The Thunder Beneath Us Mixtape

The Head and the Heart, As Reviewed B... Things I Learned at Parents Weekend

The Thunder Beneath Us Mixtape

Author Nicole Blades is another member of my Mom2.0 mafia, a graceful and focused friend whose dedication to her writing is an inspiration to me. I am so pleased to share her author mixtape on the cusp of the release of her new novel, THE THUNDER BENEATH US (drops October 25!)

The Thunder Beneath Us Mixtape

by Nicole Blades

There are times that I’m writing when I need true quiet. I need to be able to hear that other voice in my brain as it walks me around certain tricky corners of the story that I’m trying to build. Even the slightest extra sound—birds in the tree just beyond my office window, a car’s last-legs muffler hacking its way down the street, the stern rattle of the wind against the side of the house—feels like a deliberate distraction. As if someone set out to throw off my whole focus. It’s not unlike when you’re a new parent and the baby is finally napping and that’s when the neighbor’s dog randomly decides to freak out or the FedEx guy figures it’s probably best to press your annoyingly loud buzzer seventeen times.

“They better not wake this baby,” is the threat/mantra you hiss while perched on the edge of everything, ready to pity the fool who messed with that child’s sleep—and your sanity.

During the silent stretches, I like to act out dialogue. Or sometimes it’s as simple as saying a word that doesn’t quite feel right over and agin, like its own weird melody, until I either find a way to make it sing or replace it altogether.

But then there are the other times, when the hush is almost too much, the words alone play too loudly in my head and I need music to smooth it all out.

In the last seven or eight years, I’ve developed a steady habit of setting up a soundtrack for whatever novel I’m working on. Often I’ll start with three or four songs—some new, some old and gold—and build from there.

With THE THUNDER BENEATH US, one of the first tracks that I added to my playlist was a song I had heard while watching—of all things—An SNL Digital Short.

Despite the foolishness going down in the video, the song itself , “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap, was haunting and I knew it would help set the mood for this story. (That horrible Jason Derulo sampled from it for his song “Whatcha Say.” Not a fan of that guy.)

The next song I just had to add also came from a television show, this time the great Friday Night Lights (say it with me, y’all: “clear eyes, full hearts…”). It’s an instrumental that runs over eight minutes and it’s called “Your Hand In Mine” by this post-rock band from Austin, Texas, named Explosions in the Sky.

The song instantly adds a layer of somber to my skin and makes me feel wistful, but also like I (or more my characters) need to work through it and reach out to something brighter and better just right there.

Another song that’s in that same lane is called “Soon or Never” by the Punch Brothers. First of all, the title. I mean, come on. It kind of tells you everything you need to know about the tune you’re going to hear, right? Plus, there’s a mandolin, for crying out loud!

I was actually somewhat surprised by how much I liked this bluegrass-y, progressive country-ish band, for and their album, Who’s Feeling Young Now? I’m not the biggest country fan. But here we are. Life comes at you fast, friends.

Not everything on my THUNDER playlist is “strumming on my sad guitar.” There’s also this great song called “Twice” by the Swedish electronic music group called Little Dragon.

The opening, with its slowly building piano chords, drops you straight into the searing first two lines of song:

Twice I turn my back on you

I fell flat on my face but didn’t lose

Whuuut?! It’s an immediate, “whoa…and then what happens?” You want to find out where this song’s story is going. I also like how lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s voice dips low at certain points; it sounds almost guttural. The lyrics and the tone of the song really matched up with the vibe of my book’s protagonist, Best Lightburn. There are clear bristly edges to her and I could totally see Best telling someone those very lyrics without so much as a blink or a pause.

Also on the THUNDER playlist I have some Rihanna (“Stay”) and Sade (“It’s Only Love That Gets You Through”) as well as the fantastic British singer-songwriter Laura Mvula (“Father, Father”)

Each song seem to arch up and lean toward the next, setting the frame for this picture I was trying to create; one that was emotional and sad at times, but definitely full of heart.

Then, while I was working on the final copyedits and last-looks on the book, I somehow latched onto a classic by Prince. “The Beautiful Ones.”

I added it to my personal playlist as well as the one for THUNDER. It just fit there and I was low-key kicking myself that I had not thought to add it years before, when I first started using this soundtrack with the book. And just two weeks later, our Prince was gone. The song took on a completely different weight and it makes me tear up for very different reasons now. I kept it on the playlist, despite the tears it brings, because, a) it’s Prince and b) it’s Prince.

Paint a perfect picture

Bring to life a vision in one’s mind

The beautiful ones

Always smash the picture

Always every time

***

Want to read the book that inspired the list? Nicole is giving away a copy of THE THUNDER BENEATH US to a lucky Midlife Mixtape reader! To enter for your chance to win, leave a comment below…we’ll use Random.org to select a winner on Friday, October 21 at 5 pm PST!

Nicole Blades is a novelist and journalist. Her features and essays have appeared in Cosmopolitan, NYTimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, Health, MarieClaire.com, SELF, BuzzFeed, and BlogHer. Born and raised in Montreal, Nicole now lives in Connecticut with her husband and their son. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleBlades. And visit her online at NicoleBlades.com.