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HAPPY DEAD RABBIT

Song Insights

Mother

...as commented by Jörg
To say it with Marty’s words: »A pulsating tune, sporting a catchy "Depeche Mode meets Synth Rock"feeling.« That’s simply it! Nothing more to say. 

...by Mirco, who mixed the album "Fatal Beauty".
He also did some post-production and sound-design.

It all started with the track »Mother« while I was visiting Jörg at his home. We’d been working together almost two decades ago in his then project »Room 101«. He played me his mixes and told me he was in way stuck with them and didn’t know how to take the songs to the next level.
When he played »Mother« I felt that this song takes off where Room 101 left off in 2001. I enjoyed the density of the general arrangement, fundamented by the impact and the retroactively seeming drum sounds which derived from the now legendary Roland R-70 which Jörg’d already used in Room 101. That sparked our new collaboration whereupon he quickly sent me all original project stems for me to get to a fine, decent and contemporary mix.
While putting the mix up I felt reminded on Moev’s 1990 album »Head Down« which had this certain iconic canadian sound produced by John Fryer who worked with Jörg’s favourite band »Depeche Mode« in the early eighties. Therefore I tried to induce something of that feel into the mix though avoiding to make it any way nostalgic and uncontemporary sounding. The contrary is the case: it’s the sheer density of the overall sound that makes the final mix fuse all what was iconic of the late eighties/early nineties’ sound and time-travel it into 2020. As I was guaranteed free reign I took the chance to extend the songs length a bit by editing some parts so they’d get more breathing space to evolve.
The track afreshed our working relationship and »Mother« served as the perfect springboard for the great album you, dear listener, got now virtually on your hands. To be continued...

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Things Come To An End

...as commented by Jörg
This song catchest the mood I’d been in, when I worked in away from my hometown and drove home only for the weekend. I like the twist between the darker verse and the beautiful poppy chorus. And, well, the noisy middle section speaks for itself.

...as commented by Marty
A nicely laid back Synth-tune paying slight homage toThe Cure and Lou Reed and evolving into a New-Wave-Reggae chorus. It sounds totally different from the rest of the album (as does every song).

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Für Dich

…as commented by Jörg
»Für Dich« was the first song on which Thommy and I worked together with our late singer Pete. It serves as a sort of fundament of our work. But more than that it is our way to say farewell to and remember Pete, who sadly passed away some in 201X.  
As mentioned before both »The Sisters Of Mercy« and »The Mission« had a huge impact on me. For »Für Dich« I adapted the idea of the intro of »The Mission’s« iconic song »Tower Of Stregth.« It begins with percussions and the drums coming in later. Normally I prefer English lyrics for my music, because British bands being the only idols of my youth. But in this case I’m still overwhelmed by Pete’s German words and vocals. 
…as commented by Mirco (mixer and occasional sound-designer of the album) 
It was indeed a strange feeling to set up the mix for »Für Dich«, the only track left from a previous incarnation of HDR with now deceased singer Pete. In fact I’d never mixed a track before with a voice that can’t be listened to anymore. By destiny or design I’d never got the chance to get to know Pete, so his voice feels mythologically a testament for the previously uninitiated as I saw myself at that moment when I first listened to the rough mix prepared by Jörg. 
Musically I found a great deal of Jörg’s signature sounds with the inclusion of sitar sounds and a variety of hand-held percussions, a passion he’d already shared by the time when we made the soundtrack for previous band Room 101. As with »Mother«, it was a sort of taking up the thread once again, bridging the two decade hiatus sonically. And again it’s the density of the overall sound that makes this track one of my favourites when it comes to designing the sound, placing the instruments within the aural panorama and pathing the way the final mix had to march upon to the listener’s enjoying ear.
Here is a perfect moment to mention and praise Thommy’s genuine guitar playing. While the industrial rhythm of the track seems to invite some heavily compressed guitars, he works the track in unexpected ways by not filling the sound with pretentious stacato. Instead he uses his talent for spicing and refining the feel of the song with modulated strings that sparked my imagination for some extraodinary ideas now audible in the mix: Some stems were cloned and sonically manipulated through an oscillator of my good old Roland System 100M and subtly fed back into the mix. Listen carefully to the short guitar-solo to encounter some sonic surprises and hidden depths.
As Laibach is Rammstein for grown-ups (as they said in an interview), HDR seems to be Rammstein for the playful, even though it makes little sense to juxtapose these bands here. In fact I still have the feeling that the great pop element within this track is more at the fore than the supposedly industrial rock. And it’s a great manifest for the Roland R-70 drum machine again of which only Jörg is capable of programming it the HDR way.

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Nothing At All

…as commented by Jörg
When I’m composing a song, I’m always worried that it will turn out as a mundane and boring radio tune. This might sound absurd but I think that’s why some of my songs have a radical change in mood in different parts. »Nothing at all« is one of those songs. »Kiss me good bye« is another good example for this. On »Nothing at all« the change displays most obvious when the songs turns from the quiet, melancholic verse to the aggressive chorus, what makes the song interesting for me, complementing the moody lyric of the song.

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Dark Enough?

…as commented by Jörg
The song’s written by Marty, who is also the singer. It saw first light of the day on Sepulcrum Mentis’ album »Salvation«, Marty’s Berlin-based gothic-rock-band in which I played keyboards from 2005 till 2008. I love Sepulcrum Mentis – there are so many great songs and I’ve always been a little upset because there is no recording in which I was involved. So it was close at hand to give it a new interpretation and recording.  
»Dark Enough?« has always been one of my favorites and I think we managed to transform it into a Happy Dead Rabbit song. The verses are a bit shorter now and we inserted a new part. It’s still great to hear Marty’s voice in it. Might be a little strange for him to sing a cover-version of his own song.

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The Perfect Day

…as commented by Jörg
I guess this is the most poppy song on our album. I wanted a positive vibe for it like The Cure’s »Just like heaven« or »Friday I’m in love« and though Thommy created a catchy guitar-riff for it and Marty added great vocals I’d never been satisfied with this song – until I heard Mirco’s mix of it. Now I enjoy it very much.  

Our Mortal Remains

…as commented by Jörg
This song is based on a demo I recorded back in the late 90s. While I was listening through some old ideas it got my attention and I thought it would fit quite nicely with the other »Fatal Beauties.« Still the original idea has been strongly re-worked (there were no beats, no bass- and electric guitars and no words for it on the original demo). Now it feels fresh to me. This song along »Mother«, »Gaia’s Arcanum« and »Black Rain« serve as a suit connected by common main theme: »Human versus creation«.

Gaia´s Arcanum 

…as commented by Jörg
This is the third reincarnation of "Gaia´s Arcanum". The Song appeared first on the Room 101-album "Decay of conscience" in 1996. The second version was released on the "The Essential Room 101"-album in 2016. Each version is very different to the primary. In 1996 it´s been an gothic-synth-pop-song, 2016 saw a semi-accoustic version with a medieval touch - already with Marty on vocals - and now there is this beautiful alternativ-rock version. 
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