Behind The Song: "Diamond Sky" by Oliver Daldry



Hey guys!

Every now and then, you'll find a song that immediately resonates with you.
It might take a while for you to figure out why, but you just feel connected to the words and the melody.

I've recently had that little moment and I'm very happy that I get to share the song - and more details about it - with you today.

Our little "Behind The Song" feature is one of my personal favourites, because we all get to learn more about the creative process behind amazing songs.

So without further ado, let's find out more about one of my new favourite songs.


- Behind The Song -
"Diamond Sky" by Oliver Daldry


Oliver Daldry is a singer/songwriter from the UK.

His sound classifies as Indie-Folk and has its main focus on acoustic guitar elements and lyrics.

Oliver started making music at the age of 14, spent a lot of time gigiging around the UK and has released his debut album, "The Boy Who Fell", at the age of 18.
The album charted at number 40 of the UK iTunes charts and has had multiple songs featured on TV programmes in the UK.

In 2015, Oliver released the "After Dark" EP, after spending time to develop his sound. The direction of that EP was darker and more ambient, but still managed to focus on lyrics.

July 2017 has seen the release of the musician's second album, "Judas Gap", which glows because of its mature sound.

We got Oliver to chat about one of the songs featured on the album, so check out his words below as he talks us through the meaning and the writing process of "Diamond Sky":

"I'd like to be a little bit vague here, partly because it's a very personal song, but I also think the element of ambiguity when listening to a new song, which allows each listerner the ability to assign their own meaning to the music and lyrics, is one of my favourite aspects of songwriting.

So with that in mind, I'll tell you the core emotions at the heart of the song, but I will try not to go into masses of detail:
"Diamond Sky", to me, is a song about my inability to deal with my own emotions. It is a description of a fight caused by my failed attempts to wrestle my own mind into submission and it also tries to describe the angst and paralysis that comes along with losing control of yourself.
At first, it seems to be quite a sad song, but I like to think that it does contain a resolution - that resolution being the comfort found in love and family.

The lyrics "Diamond Sky" refers to Bob Dylan's "Mr Tambourine Man" ("dance beneath a diamond sky with one hand waving free").
And this is because my parents used to play Bob Dylan a huge amount when I was younger, and as a result, not only am I a massive fan, but I find certain albums of his very calming, hence the line "nothing but a diamond sky will bring me peace" - in the state I am describing myself, nothing but listening to Bob Dylan will calm me down.

I write all of my songs in the kitchen at my home. I spend a lot of my time doing this and so it has become such a normal thing to me, that I forget how that might sound odd to someone else.
As with all of my songs, "Diamond Sky" was also written to completion in the kitchen.

The bulk of the song was written within a few hours, but for about a month I periodically revisited it, attempting to refine it as much as I could. The recording process was a little bit painful for me - I had the guitar and vocals for "Diamond Sky" recorded within a few days, and the guitar and vocals for the whole album recorded within a few weeks, but the rest of the production and mixing for all of the tracks took the best part of 10 months.

I've always been determined to eventually be capable of producing and mixing my own music, but it has been a long and arduous process and I still don't think I'm near the end yet. Why exactly "Diamond Sky", along with the other 7 tracks on the album, took 10 months just to produce and mix, is hard to say, but put as candidly as possible, it was mostly due to indecision and lack of experience.

After spending a huge amount of time working and reworking the tracks, I eventually sought the help of Joseph Mccann to mix the project. Joe has previously worked on releases from the likes of Everything Everything, Tom Odell and Ben Howard, so his experienced helped a lot. I was very grateful to him and I think he did a great job.

Compared to the material I have online, "Diamond Sky" and the whole of the new album in general, is quite different in style. It's much less ambient than my previous EP and focusses mainly on the lyrics and stories in the songs. All my work has always been lyric led, but I feel that you're able to focus more on the lyrics with this album as a result of the production being much simpler."


Watch the lyric video for "Diamond Sky" below:




- buy "Diamond Sky" -
- stream "Diamond Sky" -



Oliver Daldry online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud | YouTube | Instagram




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Credits // Text Intro: Vanessa Jertschewske | Quoted Text: Oliver Daldry | Image: Josh Redman

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