Ever wish you had a modern soundtrack for your life that could make you feel as though you just stepped into the Technicolor world of a 1960’s classic? Is your day-to-day lacking in the auditory equivalent of a warm blanket? Do you require a modern Mancini? Terra Spencer’s “In the City” plays out like the theme that breaks your heart as it plays out over the credit roll of your life.
Released via Analog Songs, Spencer’s live performance features Halifax’s Bela String Quartet and a reference to public payphones that’ll make you want to believe its 1964. Between those coming of age themes and the beautiful string arrangement it’s hard not to make comparisons, favourable as they may be. It brings to mind classics like To Sir, With Love and Breakfast at Tiffany’s and questions like, “why did they ever stop making films like that?”
Rather than a blockbuster, Spencer explains the story was drawn from her own life, and there’s a story behind why it was written.
“It’s not much of a story – one of my favourite events ever is an annual fundraising concert hosted by Zuppa Theatre in Halifax, and this year they invited me to perform. The fundraiser is at the Music Room in Halifax each year. There is always a great lineup of talent,” says Spencer.
“Except the theme was ‘city ditties’, and I had zero songs about cities. We went on morning TV to promote the event, and I pretended a song was about Brooklyn, New York when it was about Brooklyn, Hants County. Then I wrote In the City a few days before the show.”
Necessity is, as they say, the mother of invention. Rarely does it yield such a beautiful a six-and-a-half minute long song though, especially one you’ll want to listen to a few times in row.
Spencer’s release of “In the City” is currently adrift as a standalone, but there’s still more where that came from. She’s in the final stages of mixing her much-awaited upcoming album Other People’s Lives, which can be expected in February, 2019.