Faultlines

Simon:

Whereas Bedlam Days had been a lot of hard work to create, Faultlines was entirely written and recorded in a couple of days.

I have an issue with ballads in that it’s easy to wallow in mawkish sentimentality in order to elicit an emotional reaction. Love is often the focus of this so once again, I tried to turn the process on its head and decided to use the subject matter of guilt instead.

As mentioned previously I was raised in a Roman Catholic school run by nuns and priests. As a result I graduated summa cum laude from that institution with a virtual degree in guilt (as did most of my fellow children). With this experience, I felt fully qualified to speak about feeling responsible for something in which you had played no active part in.

This is the moment where Dora confronts her sleeping father at the end of his bed and whispers to him as he sleeps that she remembers everything about her abuse at his hand and asks how he can possibly live with himself in the light of his actions. It is very much the other side of the coin to the previous tracks’ violence and speaks of the emotional aftermath.

For the purposes of telling a wider story, I was content to be open with how each lyric helped move the narrative along but individually, many of the songs retain a more ambiguous or hidden meaning. As such, there are a number of tracks on the album that speak of other more personal subjects as much as they do about Dora’s world.

Robert:

Possibly the most Simon Godfrey track on the album. If you see what I mean. I actually find this song more disturbing than Bedlam Days.

Tim:

Faultlines was one of the first Shineback tracks I heard and immediately I was caught on the atmosphere of the piece, drawn up by the heavy, lumbering piano, and the sounds creaking away in the background like the hulk of some derelict ship. It's a very lonely, quietly angry song. I suggested the sound of rain or similar weather at the beginning to help set the scene and really draw upon Dora's solitude in her Dreamworld as she confronts her father. It's an incredibly effective song and it's my personal favourite from the album.