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Cover of Platform Nine

Album · 2012

Platform Nine

by Leopold Marsh

Long drives, lit windows and slow goodbyes, recorded with a full orchestra and a French horn at the front.

Tracks

  1. 1. Every Mile Is Pointed HomeThe headlights on a dark road are the closest thing I have to a film score of my own. The horn theme arrives at the first bend and stays to the end.classical crossover, film score4:09
  2. 2. The Light Left On at Mr. Okafor'sMr. Okafor really did leave a light on for the whole street. I wrote the melody walking past his shop at night.neoclassical, nocturne4:14
  3. 3. What I Should Have Said at the StationThe title song of my private regrets. I waved, he waved, and the whistle did the rest.neoclassical, chamber ballad4:11
  4. 4. The Bell Above the DoorThirty years of turning one sign. I tried to give a shopkeeper a theme worthy of a king.orchestral pop, pastoral3:40
  5. 5. The Pier Keeps Its Lights On for No OneA seaside town after the season, written in the flat grey light of a November walk. The strings sound like the tide going out.neoclassical, elegiac3:55
  6. 6. Floodlights for an Empty StandI will never be a football man, but I understand a stadium at night. This one swells louder than anything else I have done, and the orchestra gets to shout for once.orchestral pop, anthemic4:45
  7. 7. A Letter in the Lining of the TideA love letter written on a beach out of season. I let the rhythm sway like a boat tied up for winter.orchestral pop, light swing4:20
  8. 8. Grey Flakes on the TramlinesSnow in the city never lasts, and neither does anything else beautiful. Hushed strings, a small piano, barely a baritone.neoclassical, winter ballad5:13
  9. 9. The Man Who Trued the WheelA wheelwright's workshop with the light coming in sideways. The harp on this one is the nearest I came to showing off.neoclassical, pastoral3:49
  10. 10. You Pedalled Into My AfternoonA romance that began on a bicycle, which is the only kind I trust. Light, brisk, with brushed drums and a cheeky clarinet.orchestral pop, light swing3:40

Liner notes

By the second record I had stopped apologising for the size of the songs. We booked a bigger room, added a proper horn section and let the choruses take their time, sometimes three minutes to arrive. The title is the platform where I once said nothing and have been writing about it ever since. Most of what is here is about the things we meant to say, and the lights that stay on for someone who isn't coming.

Leopold Marsh