The moment had arrived to record the vocals for the seventh track, 'The Others'. I knew who my top choice of vocalist was going to be - Linda John-Pierre.  Her name may not be familiar to prog fans, since she's usually to be found performing rip-roaring dance anthems under the glamourous nom de plume of Linda Van Cartier. Having worked with her in the past, I've discovered she has a fantastic dynamic range, equally at home singing heartfelt ballads as well as raising the pulse on the dance floor.  I'm sure I detect shades of Dusty Springfield in there...

All that was required was to make up a demo for Linda - however, I was unable to do the vocal honours, being utterly useless in the higher ranges! Fortunately, my friend Andy Neve very kindly stepped in to help.  As it happens, Andy had also done a great vocal performance on the album's fifth track 'The Colony Is King', so I knew he could hit those high notes without the aid of a truss... Many thanks to Andy for getting me out of a potentially awkward scrape!

Linda's bubbly sense of humour makes working with her such fun - we spend much of the time laughing like idiots.  But despite the laughter, you can't fail to appreciate her sheer professionalism. She'd taken the track on board so quickly, acting her heart out, and really identifying with the song.  We had the whole thing wrapped in less than three hours - now that's what I call cookin'...

 watch the Linda VIDEO BLOG

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