Inside the Serpent Skin

Inside the Serpent Skin was recorded between February 2003 and November 2004; slowly. We recorded in our studio, which moved 3 times over the course of the project. 2 children were born. The police were only called on us once.

This page has a little bit on each song, with reviews slid in amongst it all. Except this one from Scene Magazine:

'Eastern infused progressive pop' is how Manzuma describe themselves, but I think that may be putting too fine a point on it. The duo's music could appeal to a very wide audience of all ages and persuasions with its hauntingly beautiful melodies and emotive lyrics. In fact Manzuma have the potential to be one of those rare acts who can be all things to all people without diluting their unique sound or compromising artistic integrity. Fans of other world fusion artists like Dead Can Dance or Eden should certainly track down 'Inside The Serpent Skin', which is an accomplished debut. --- Craig Wilson

We think that's a nice way to start.

Shadow Dance

Shadow Dance was the first song written for the album: right after Vanessa and I picked up our pieces from two broken bands. It marked the first in a string of songs written in an improvisational fashion. This song has been performed at every show we've played. We first recorded Shadow Dance for the EP Atmospherics in April 2002. That recording was far from brilliant, so we set it aside for the album (but promised to give it an overhaul).

When it came time to record Serpent in February 2003, the song had still not changed a lot: some arrangement changes and a new guitar solo. It had also slipped to 2nd place on the album to make room for Atmosphere a little song designed to open the CD and tie everything together. The sound of Shadow Dance evolved slowly over the 18 months of recording, with additions and subtractions and re-recordings.

A Hand in the Rail

A Hand In The Rail started life as a string of cliches written down by Vanessa and a random stanza by Tim. It was written in August 2001 by remote control and originally had the title "The Weavers Real", a play on a similar title by Peter Gabriel. It then lived as "Perpetually Rolling" for a while before scrambling Neverending Story style for a new name the day of the very last Serpent session in November 2004.

Darker Spaces

The structure during our first recording block in February 2003 was rigid. So we broke it. On the first day. Darker Spaces was the product of playing around with a loop and some scattered lyrics when we just didn't feel like doing anything else. This is the only song that didn't transform multiple times during the Serpent sessions, probably because it was brand new.

Darker Spaces has since become a favourite live, retaining its original rhythmic drive and punctuated with a couple of those old-skool 'solo' things.

Skyborn

Skyborn started out as an instrumental, incorporating the riffs from Arahantahood and Atmosphere. It was going to stay that way until Vanessa turned up to the studio one afternoon and sang some of Patrick Walsh's lyrics over the top. It then turned into something even more beautiful than before, and incidentally, what it is now. Thunder and all.

Skyborn received these reviews on www.c0nsensus.com.

Jangly pop with a catchy piano hook, "Skyborn" hooked me from the first moment I heard it! With ethereal vocals and enough stuff going on in the background to make headphone listening almost a requirement, this song is sure to supply any listener with reason to repeat again and again. I don't often hear stuff like this, it's eerily reminescent of early Sarah MacLachlan. Listen to it, you won't regret it! --- Jonathan Sanders

"Skyborn" by Manzuma is a work of near pop perfection. With high emphasis on production and composition and a full spectrum of sound that tickles my eardrums to the point of euphoria. Ok...maybe that's overstating it a bit...but I haven't had much chance to rave like that about many tracks (now over 100) that I've reviewed here, and this one comes close to deserving those accolades. The music and composition is beautiful and original with some delicious key changes. My only one quip with the recording is that the beautiful vocal could stand to be stronger in the mix. It's burried at times, and why would you want to bury such a beautiful sound? The freshness of the song comes from a combination of the composition and the production and I give high marks for both. The vocals; shades of Sarah McLachlan, but not quite as distinct, yet still beautifully sung. I wish I had lyrics that I could read. I searched high and low and couldn't find any. Musicianship is tough to gauge since most of this track is likely sequenced, but it does build to a climactic soaring solo of guitars that just wail and take the song to even greater heights. Those guitars can't be faked, so I'll give marks for that. Overall, I obviously really enjoyed this track. I don't care if others say it has been done before, I don't think it has...at least not this well. --- PFTW

Numb

When I set up Ugly World I needed to try all the gear out so I recorded a demo version of Numb. It sounds completely different to this version. We wanted to get a particularly bitter and twisted sound for this song, so rather than use effects and the like Vanessa just made her voice cry out for some TLC by putting it through what became the final vocal.

Bring You Peace

Bring You Peace was written and recorded in one hit on the first weekend of our first recording block. I was meant to be getting some space, you know, be at the beach or something, preparing for the second week of recording but I ended up in the studio. The weekend was surprisingly cool and sunny, which made a change from the hot-humid-overcast-raining-typically-Brisbane-summer we'd been recording in all week. The change in weather and other extra-emotional factors prompted this sweet little song.

Fall to Earth

Writing Fall To Earth was like looking for the last piece of Lego you need from the tub to really make your space ship soooo good: you know it's there but you also know it's gonna be a while before you get it. I sat on the guitar melody for a while before writing words. Vanessa wrote a melody and we recorded it. We layered (and layered) the middle section and then decided that at 11 minutes it was all too long, so we condensed the vocal melody and here it is!

Mantra

The second track in the 'big three' at the end of the CD. Mantra's place was never really in question, but we did re-record the song entirely within two weeks of finishing the album. The funny thing is that it came out pretty close to the original design from way back in 2001. Mantra is a big bulky song and quite comfortably does the job of being the climax to Inside The Serpent Skin. Not that this is a movie.

Arahantahood

In Buddhism, "Arahantahood" is the highest state of purity. We're not making claims, we just think a word for it is nice. Arahantahood was recorded two days before Vanessa found out she was pregnant with her first child, Aleska. Listen to the words... it's spooky.

• Related Links & Links on this Page

  • Hollows in depth...
  • Manzuma's My Space Page
  • Ugly World Studios
  • Manzuma on MP3.com.au
  • Manzuma on Triple J Unearthed