Venus – HOUNDTRACK, Too Much

Listen on your favorite platform

---

I’m laughing ‘cos I’m going back through the tracks over the last few weeks and the energy level has been rising slowly but surely - I guess a reflection of just how much external input I need to keep going. Oh - not that it’s that dramatic - it’s just that as we slide into the end of the year I find that I’m pretty knackered and need more energetic music to keep me in the zone.

And of course there’s a million tracks out there that could perform this function for me - that are well produced with interesting instrumentation - not too overwhelming but with certainly enough “Ooomph” - and that grab my attention without - grabbing my attention - if you know what I mean.

Here’s how this track did it - and if you’re an artist looking how to get your track on the Essay Writing Playlist - check this track submission out:

“I hope this message finds you well! Your Music to Write an Essay to is a wonderfully curated list and I’d love to be a part of it. When I was in college back in 2010 I would have loved something like this — a collection of feelgood and epic tracks without words to keep me motivated while writing.

I think my recent track Venus would be a great addition. It has the pumping synths of “Sireli” by Viken Arman, the melodic piano style of “Light of the Seven” by Ramon Djawadi, and the epic nature of “Say My Name” by ODESZA.

Venus is a collaboration between myself (HOUNDTRACK) and Too Much. He’s based in Portland and I’m in Los Angeles. We met over SoundCloud and shared a mutual love for each other’s music. Over several months we sent this song back and forth, tweaking each other’s parts and melding them together to make this song.

Thank you for taking the time to listen. Keep up the awesome work with your selections! <3

Cheers,”

And while the flattery at the top didn’t hurt - it was the second paragraph that got my attention - the third para gave me some insight and I’d already started listening to the track before I got to the end.

But here’s the really interesting thing - on first listen I wasn’t sold - I initially found some of the synth moves a little too forward and potentially distracting - but - because the submission was well thought out it went on to a high rotation list - one that I listen to a lot when I’m working - and guess what - over time - it grew on me - and grew on me - and before you know it I’d spent an hour listening to it on repeat while doing some image work.

The takeaway here is that it generally takes many listens before you fall in love with a track - and if you’re constantly turning tracks away ‘cos they don’t fit your established template of what you like - eventually you become stale - you end up listening to the same thing over and over. I gave this track my time because the artist had initially given me his - and look how it all worked out.

It’s a beautiful thing! ;-)

---

---

You can learn more about HOUNDTRACK here:

About the Curator: Andrew McCluskey

The first visual memory I have is that of the white upright piano in Singapore, Hell and the dark forces lived at the bottom, Heaven and the Angels at the top. They would play battles through my fingers and I was hooked.

Although I've always played, I haven't always been a musician.  Most of my twenties were spent working with people, buying and selling and learning how the world works.  It was in my thirties that I came to America and focused on music and began to develop music2work2.