I can´t remember how I got to know Sophie Rimheden but she knew that I was making music and she gave me a tape that contained 6 fully arranged songs with vocals and a tape with really basic demo versions of newer material. I fell in love with her music right there and then. I invited her to the Dug Out Studio and we started to select the songs we wanted to work with. The name Octarine was suggested by Sophies brother Andreas Rimheden, who is in the band Eternity Range and is taken from the novel Discworld by Terry Pratchett. Sophie has always enjoyed being on stage so later when she was asked to do live gigs, I joined her. We made about 5 live gigs together and recorded 8 songs before we agreed to go different ways. I have always followed her career in admiration and on the rare occasions we get together we have the best of times.

 

Colour of Magic Autumn 1996

Octarine is the colour of magic at least according to Terry Pratchett. One day I got a letter from a Mr Carl Hammar from the band Daybehavior in Stockholm. He had listened to a song of mine, probably Head on Shoulder and was now offering his services as a music producer. I was partially fond of the Daybehavior sound so I went to Stockholm with the Octarine material and we met. Mr Hammar showed some interest in the Octarine music but I don´t think he was willing to take on the project. Colour of Magic was never released either as a tape or a CD. I ´ve arranged the songs in the order I think is suitable but feel free to change them around. Enjoy the Octarine world of tinker toy timbres and spindly grooves!

 

Touch the Sand

Music and Lyrics: Sophie Rimheden

This song was very basic when I heard it the first time so it gave me bigger space for my own creativity. I reprogrammed the drums for better movement and added drama with some string arrangements. The lyrics are about someone being dead floating in the water with a knife. The sonar underwater sounds works in coexistence with the lyrics. When we played live we used to have this song as the intro thanks to it´s atmosphere. I still think it´s the best Octarine song.

 

Rush

Music and Lyrics: Martin Philip

The main inspiration for this song was Love is a Stranger. If Eurythmics could make a world hit using two chords why can´t we? This was my first arrangement using the Nordlead synthesizer. It was more edgy than the Oberheim Xpander and became more of a favourite. The lyrics are about a person who can´t really make up her mind. The word strike is bent struck, struck not stroke, stroke. I guess I must have forgotten that. Otherwise the overall feeling for this song is that it´s ultra cute. It´s still a funny song to listen to and I always get in a good mood after hearing it.

 

Forever

Music and Lyrics: Sophie Rimheden

Soft, gentle and melancholic is a proper description for this song.

I didn´t have to change much of Sophies original arrangement but the polyrhythmic vocoder pad is obviously a Martin Philip construction. I worked more with the dynamics of the sounds and it came out with a sense of drama. The story is very tragic and together with the eerie quality of Sophies voice I had to tread lightly with the analog synths. The Oberheim Xpander tends to sound a little tinker toy anyhow.

 

My Tender Ways

Music and Lyrics: Sophie Rimheden

This song is unique since it´s a song in a major key from Miss Rimheden. The tinker toy sound is still evident and its undeniably an Octarine song. The lyrics are about telling someone that you aren´t interested anymore but you can´t seem to get the message through. The ”aha aha” part is a bit ABBA-esque isn´t it?

 

Fly Away

Music and Lyrics: Sophie Rimheden

Now here is an example of filtering Oberheim Xpander sounds which is very suitable for a song that is fast and direct. The lyrics are about a person who is suicidal and was originally named The Soul Doesn´t Feel Pain. Once again I didn´t have to do much with Sophies original arrangement. I think the song came out nicely with a lot of energy in the drum and bass section.

 

Against the Tide

Music and Lyrics: Martin Philip

A whimsical story based on Alice in Wonderland. I don´t know what it supposed to sound like but I bet Erasure is an unfortunate reference. This was the first song of mine that Sophie sung on. Maybe she found it hard or maybe it was in the wrong key, I don´t know but the clarity of her voice was lost. We just thought it was fun to blend the two different characters of our song writing.

 

Save the Day (unfinished)

Music and Lyrics: Sophie Rimheden

This song was selected from a tape with 5 songs I received from Sophie a couple of weeks before our first live gig. I really liked it and hurried to make it ready for our live appearance. I don´t think it suffered from that anyhow cause it´s quite well-balanced and settled. Even today we talk about recording it with vocals if Sophie only could remember the lyrics.

 

Time Traveller (unfinished)

Music and Lyrics: Martin Philip

Another song we played live a couple of times but we never recorded it. It´s an HG Wells inspired story about someone traveling through space and time. The production and arrangement is inspired by Madonna's Bed Time Story and is more Countzero than Octarine.