Track By Track: Pat Tierney’s 'Pretty Emotional' New Record, ‘Lost In The Haze’

An amalgamation of folk, blues, roots, and soul, Pat Tierney’s newest album, Lost In The Haze, drops today. A warm and profound journey through the mind and heart of the Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter, the album explores themes of love, loss, hope, and social justice. 

“I’m a big believer in letting the songs do the talking and taking it where it needs to go… If you give it enough time and dedication, the album and songs will reveal themselves to you,” Tierney says. “It’s a pretty emotional record, I tapped in pretty deeply to where I was at… I think it’s something any artist goes through throughout their career. I had to be ok with feeling lost and that’s where Lost In The Haze came from.”

To celebrate the album’s release - and his upcoming album tour - Tierney is taking The Music through Lost In The Haze, track by track.

Golden Lover, Silver Soul

This was the first track written for the album, and kind of set the tone of the record. For me, it’s a song about discovery and trying to find some answers. The slide part/hook was the first thing that came to life, then the chords and lyrics followed. It felt really familiar but brand new all the same. 

Lost In The Haze

This one flowed out really easily. I had it as a voice memo for months on my phone and I was always coming back to it. That’s when I knew it was a keeper. It was different to anything I’d written previously. It was raw and honest and was an easy choice to be the title track for the record. 

One Day Soon

A letter to a loved one. I wrote this song over 10 years ago and I’ve been playing it live ever since. This one is a true case of ‘less is more’. Hearing acoustic guitar and slide guitar together is probably my favourite sound on earth. 

Resting Place

This one dropped out of the sky as well. A dear friend who I had reconnected with, had suddenly and tragically passed away. I was devastated and heartbroken and was really feeling for his partner, kids and family. I wanted to write a song from his point of view. It can be interpreted many different ways, but that was really the seeds of the song. I’ve always been fascinated by spirituality and the cycle of life.

Love & Hope

Slide guitar is my musical heartbeat. It gives me so much joy and grounds me on a daily basis. I wanted to approach this instrumental with something fresh. My idea was to write a song on slide guitar that sounded like a piano or as if a classical player had written it. I’m not sure if people will hear that, but that was the goal. To me, this one feels like a warm hug from a loved one.

Shadows

Much like Lost In The Haze, this one flowed out in minutes. My love for blues and roots music runs deep. I’m obsessed with strong imagery and mysticism in my songwriting. I always want to take people to a unique place or movie in their head. It’s very much a song about feeling like an outsider, always feeling like you’re on the run. 

West Of East Pt 2

I recorded this one at home straight into GarageBand as more of a ‘demo’. I had been gifted a beautiful Indian Slide Guitar to try out for a few months from a guitar maker here in Australia. It was a prototype he was working on and he wanted some keen slide players to try it out and see what fruit it bore. Indian instrumental music has always been a huge influence in my musical upbringing and especially guitar playing. 

The Devil’s Door

Another song I pulled out of the songbook. I had also written this one around the same time as One Day Soon, but it seemed to be the perfect fit for this album. I believe it was the last song we recorded for the album. It has darkness to it like Shadows but is looking more outwards than inwards. 

When The Light Comes Shining

I wanted to take the slide guitar in a different direction with this one. I needed to experiment and feel like I was growing as a player and songwriter. I was hearing so much mundane and boring slide guitar that it inspired me to think outside the box. I had always loved songs that were really different between verse and chorus. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds comes to mind. There’s a big Tom Petty influence on this one as well.  

‘Lost In The Haze’ is out today on all streaming services.

PAT TIERNEY | LOST IN THE HAZE ALBUM TOUR

Wed Oct 2nd Trouble San Brunswick Heads 

Sat Oct 19th Mapleton Pub Sunshine Coast

Sat Oct 26th The Black Market Albion Brisbane

Wed Nov 6th Moore & Moore Cafe Fremantle

Thu Nov 7th Sofar Sounds Perth

Nov 8-10th Blues At Bridgetown Festival Bridgetown

Find tickets and more information here.