At the time I wrote Cannibal Queen I was obsessed with both cannibals and the band ABBA. I think the word cannibal almost implies something negative or dark but really it's just a straight forward love song about being in a new relationship. When working out the melody and lyrics the song had more of a straight forward strumming and was not as energetic. I started recording a demo in my garageband and for some reason it felt too simple or like I had done this song a million times before. So I trashed what I had done and decided to reapproach it. I was in the height of my ABBA phase and had the thought to try and make an ABBA-like song. This is probably where the influence of the guitar line came from and some of the overall vibe of the song. I always meant to add their classic doubled piano to a part of the song but either forgot or was too lazy, can't remember which.

Months later we went into the studio to start recording Tell It To The Volcano. By this time we had already played Cannibal Queen live a few times and had a better idea of what we wanted it to sound like on the record. As a starting point I brought in a few ABBA songs and Blondie's "Heart of Glass" as a reference. We recorded it and then added a clusterfuck of "Blondie" synths over the song. Later that night on the drive home Rick and I agreed that it had taken a wrong turn and we should cut the synths. This song took the most time to get right on the album, nearly giving up at one point. The song finally took shape and while I'm not sure if it's a convincing ABBA rip off, I still love it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story before the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album - right here!

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