Second Thought - Vacuum Road Songs
01. Borderline
02. Street
03. Rooms
04. Building
05. Fences
06. Rooftops
07. Vehicle
08. Tiwhwias
09. Machine
10. Self-Drive
11. Archway
12. Waterorjazz
13. Rooftops
14. Night
Vacuum Road Songs was in the works before Purlieu had even been released, mostly recorded over a year between the autumns of 2003 and 2004. While Purlieu's concept had evolved naturally as I was recording the album, Vacuum Road Songs had a strict structure planned before I'd recorded a note, following on from the former's rural landscape into a city, journeying from the suburbs right into the heart of the metropolis, before becoming overwhelmed, disoriented, and eventually passing out. For this, I incorporated harsher, rhythmic textures, such as breakbeats on 'Borderline' and 'Rooms', and IDM-inspired glitchy beats on 'Machine', 'Fences' and 'Waterorjazz'. I also included a number of ambient pieces; and field recordings, whilst used sparsely as mere linking sections, added to the mood of the album. However, I was never happy with the initial mix of the record in 2004, and distracted by drastic changes in my life, did no more work on it until 2006, with a drastic rework of much of the album, and two entirely new tracks. The final mix was a compromise between the two eras, and much of the grimness and confusion related to the recording of the album made its way into the music itself, leaving it a starkly depressing sounding recording.
Regardless of the problems, much of the album is strong and the concept, whilst almost oppressively limiting, does tell a definite story through the music. The record was eventually released as the final project of my university degree in 2007 on the newly formed Jerky Oats Records.