back in school. I found a way to fit in a few in the progression in this song and it led to a happy accident. One of the chords made it quite tricky to configure my fingers in the right way when coming from the previous chord. When we were jamming the song, I would miss the first beat because I was still trying to place my fingers in the right position. The rest of the band thought this was intentional and just went with it, which led to the irregular rhythm at the start of the riff which is one of its main features.
Holly Humberstone – Scarlett
Amazing melodies, beautiful sounds, bouncing between energy levels in the song to keep it interesting. Holly’s harmonies just hit different and it’s back to that thing I said about The 1975, using analog synth basses and old fuzzy keys sounds to make it feel nostalgic but make no mistake, this is a glossy modern production and it’s a uniquely Holly Humberstone track.
Dee (Drums)
Pink Floyd – Marooned
Again, another ballad. The song is so full of soul that it’s hard not to feel something that sticks with you into your own song writing. Deep synth lines carry the song throughout and provide a constant turning over into the next line or part, and I feel that Paradise does much the same albeit in a different setting.
