What is the origin of this song?
I wrote Changes In Gravity in my partner’s living room just thinking about how it should, as the saying goes, be okay for us to not be okay. We would sing it around the house and with friends, and it was a kind of fireplace acoustic song. But I knew I wanted it to be much bigger.
How was the recording session?
I recorded it over a bunch of sessions at different places. The drums, played by Lochie Earl, and rhythm guitar were done at Miles Devine’s home studio in Earlwood. The lead vocals were done at my partner’s family home in Nowra. The main harmony was done by Kiri Cantle at her place in Marrickville. The rest of the guitars were done by me at home. The last thing was the group vocals in the final chorus by Ellie Burke, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan and Max Quinn. We went to Glenn Hopper’s studio space in Newtown. We recorded 4 or 5 takes with them pretty close to the mic. I thought we were done, then Xavier and Max had this idea to stand way back from the mic and just belt it out. I loved it! It brought so much character and I can really hear them in it.
What were the references, influences or musical inspiration?
Built To Spill and The Flaming Lips are a great influence on me and I think it shows up on this song.
What do you like most about the song and why?
I feel like I’m singing this song to myself as much as to anyone else. It helped me, sometimes still does, and I really hope it gives some perspective to anyone that hears it.
What did you most enjoyed of the writing, production and recording process?
I really loved working with so many people on this one. There are 8 people on this track. For a song like this, with this subject matter, I think it’s appropriate.
What was the most difficult part of the process and how was it overcome?
I could not figure out how to build the bridge to a believable crescendo. It kept sounding either not big enough or just really forced. And in the process, my guitar had developed a horrible hiss that showed up in the quietest part of the song. Hiss can be fine, but it was distracting from the delicacy of that moment. I got my guitar fixed within 2 weeks of my self imposed deadline and re-did them. Phew.
If you could have invited anyone else to collaborate, who would it have been and why?
I love working with my producer Avery Hutley and it truly is a collaboration. But besides her, having Ben Folds produce this song and have a crack at the drums would have been cool. He has an amazing knack for capturing raw sounds, and he is an underrated drummer.
What is the biggest challenge to present this song live and how has it been solved?
The bridge was hard to crack live, because on the recording the build up has quite a lot going on, definitely more than two guitars. So we play it a little differently live and I sacrifice my fancy part, switching to playing chords to help build that crescendo. Luckily we have Tom Hume playing his fancy part along with it.
Recommend us a song that you have heard lately and that you like.
I really admire Matt Sitas’ songwriting and production. His song Outline You is a masterwork that I think everybody should check out.
Lee Sullivan is a songwriter based in Sydney, Australia. He has released 3 EPs since 2020, and is currently working on his first full length album.