Track By Track: Eddi Front on her debut album Marina

From talking about love, loss...and Bugs Bunny, Front provides fascinating insight into the writing and recording process behind the album.

Stream the new LP and read Eddi's guide below.

Goldie

I think I was constantly listening to "Hey Moon" by Jon Maus when I wrote this. So “..used to call me moon"... A lot of my songs are bits of memory from different times, mashed together. I was breaking up with a guy who happened to eat a lot of bacon... But whenever I listen to this song now I just think about my mom putting on her blue eyeshadow and like the smell of White Diamonds knock-off perfume. "Goldie" was the name of a bank manager at a Barclays Bank she worked at in the early '90s. I just remember him buying me velcro shoes and a birthday cake and thinking it was nice that everyone called him "Goldie".

Elevator

Elevator is an older song...from 2008? We re-recorded it for the record in 2014. The end piano always kind of makes me smile because it reminds me of this photo. But Dan Chen. Dan played piano/produced and is a brilliant guy. Obviously I was in a low moment writing this one and its a little like putting an old diary out there. In the end I think it's important for us to talk freely about depression/anxiety and not be ashamed. So this is like my "before therapy" snapshot, hah.

Gigantic

This song was on an EP from a few years ago which came out on Best Fit Records. We re-mixed/mastered it for this record. It's one of those that I wrote in five minutes and was like a load lifted off. The 'train' sound is actually a broken Wurlitzer...a lucky moment in the studio.

Texas

Probably my personal favorite. This was also remixed/mastered for this record by John Agnello. I was just angry and picturing the scene in Fantasia where the furniture comes to life, an enraged woman on a horse, blood, Texas, and one banana. Et voilà.

Prayer

Was originally called "Jesus Prayer/ Prayer Of The Heart" which is a prayer you'd keep repeating until it syncs with your heart beat. The second half of the song lyrics is one version of the prayer as written in Franny And Zooey by J.D. Salinger. The book really helped me out a million years ago. I’ve never broken both legs but you know...

Sing Sing

Talking about a flood that happened to a house we were living in when I was a kid, and a friend who (later on in life) was having issues with drugs. So like feeling similarly helpless in both situations. "Sing Sing" is a Karaoke bar he and I would go to on Ave A. "Nothing Compares To You" by Sinead O' Connor was my song.

Dream In B

This was the last song I recorded for the record in 2014. It actually talks about a friend Ashley who passed away recently in December. She was my publicist in 2013/14 and we became close friends. The line about “through the snow with your switch and spray" is referencing nights when we would meet up to hang out, and when we'd part we'd both whip out our pepper spray for the walks home. One time she brought a serrated steak knife wrapped in a Chanel scarf as a joke. I miss her so much.

It's also talking about my boyfriend, Tom, whom I had just met back in 2014, and he plays drums on the track. So Dream In B is a little bit of everything from Winter 2014.

Pumps

This was a live take from 2010 or so...I used to do a lot of these one-take guitar/vocal vomits so I thought it would be nice to include it on the record. I just can remember the day in the studio, like it was particularly damp. I was talking about an ex who would go to "Pumps", the strip bar in Bushwick, and post photos on the internet to make me jealous. Somehow, I cared A LOT. You can hear the little cracks in my voice from like crying on the floor the night before. I was a silly baby.

Play Ball

I wrote this a few summers ago. It talks about a love triangle and I was thinking about how it was like playing a dirty game of baseball...“a lie I wanted to pitch to you" etc. I wrapped a few sweaters around my head to get that guitar feedback at the end (nobody could find earplugs). This is my summer jam.

Marina is out now. The album follows Front's self-titled debut EP, which was released in 2012 on our sister label Best Fit Recordings.