Gently Tender on the song that took 3 years to write.

One of these songs took Gently Tender three years. The other took two minutes. On this episode of The Hardest Part with Kieron Banerji, Gently Tender's Sam Fryer and Francesca Brierley opens up "Staring at Fields" and "The City of the Beast," both from their upcoming album ,This Was Once Fields. It's a conversation about a lifelong Londoner mourning the city's lost magic, think the Astoria and Madame Jojo's, and about why he keeps escaping it on foot: the hyperacusis that makes city noise painful, the walks that became meditation, the "I'm staring at fields" mantra sung alone in a dark London studio. They talk about craft: the song he nearly binned and fought the whole band over, sneaking it onto the album after delivery, why the band always finds his real chorus, and the two-minute drum-machine stream of consciousness that produced one of his favourite lyrics he's ever written. Gently Tender perform also play both songs live and stripped back exclusively for The Hardest Part. 00:00 Two songs, one walk 00:14 "City of the Beast": London's lost magic 00:57 "Staring at Fields" & the walk 01:43 Why the city hurts his ears 03:51 Three years, many versions, nearly binned 07:36 Best idea wins: how the band edits Sam 10:42 "I don't understand my own songs" 13:55 The Mountain Goats & concept albums 15:27 Writer's block: bail the water out 17:33 Mussel shoals & stream of consciousness 22:52: Staring at Fields 28:10: The City of the Beast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.