Last month I spent a week producing Carl Barat. We’d never met before, and as I lugged all my equipment into a studio on Hoxton square on day one, I was rather nervous. Usually there’s at least a meeting beforehand. But within an hour of his arriving, we had written a new song and had a bit of a laugh, and we managed to record 4 tracks in a massive hurry. The imposition of time limits really is condusive to getting the best performances. Carl took this idea one further, by finishing lyrics only moments before going into the vocal booth. After one such last-minute addition, he observed “putting a new verse in a song is a bit like putting a new kidney in a person – you never know if it’s going to be rejected”. Findlay Brown, who co-wrote one of the songs, came down to help out and Carl kept a fairly constant supply of interesting people coming through the studio. Some artists like a ‘closed set’, and others like it to be more social. Generally I’m in the former camp, but this time it was fun. He and his manager thanked everyone on the last day by bringing in bottles of fine whiskey.

I’ve also been working on Chris Difford’s record, continuing to write songs with him and beginning to plan the recording sessions in January, and Iarla O’Lionaird’s album too. I had a couple of days with Jon Hopkins, putting puano on Iarla’s stuff. We’ve known each other since we were 15 and we know each others musical personalities so well, and yet it is a continuing joy to keep developing and surprising each other. He has a touch and approach to the piano that is mesmerising and unique.

One of the things we worked on together last year was the score to The Lovely Bones, which we co-wrote with Brian Eno. Last week was the world premiere, held at Leicester Square. We were sat 3 rows behind Charles and Camilla, whose otherwise-standard issue cinema seats had been specially draped in ermine. Once seated in the cinema, we were able to watch the arrival of various stars and dignitaries on the big screen, before seeing them enter the auditorium in reality. The sheer oddness of the occasion made it even more difficult for me to assess the film, and how the music had been used. I just remember being really pleased at how much of our stuff was intact, and generally overwhelmed at hearing stuff I’d written blaring out of a Peter Jackson movie. Also odd was the fact that I had to go straight to the premiere from a session with Trevor Horn. This involved getting changed into my tuxedo in a vocal booth, and bidding farewell to the most famous producer in the land whilst wearing it.

I have been trying to turn Brian’s Pure Scenius project from June this year into an album; coming to terms with the sheer amount of material, and figuring out how best to present it, have been the main challenges but it seems that Brian, Karl Hyde and I are gradually circling in on the right approach. It’s interesting to edit and mix 20-minute long pieces of music, because to get a true picture of what is right, you have to listen through from the top every time. But as ever, it’s about paying attention to detail without losing sight of the overall feeling.

Work continued with David Holmes on the Russian film ‘Gustav’. There was a bit of a scramble on the first day when the producer announced that he wanted to hear 5 major themes by the end of the night; but we got through that one and I think it’s going to be one of the best scores David has done. One night he took me to the club he’s just opened, got behind the bar, and destroyed me with whiskey. The following day was spent trying to do intricate string arrangements through a noxious fog.

A short tour with Marianne Faithfull was like a mini-holiday, albeit a sleep-deprived one. The main thing I learned from it is that Luxembourg town is absolutely lovely. Funny how tempting it can be to generalise about a whole town, or even country, based on one’s pathetically limited experience of playing there. Hence the group resolution that Amsterdam rocks whereas Zurich sucks. All very scientific of course.

There were a few sessions for other film things, one involving lots of small instruments that are very hard to tune and all in different keys, which was like some kind of living anxiety dream; and I’ve been working a bit with Duffy who is a bundle of manic benevolent energy. And lastly my new solo record has been mixed, and will hopefully be released in the first half of next year. It’s called ‘Zero Sum’.

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