Track By Tracks: Little King - Lente Viviente (2025)

About the album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

This album combines elements of progressive and hard rock with hooks and strong melodies. Each song is essentially a “micro-epic” in that the tunes are complex and involved but come in under 4 minutes, with the exception of “Pass Through Filters.” At the same time, the complexity gives way to space and breath…the push and pull of each song works in a way to bring the listener back again and again for a full audio experience. These songs make you think, make you bob your head, and hopefully make you hit the ”Add to Library” button!

Track By Track Explained (Musically / Lyrically):

1. Catch and Release:

I grew up fly fishing in Montana and Northern California with my dad, grandfather, and brother. It was a special time, and the metaphors for light and reflection are strong in this song. ("Polarized," for example, refers to glasses that allow one to see underwater, making it easier to see a trout coming from the deep to slurp a dry fly.) For my birthday last year, I went fishing on the Yakima River with my dad ("Len," also a play on the word "lens," apropos of everything). It brought back a flood of memories and the realization that I am so much happier on a river with my dad (or, as I sing in the song, my son and daughter, who both love to fly fish but don't get to do it often.) But the overall sentiment of the tune is a reflection on fishing with my dad and how much I prefer that to, say, city life. Other references include "Ten and Two," "False Casting," "Bigger Sky" (Montana is known as "Big Sky Country"), and on and on...

Musically, "Catch and Release" is built around a figure in 7/8 time with a brief descending interlude in 4/4, which underscores the "False Casting" line and transitions nicely into the verses. The song kicks off the record nicely, both lyrically as an intro into the themes of Lente Viviente, but also as an uptempo yet heavy and groovy piece of music that doesn't overstay its welcome. None of these songs do, really. It was critical on this album to focus on the concept of "Micro-epics," or creating a lasting and memorable experience in very compact song arrangements. It may only be 3:30 in length, but it FEELS longer because it's involved.

2. Dawn Villa:

I grew up in a suburb of Seattle, WA, called Mercer Island. It's an actual island (I believe the most populous freshwater island in the USA) with bridges to Seattle and the eastside suburb of Bellevue, where my dad now lives. My neighborhood on Mercer Island was called Dawn Villa. Again, playing on the themes of the filters of memory and time, this song is a reflection of my time from 1976-1990, growing up in this remarkable neighborhood.

There was an extraordinary group of kids that I grew up with in Dawn Villa, as our group consisted of about 15 boys within 3 years of each other. Fun thing is, we are all still in touch, almost 50 years later! I'm actually going back up for a reunion of sorts in August. Should say that there were a remarkable number of highly successful "graduates" of Dawn Villa, including NBA coach Quin Snyder (who taught me how to play basketball at about age 6) and writer/director Anne Rosellini, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing and producing "Winter's Bone." WE HAD SO MUCH FUN...I miss my 70s and 80s childhood! Lots of inside jokes and references in here for those 15 dudes...hopefully not so esoteric that the general population can't enjoy it as well!

Musically, this song is fun as hell to play! Dave slaps and pops his way through the verses in some controlled chaos, Tony's drum fills (particularly on the outro) are massive and quirky, and I love singing the choruses and some of the funnier parts after the little middle 8 solo. The verses are built around an odd start/stop staccato guitar riff that Dave blazes over. The choruses are also interesting in that they repeat 3 times, but all in slightly different tempos. I think this guitar "solo" is a great reflection of the direction of the whole album in that it is melodic, not super-shreddy, and furthers the mood of the song to a crescendo that breaks down into the funniest of all stories from my youth. If you were there, you didn't forget that "deadly leaf."

3. Who's Illegal?:

I moved back to Tucson in 2020 to be near my elderly mom. Moved with my son, Asher, who recently graduated from high school and will be studying film and TV at the UofA here locally starting this August. I lived here once before, from 1990-92, and of course I lived off and on in El Paso, just 4.5 hours to the east of here, from 1992-2008 (this is the FIRST LK record of 8 that wasn't recorded in the city limits of El Paso.)

In any event, Tucson and El Paso are both literally at the front lines of the immigration "crisis." My studio in downtown Tucson is the heart of the city, and it is about 2 blocks from an area called the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, aka "the Presidio." It's a place where 4 cultures have mixed since the 1600s...Tribes like the Tohono O'odham, Pascua Yaqui, and Hohokam have been here for thousands of years. Of course, the Spanish, Mexican, and "American" missionaries, settlers, and armies all have been here for a long time. Walking around the modern-day Presidio, where the military from all three nations once occupied the fort, I am always struck by the juxtaposition of those historical occupations and the current inclusion into modern downtown Tucson. There are monuments to war, old missions, and too many homeless folks (more on that later) to count. So tell me, after all this time and all the arbitrary assignment of this land to "governments" and warlords..."Who's Illegal"? "Ignorant of time...prejudicial pride, it's only to divide..." Can't we all take a step back and lead with love?

Musically, I dropped the bottom E to D, and I made sure that there was adequate SPACE between the suspended chords I'm playing in the verses. There's such a fun and playful interplay between Dave and me, as he really found a melodic groove that ended up carrying the vocal lines as well. Tony is tasteful, as always, and the structure of this tune really emphasizes the emotional push and pull of the lyrics. It's an "odd little number," I think...which is probably why I love it. The middle section alternates between 6/8 and 9/8 because I love making things as hard as possible on myself. Okay, on EVERYONE! But it makes perfect sense to my brain in the context of this track. We are gonna shoot a video for this one, I think, featuring all of the beautiful and historical murals in downtown Tucson...truly a remarkable feature of my current hometown.

4. Kindness for Weakness:

That's me! Bald and tattooed and slightly menacing-looking, I've been told. Tough guy, right? Ehhhhhh...no. I mean, I'm scared of no man, but I'm as far from menacing as can be. Lente Viviente = Perception, filters, lenses, light, right? It's so common for one to be judged by their appearance, and while I'm sure that's always been true throughout human history, it's particularly true in the age of social mediots. How do I appear? Do I look like I have a college education with a degree in Creative Writing and History? Do I look like the successful former CEO of a team-building company? Do I seem like an entrepreneur mentor, single dad (2x), caretaker of my mother, and overall too-sensitive guy? I don't know...you tell me. But I'll say this...while my compass always points to KINDNESS, don't get it twisted. Inside, I'm RAGING. Gently, of course :)

Laura Bette joins us on Vox during the choruses. I love her voice...raw power, damn the torpedoes, all the emotions. It sure fits the mood of this song! This was the first song on Lente Viviente that I finished musically, and I remember how easily this one flowed from my hands. I absolutely love the passages when we climb to a Gmaj and then down to the Fmaj, leaving breathing room for the lyrics and the band. Again, that's the theme: Room to breathe, then full force into the heavy parts. Dynamic and intricate, this song makes me feel like I've learned something. Also...the guitar solo on the outro...I just went for it. Don't care if it plays a bit sloppy, don't care if I'm wah-wah'ing too much...this is supposed to FEEL. When engineer Ricky Wascher and I were going through the setup, he said something like "So I'm hearing Yngwie-style sweeps," and we just laughed. He gets it. Not so much Yngwie, maybe more "Shakey" Neil Young.

5. Sweet Jessie James:

The last thing Little King released was a single called "Amber Waves (GoodBye)." It was a fond-ish farewell to a woman whom I cared for but just didn't "fit." Her call, too...we both knew it. In any event, I met someone, Mom! She's amazing...Kind, Smart, Selfless, incredibly beautiful, quirky, and she loves and accepts me for me. I'm so grateful...I haven't been so lucky in love, and honestly, a lot of that has been self-sabotage because I just wasn't fully ready after 2 failed marriages. So, 12 years without a serious commitment, but Sweet Jessie James ended all of that. And yes, even at my ripe old age, "I can be your King of Lust." Just not a "Little" King, m'kay?

Dave plays bass. Dave plays Cello. Dave plays both equally (ridiculously) well. He contributed cello both live for Little King and on the last 2 albums, Amuse De Q (2021) and Occam's Foil (2019). We really wanted to have a song that he could switch from cello to bass in a live setting, and this one fits the bill. I think I love his lines here on the intro, before the vocals come in, maybe more than anything else on this record. Like a proper Little King tune, this song builds and breathes and then crushes. I think the marriage of content and cacophony on this song is one of perfect harmony. I just hope she likes it! Of course, it leads directly into...

6. Pass Through Filters:

As previously noted, I spend 5-6 days a week in the heart of downtown Tucson in my jam spot at Francisco's Studios on Pennington Ave. It's a place near the bus terminal and is attached to a smoke shop, and needless to say, the cast of characters rolling through the neighborhood on a daily basis is both entertaining and somewhat horrifying. Fentanyl and heroin are regulars, and the amount of sadness coming in off the street is overwhelming. I talk to them, or try to, and most of them have stories the likes of which most people wouldn't believe. But I believe them, and this song is for them.

They see the world through many different filters...drug addiction, mental illness, homelessness...an almost feral existence for so many. With recent developments in immigration and the lack of any true effort to get them off the streets and into treatment or housing, downtown Tucson has become a desperate place. I want to help, and I volunteered at a local shelter for a while. First day there, we served almost 800 meals BEFORE 10 am. Crazy. We spend so much money bombing other countries, propping up corporate and energy interests, and cutting taxes for people who'd never miss the money, and we have so little will to FUCKING HELP the HELPLESS. Come on, Christians. Show us your heart.

This song (as is "Sweet Jessie James") is in Gmaj, and I cheated and just tuned that bottom E up! I think that Droning G REALLY fits the tenor of the song. There's a combo of Middle Eastern and blues in there, and the Choruses feature some of my favorite lyrics and music. That cool effect on some of the guitars is an Overtone (via the Boss DD-500), and that's a prevalent effect throughout the record. I love it! "That's what the voices said..."

7. The Living Lens:

Time is a filter. A human construct, really...something to help us bring order to the chaos. Sun comes up, sun goes down. Seasons change, predictably, and then change again. Just wait...familiarity is always just around the corner. We're safe that way. And then, one day, you lose someone. Reflect on it...when it's your turn, what will you feel in those final moments?

I CHALLENGE that notion of safety in familiarity. Are you safe in the shadows, or are you willing to take some chances? We get ONE gift/miracle/go-round...what path have you chosen? Can a song really help one gain perspective? I don't know, but I guess I'm gonna find out. Shifting that lens just 5 degrees left can give one an entirely new view of life. It's like musical DMT, ya know? Short duration on this plane, but damn if it can't last forever on a higher plane. Or so I've heard. DO SOMETHING! If it's really about the journey, which I absolutely believe and subscribe to, then what are you making of it? Running out the clock and waiting for what's next, which could well be absolutely nothing (or EVERYTHING) seems like a loaded bet. I am gonna continue to create, to wonder, to motivate those around me to make the absolute best of this run. Reality really does depend on your approach, and the Living Lens asks you to evaluate that approach. Carpe Diem and all of that...

Mmmm...I'm in love with this one. I tried to really vary the dynamics throughout, both vocally and with the musical arrangement. Laura again brings the absolute thunder in the choruses...and Tony crushes this (and all of the songs) in a way that is so unique, tasteful, and powerful. I think this is the first one he and I rehearsed, and when he played it through, I said, "You are the one." There's a middle 8 in here before the Pete Townsend section ("Reality depends...") that features a Nashville Guitar. Twang twang goes the band! It's such a cool little interlude. Throughout Little King's 28-year history of making albums, this one shows perhaps the most growth in my guitar playing restraint - there are passages that I would have previously melted faces on, but this song doesn't need or want that. It's about the SONG! I feel like this may be the preferred sentiment on this whole record...Micro-epics...come up from breath at least once in every song, though. Then back in you go!