Lay Down is an introspective exploration of feelings of lust and desire. There are two minds at work, one is obsessed and possessive while the other is steadfast and stubbornly defiant. Originally intended to be a nod to the big sexy songs from the 80's and 90's from artists like Warrant and Aerosmith, it quickly became a pop-rock style song, with a funky beat, that has one mind speak in the verse and the other in the chorus. Phil and I would play this live with a rock style groove in the verses that drop to a reggae, sort of, pulse for the chorus. At one point we were thinking it should be reminiscent of the funky, bass driven wah sound from 70's adult films. The quiet of the third verse that has a heartrate monitor beeping to an unpredictable beat was something from early on in the writing phase, I think we had that idea even before the lyrics. I really love how everything came together in studio. The funky drum beat, the bouncing bass groove, and the killer guitars dancing around with little of that reggae flavouring made me want to join in, rhythmically, so I added some latin style percussion to the mix. I made the percussion a little unconventional to highlight the bouncing groove and triplet hits throughout that I think sound really cool and give it a sparkling pop that makes me want to dance. That percussion took a while, I was still working on it when John had an idea to add a B3 sound in the background that really tied everything together. The third verse starting with a drop to a quiet place while the band mimics the heartbeat, the B3 whines quietly up high while I sing defiantly, Sean's guitar joins in, matching the pitch and whirling around like a sine wave on the screen, making up a sound that is freaking beautiful to me.more