Singled Out: Iris' Third Strike
Iris just released a new album called "Six" and to celebrate we asked Andrew Sega to tell us about the song "Third Strike". Here is the story:
When we started working on "Six" we almost did it in reverse order. Some of the earliest songs to be written were ones towards the end of the record, and some of the "singles" were the ones written last. It usually takes us a while to figure out what direction we're going to go with a record, and it often comes together organically, unconsciously - it's the sum of the song directions that makes the sound, not the other way around.
Third Strike appeared very late in the process, and the moment I heard the demo I know there would be something interesting here. It was also a great lead-off, as the lyrics hint at personal struggles, but also time ticking down for the band, the endless march of mortality/age/fatigue, and how we struggle against it. I wanted to try something purely electronic, and put a bit of dirt up against Reagan's clear vocals. So, I got in the studio one night, drank a bunch of beer, and just kind of let my first instincts come out - a brooding beat, swirling pads, and distant synth stabs.
Reagan wrote kind of an ambiguous ending to the demo, and it wasn't quite clear how we'd finish it. I thought about bringing it back to the chorus, with even harder beats (and you can hear that in the Neuroticfish mix). However, instead we decided to take the bridge and build it up to be huge-sounding, I layered track after track of synth sounds until we got this orchestral swell that just sounded right, trying to take the "lights bleed into one / too bright to focus on" lyric and interpret it sonically.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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