Level Sedentary by The Empty Page
Level Sedentary is a song about staying in. Vocalist and songwriter Kel says this contradiction sums up her personality perfectly:
“I think people assume I am an always-on extrovert but sometimes, the last thing I want is to move from a prone position, never mind actually speak to anyone. Level Sedentary is about those days when, for whatever reason, you are just saying ‘no’. I got the name from a fitness tracking app, which seemed to delight in ridiculing me for my off days. Telling me the ‘level’ I had achieved was ‘sedentary’ as opposed to ‘active’ or ‘highly active’ or ‘performative fitness influencer’ or whatever.
“I also heard John Cooper Clarke say something like, you need two things to be a writer, a pen and idleness. I want to celebrate idleness in this song although it does have an undercurrent of poor mental health too. I suppose you need a pinch of that to be a good writer, which is why I reference some famously depressed writers as well as fictional characters in the outro:
‘I’m Vonnegut, I’m Plath, I’m Proust, I’m Bonnie Grape, I’m Charlie Brown’”
Produced by Morton Kong who is on the tools for the whole new LP, the track was recorded within the chaos of Kong’s vintage gear wonderland: Eve Studios, Stockport.
Guitarist and songwriter Giz tells us about the recording process: “Level Sedentary is another track we took apart and put back together in the studio. There are loads of pianos at Eve, and Kel started banging out doomy, droney chords on them, it sounded great as another layer to add to the track.
“The original guitar ideas were inspired by 90’s alt and college rock bands like Pavement, Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips. We were going for a bit of a post punk Gang of Four type vibe although I think the recording has turned out more cinematic and art rock sounding. The middle section or ‘freak storm’ as Kong called it is a really important part of the track for us, everything descends into chaos for a while, it’s uncomfortable, manic and noisy.
“Working with Morton has encouraged us to play around with ideas we might not have gone for before, we’re not just a band tracking simple songs, we’re taking time to play with our ideas more. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Tracklist
| 1. | Level Sedentary | 4:32 |
Lyrics
Level sedentary
Got no inclination to drag myself out of my bed
Caught in glue trap gnawing at my leg
I’m flattened on my belly
Staring at the telly
Oprah, Ricky, Jerry
I’m sedentary
Got no inspiration fizzing in my empty glass
Somehow I always miss my motivation class
I’m flattened on my belly
Flat like February
Bed like a mortuary
I’m sedentary
Security smothers me
It doesn’t know its own strength
And I, I, I, oh I can’t breath
That’s my level: I’m leaden, I’m tethered, I’m levelled out
That’s my level: I’m leathered, unleavened, I’m levelled out
I’m Vonnegut I’m Plath, I’m Proust, I’m Bonnie Grape, I’m Charlie Brown
Sometimes I want to sleep forever
Credits
(c) The Empty Page 2022
