Halfway Home by Robert Leslie
“Halfway Home” started out as “Terrain Vague,” back in 2019. My love and I were living out by Broadway Junction in Brooklyn, next to cemetery of the Evergreens, and something about that scraggly mess of weeds and tombstones and abandoned rail infrastructure was strangely soothing… Kinda poignant with the skyline in the distance. I was so taken with the mood of decline & timelessness I lived around as it contrasted with the city I went out singing in every day that I decided to write an album loosely around the concept. Going over all the feelins involved with rough, ragged abandoned and unused places, ghosts and alleycats and crumbling brickwork and all that. And life in the middle of it.
I did a crowd-fund and raised some cash for recording equipment. I wrote some songs. Then that whole pandemic thing happened, putting a stop to the busking life till that summer and greatly changing the direction of the tunes I was writing. I blew most of the crowdfund cash on food and rent (if you contributed - thanks for saving my arse!!), got the songs recorded, and scrambled to send them to everyone I could think of in the biz. My pal Perry Margouleff, a pretty heavyweight producer who runs one of the best all-analog studios in the world, took an immediate shine to the tunes and decided to produce, w/ bassist Tony Garnier (Bob Dylan’s bassist!), Scarlet Rivera (of Rolling Thunder fame), and Jake Sinclair (producer of Weezer and Panic! At the Disco). How bout that!!! Lucky songs!
In spite of all that bigboy backing we're still going it indie - most of these records will get sold in the parks of NYC, I imagine.
Check out the lil world we've built around these tunes! Give the music videos a look on YouTube, I've tried telling a story with em. Take a gander at the blog (lettersfromleslie.tumblr.com). Shoot me a message. Come see me in the park sometime. Big bless!!!
Tracklist
| 1. | Years Away | 3:50 |
| 2. | In the Rows | 2:53 |
| 3. | Empty is the Colour | 3:07 |
| 4. | Halfway Home | 3:00 |
| 5. | And It's Fine | 3:09 |
| 6. | Chasing the Changes | 2:59 |
| 7. | My Bananamoon | 3:15 |
| 8. | In Another Light | 4:07 |
| 9. | Bye Bye Finchy Dave | 2:54 |
| 10. | Cold Moon | 2:59 |
| 11. | The World | 3:00 |
| 12. | Our New Cat Molson Snoring on the Couch the Day After His Shelter Rescue and the Day Before NYC Went Into Lockdown | 0:35 |
Credits
Produced and Mixed by: Perry Margouleff
Cover photo: Emmanuel Rosario
Mastered by: Ryan Smith, Sterling Sound
Engineering: William Carroll, Robert Leslie, Max Sornik
Guitar, vocals, synth: Robert Leslie
Bass: Tony Garnier
Keys, backing vocals, percussion: Jake Sinclair
Violin: Scarlet Rivera
Slide guitar: Tyler Nuffer
Electric bongos: William Carroll
Prayer bells: Perry Margouleff
Snores: Molson
With thanks to Don & Maureen for the use of Van Gelder Studios for overdubs, Rob Hyman for the use of his studio for mixing, and John Senior for his mixing assistance.
And special thanks to Charlie Feldman, Paul Rappaport, Karl, Danny, Charlotte, William, and above all the lil lady Ariel, who lives in every song on this album.
