Read — THE ARGUMENT

We've been working on the album for 3 years. It's not like we work on it every single day, but we do think or talk about the album almost every day. That's not to say it's going to be amazing (I've lost all perspective) but it does mean that we've spent a good amount of time thinking about the music.

The act of recording is not the part of making an album that takes the most time. It’s also not generating musical ideas (those come relatively naturally). Arranging musical ideas into song-like structures takes a fair amount of effort—this is the second-most time consuming act of making an album. The real time bandit is lyrics. And by lyrics, I also mean ideas. What should a song be about? What are the stripped down words we will sing that will communicate the ideas? What is the melody that will work with the music and the lyrics?

Throughout the making of our album, it has been a struggle to find words that we want to sing. Lyrics often make one of us want to puke. I’m not saying our lyrics are exceptional, but they are at a point where we can tolerate them without wanting to run away.

We have two songs with freshly sung lyrics that now need to be mixed. In addition, we have three solid songs recorded with no lyrics or ideas for lyrics. Our goal: complete at least one more song. Let's see how long that takes ...

Though we didn’t realize it at the time, The Argument started in 2009. Back then, we were still dating, which sometimes included making up songs together in the car, or on a walk, or while lying on a couch. In a spontaneous moment of new-love enthusiasm, Brangien secretly committed us to writing and performing a song in public, despite the fact that we had never done such a thing. Although we were both terribly, painfully nervous, it was fun enough that we began making music in much the same way we originally approached our relationship: cautiously stumbling forward. With two songs under our belt (see also: O, Viaduct!), we set out to make enough songs for an album. Slowly and unsurely.

Once we acknowledged we were maybe a band, we began our quest for a band name. We debated our options during long Seattle walks. Then one day Daniel awoke post-dream with “The Argument” fresh in his mind. One highly caffeinated cup of black tea later, he woke Brangien up to pitch the idea. It was 6 a.m.

Why we like “The Argument”:

we argue well together
some of our best ideas arise from our arguments
making music together is our argument for a good life
we didn’t argue about it

Fast forward—or perhaps, slow forward—to 2016 and we’ve finally managed to finish enough songs for an album (and we’re still terribly, painfully nervous about performing together in public).

Slow Lyrics

How The Argument Started