This song was written late at night, not long before album was recorded. It is the most intuitive, raw track of the album, and was recorded in only two takes.

This song was inspired, in part, by a beautiful poem, shown below. It’s about the simultaneous ecstasy and torture of being in love with an invisible, incomprehensible God.
 

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I have a bright, red birthmark on my left eye. The curious and irritating questions when I was a kid, as well as cultural notions from some of my family members, gave me quite a negative attitude towards it, to the point where I was seeking to have it removed. But as I grew up, I decided that it was something that was unique about me, and that it should be treasured.

This song is about being proud of the things that make us all individually unique. It is inspired by my red birthmark, hence it’s title, “Strawberry”.

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There is a time in all of our lives when we realise that our parents are not perfect. Sometimes we can even be pitted into a role reversal situation where the child has to act like a parent to their own parents. I do volunteer work with a number of young people, and this is an interesting and challenging period that I see them navigate through.

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“The world of humanity has two wings — one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly.” -  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Bahá’í Writings

This song portrays how it feels sometimes to be a woman in a man’s world, and how I hope that I, as a woman, can make a meaningful contribution to the world. It is in part inspired by my experience studying in a pre-dominantly male-attended university course!!

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When someone who calls himself your enemy inflicts pain upon you, it hurts for a little while but then you can move on. But when someone who is dear to you inflicts pain upon you, it hurts deeper and can last a lifetime. This song is about a time when I was sorely let down by someone I loved dearly and held in the highest esteem.

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This is my political song… I address it to the leaders of the world, who too often think of their own personal gain before the benefit of the people they serve. The world of humanity is like a human body – when you hurt one part of the body, you  may not realise it, but the whole body is affected. When you hurt others, you are in fact hurting yourself too.

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For a long time I wanted to write a love song for my husband, Kia, who has been my rock and support for the years that we’ve been together. But the task seemed impossible… all the love songs that I’ve heard and known are about the excitement of the first meeting, the throws of physical attraction, or just plain superficial puppy stuff.

At the same time, on a completely seperate tangent, I was toying with the idea of writing a song in the time signature of 5/4. Could I possibly write a pop song in an odd meter? This idea sat with me for months.

Then, late one night, on a long reflective drive home by myself, the concept came to me. I don’t know in what order in occurred – it seemed to happen all at once: the melody, the lyrics, the groove, the chords all swam into focus in my mind at once. So when I arrived home I raced to the keyboard, grabbing my song book and pen and probably knocking over something on the way… it’s a song about long-term, stable love; the kind that goes through the tests of life and stands strong like rock.

So here you have it. My love song, in 5/4. I dedicate this song to my husband Kia; thank you for the amazing love that you show me.

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I wrote this song while in London, in collaboration with Grammy-winning producer James Bryan and song writer Nick Whitecross, who was a member of British 80′s dance/ synth band Kissing the Pink. We initially intended to write a house track, but in the end we felt that the melody works better with a more medium-tempo groove.

This song is the story of my life, and could be yours too – living the busy-busy-busy 21st century lifestyle, and wishing that you could somehow untangle yourself and have a little break!

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I wrote this song while on tour in the north of WA. I was thinking a lot of my younger brother back home (then aged 14), and all the hopes I have for him as he grows up. The band was also listening to a lot of Michael Jackson on the long drive, and discussing how awesome the bass-lines in his songs are (hence the featured bass-line in this song). This is my big sister song, dedicated to Justin.

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I first penned some of these lyrics years ago, but discarded them as I couldn’t come up with any sound musical ideas. Much later, I came up with a guitar riff and bass groove that formed the basis of this song, and re-worked these lyrics from long ago.

When things are tough, it’s very easy to blame fortune for your bad day. One of Aesop’s Fables that I read as a child told the story of Dame Fortune appearing to a young boy who had fallen asleep while lying on the edge of a water well. She begged him to wake up, saying that he would surely fall into the well, and that when he did, the people would lay the blame on her.

This is a song about taking charge of your own destiny. I believe that life gives us a set of tools to use, and that it is up to us to wield them to create our own reality. We are not prisoners of fate.

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