Shackelton and the Endrance - Breaking Through the Ice:
Hi there,
I've been working on track four this week, "Breaking Through the Ice," and it's nearly ready for release.
Where Are We on the Timeline?
We're in the Weddell Sea, having just left South Georgia in track three, "The Weddell Sea." Now, for the first time, the SS Endurance reaches pack ice that’s thicker and heavier than expected for this time of year.
This is what they came here for, what the SS Endurance was built and designed to do. I can only imagine the excitement on board, especially as many of the crew had never seen ice like this. There would have been plenty of action, noise, and adrenaline for everyone.
Research:
Every book I’ve read about this part of the expedition portrays it as a fun-filled, all-hands-on-deck time. The extra-long Antarctic summer days would have been tiring for everyone, with no chance to sleep amidst all the ice-breaking work of the Endurance.
No Fear:
At this point, they had no idea of what lay ahead. It's easy to look back with hindsight and write a song that doesn’t capture the reality of the moment.
This One Was Tricky:
Initially, I imagined this as a rocked-up song with vocals. I started with this idea several times and scrapped it each time because I wasn't capturing the right mood and feel.
So, I sat down and started a jam with just two chords, Am and F, expecting to add a chorus. But I found that the breaking ice sounds and the shouting crew were getting lost in a wall of noise.
The Final Result:
I ended up ditching the chorus and filled the gap with breaking ice sounds, steam whistles, dogs, and the shouting crew.
The final result is a fun, jam and improvisational instrumental track that was a lot of fun to create.
Looking to release this over the coming days.
Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading.
Tony
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