Song Deconstructed: ‘David and Jayne’ by Studio Electrophonique

Studio Electrophonique: “Most songs of mine hinge on that first utterance.” Photo: Jake Millers

How first lines, seaside scenes, and minimalist arrangements shaped a song and set the tone for a vintage-tinged debut album

Studio Electrophonique, the solo project of Sheffield singer-songwriter James Leesley, has become a compelling force within the city’s independent music scene. Drawing its name from a long-defunct analogue studio, the project follows two acclaimed EPs, Buxton Palace Hotel (2019) and Happier Things (2022), establishing Leesley’s fascination with intimate storytelling and textured, vintage-inflected sounds.

His eponymous debut album, released on Paris-based Valley Of Eyes Records and produced by Simon Tong, channels the influence of 1960s French cinema, American literature, and the social-club ballads of his youth, capturing moments of longing, humour, and everyday melancholy. The album opens with David and Jayne, a track that encapsulates Leesley’s cinematic approach to songwriting, blending dialogue-like lyrics with minimalist arrangements. In the following feature, Leesley unpacks the song, revealing the meticulous craft behind its creation and its role in shaping the record as a whole.

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INSPIRATION

Like many of the songs on the record, David and Jayne came out of nowhere. Or at least it felt that way. Looking back, I guess the original flurry of creation was (what became) the verse chords and melody; that first line, “He was thinking breakfast in bed,” just arrived as a complete line, possibly the result of some distant thought or subconscious idea, but felt like an interesting opener. Most songs of mine hinge on that first utterance; that seems to determine the melodic framework; the syllables, the phonetics…then the rest just follows…or doesn’t. Thankfully, for this one, it did.

Then it’s a case of where your imagination takes you. I tend to create scenes or scenarios that can act as a backdrop to whatever story I’m trying to tell or feeling I’m hoping to capture…for David and Jayne, it was all based around two characters (who actually make cameos in other tunes) on a weekend away at the run-down seaside town of your choosing.

LYRICS

This particular song went through many revisions. There were so many versions of the verses, nearly every word had at least one alternative. I remember spending long nights piecing it together, to the point where I thought I must be over-thinking it, but looking back I think the method worked for this song (I once stumbled on a free J.D Salinger exhibition at the New York Public Library and I remember seeing these endless revisions of Franny and Zooey thinking, ‘Ah – so they do go over and over…’ so that memory spurred me on a bit).

I’m a big fan of Lydia Davis too; her short stories are my favourite. I was inspired to try and crystallise the lines until I was left with only what was necessary. It’s a laborious method, but I really enjoy that sort of wordy challenge – plus you can be working on it in the queue for the bus or while you’re doing the pots.

Studio Electrophonique: “I tend to create scenes or scenarios that can act as a backdrop to whatever story I’m trying to tell.” Photo: Jake Millers

I was also walking the tightrope of being humorous, serious, sad and joyous all at the same time. Which is a very thin rope. Lines like: ‘She could throw herself in the sea, or just leave him while he’s cleaning his teeth’ / ‘but it’s hard when you’ve been working all week to make decisions,’ and, ‘Really she just wants him to come, hold her head and wipe her cheeks with his thumbs’ / ‘say, I’m sorry for whatever I’ve done – I still love you.’ They’re almost like a mini-monologue that we get to listen in on…which I guess heightens the desperation of the situation.

To offset the sadness, I needed something that could be considered humorous, depending on how you look at it: ‘So he goes down to the pool, what else could he do?’ / thought, ‘well I might as well, seeing as we’ve paid for it’. Then the next time around it’s from Jayne’s perspective: ‘Thought, ‘Well I might as well, seeing as I’ve paid for it,’ that one word making all the difference.

MUSIC

This followed the same economical principle of the lyrics: only use what’s necessary. The chords don’t really change much, apart from this Byrdsian descending bass note turnaround and then a major/minor chord change in the chorus. Apart from that, it’s very much – the chords are there to serve the melody. There was obviously the temptation to develop a middle eight and get fancy, but it would have ended up sounding fancy.

IN THE STUDIO

David and Jayne was the first song we recorded for the album. It was done in Simon Tong’s attic studio, all straight to quarter-inch tape on a Tascam TSR-8 reel-to-reel machine. Limiting tunes to eight tracks was a deliberate parameter. The idea was to record as swiftly as possible; I had most of the songs committed to memory, so my plan was to let Simon (who knows what he’s doing with a guitar) play whatever he felt, as if he’d just rocked up to join me in the backroom of some darkened boozer on the outskirts of Paris…he barely knew the song, so what you hear is whatever came to him at the time.

After the first run, I was like; ‘That was nice…were we recording?’ ‘Yeah’ ‘Ah good’. I recorded the rhythm and vocals at the same time, then we added a vintage Philicorda organ and tambourine, and that was it. The melody and lyrics felt quite delicate, so we didn’t want to put too much musical strain on them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

David and Jayne sparked the rest of the record, from a writing perspective, so I guess it’s a pretty important number in that sense. It’s also got some of my favourite lines in it so I think I’ll always have a soft spot for it. I like to think of the album as a collection of cinematic scenes; David and Jayne being the opening sequence… (Bonehead from Oasis likes it).

Studio Electrophonique’s eponymous debut album is out now on Valley Of Eyes Records and is touring with The Divine Comedy this month. Tickets https://lnk.to/TDC25 and instagram.com/studio.electrophonique

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