It’s the story of two humans trying to divine the mystery of it all, how patience plays its part; they end up splitting up - or do they? I suppose it’s open to interpretation - and in that moment find the kind of harmony they needed. It was originally called “In My Own Time,” then “In Your Own Time”, but I thought “In Our Own Time” was more democratic. I even considered calling the album “In His Own Time.” Clearly, it’s a phrase that resonates.

I remember listening to David Nagler’s arrangement on a train headed north and playing it many many times running. The melody of the bridge, particularly, is so beautiful - the change to the major: it all sounds a little like the kind of James Bond theme I’d really want (as opposed to say Madonna doing “Die Another Day”) - and that pillow of vocals (both at the end of the bridge and during the long outro). I wanted that endless recursive series of key changes, so the song just floats away into the distance and I should thanks Stuart Bogie - the same gentleman who played the sax on “Penelope” - because his clarinet here is just exquisite: perhaps one of the most beautiful passages of music I’ve ever been lucky enough to release under my name!

We wanted some extra characterful electric guitar on the album, and while I was considering who that might be, I happened to be on the West Coast on tour, and on a whim from the balcony of a motel in San Diego, got in touch with Joe Gore, an old pal from when I lived in SF, whom I had collaborated with many years ago (a Serge Gainsbourg song), and also seen playing brilliantly with both Tom Waits and Tracy Chapman. He was amenable, enthusiastic, and so I took the tracks over to him and we had a beautiful afternoon discussing the parts, and then he sent them on to me on my return. Blissful really. He’s on four songs here.

“In my own time/On my own dime/When the stars align” - kinda how I make these records.

Photo (Antelope Canyon, AZ) & design Morgan Narkiewicz