This month's exclusive is one of the oldest we've tackled in this series.
'Forbidden' was originally written and demoed in October 2012, before the main body of material for the second HeKz album "Caerus" really started to take shape. The lyrics talk about our compulsion to seek out things that could have negative consequences for ourselves or prove to be outright self-destructive. I was certainly speaking from experience here, and it's interesting how this foreshadows some of the main themes on our latest album "Terra Nova."
The version of 'Forbidden' you hear today features most of the original demo tracks. The guitar and bass performances have been retained and given a fresh lease of life with some re-amping, courtesy of my trusty Elevenrack, and a bit of editing to tidy them up.
The original keyboard parts remain and have been updated using Logic's stock synth, Hammond and mellotron sounds. The orchestral parts have been spruced up with Spitfire Audio's BBC Symphony Orchestra instrument.
The sounds that you can create using the latter instrument are outstanding, especially when you consider that it's the entry level version of the plugin and Spitfire Audio give it away for free, providing that you are happy to participate in a short survey and wait 2 weeks for your download link to arrive. Well worth it if you want a versatile and expressive orchestra at your fingertips and save £49.
The guitar solo has been revisited and I chose to channel my inner Tony Carey and add a synth solo, simply because I can't resist guitar / synth duels.
As for the vocals, the backing harmonies are from the original demo and, although the first-generation lead vocal performance was quite good, I had recorded it using a very cheap condenser mic so the sound was quite thin when mixed in with the rest of the track. I opted to record a new vocal performance, but I have included a bonus version of the song which retains the original performance if you're curious to hear it.
And that's just about all, save from a few little production flourishes to add some ear candy to the arrangement.
Shall we give it a listen?
Click here to access all 4 versions of 'Forbidden' + the lyric sheet