Snow Podcast
Behind the song
We've all heard about the ones that got away, but what about the ones we held onto for too long?
SNOW is the bittersweet sigh of relief when you let it go, and the flood of catharsis in its wake.
The song explores themes of motion and stillness - who passes who by when you part for good? Framed in a single subway ride through Brooklyn, arpeggiated synths, swirling saxes, and heartfelt vocals punctuated by charged pauses push this song forward. As always with ALMA, sound design plays a distinct role in bookending the story. Snowy footsteps set the stage and our favorite G Train conductor's voice is our closer. Fun fact: we had even sampled the clatter of the train cars in the Myrtle-Willoughby station and transformed it into a beat. But ultimately by stripping it away we discovered something more raw by leaning into the silence and the lingering echoes.
SNOW was recorded and produced almost entirely remotely from the home studios of the ALMA ladies and Elliot Moss.
Producers: ALMA, Elliot Moss
Audio Engineers: ALMA
Mixing Engineer: Elliot Moss
Mastering Engineer: Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound
Vocals: Alba S. Torremocha, Lillie R. McDonough, and Melissa Kaitlyn Carter
Strings: Alba S. Torremocha
Sax: Elliot Moss
Keys: Evan Johnston
Special thanks to Angela Piva for teaching us how to record in the studio and at home, to Daniel Martin-McCormick for lending us his hardware synths, and to Everett Petticord for inspiring our beats.
Early Demos
*Gasp* These will be our little secret...
"Snow" is one of those songs that we loved from the very beginning. Its simple + raw materials get at the gutpunch of a breakup. Even then, we pushed the boundaries of what we thought the song could be and made a "remix" mid process to play some musical jenga and keep it fresh. This "remix" was also the first time Mel ever recorded or mixed drums and is fully ALMA engineered. We see this as one of our songs that ushered us through the early days of learning how to record! So, you get the behind the scenes view of what that all sounded like! ...like...why is the kick drum panned all the way to the left?!!?
-
0:00/1:53
-
0:00/0:47
It's a marshmallow world...
Behind the scenes with some stopmotion for Snow Trailers.
Fun fact: did you know cats are obsessed with marshmallows? Turns out, yes, they are.
“Dream pop trio ALMA releases new single Snow. Immersive in its creativity. Greatly produced by Elliot Moss. ALMA combines vocals harmonies with arpeggiated synths and swirling saxes to create something intriguing. Snow is the bittersweet sigh of relief when you let it go, and the flood of catharsis in its wake. The song explores themes of motion and stillness – who passes who by when you part for good? ALMA’s music stand out for its originality. This is artistic vision. ”
Charts
Click on the link below to download the chart and play Snow at home!
Snow
Lyrics
It was the first snow of the year
Slipping and sliding, switching gears
Oh, I never thought that I would finally feel so
clear
Know the only thing that’s left to do.
I rode the G train half past two
There’s only me there’s no more you
Oh, I never thought that I would let this go so
easy
As I passed you by at Myrtle Willoughby
Never should’ve let you in
Never should’ve let you in
I took the train towards Coney
When I loved you I was lonely
Never should’ve let you in.
And when it snowed again this year
I thought that I had changed my gears
Oh, I never thought we would let this go so easy
But I watched as you passed me by
As you passed me by
Yeah I watched,
And I passed you by
And i passed you by.