For her latest album, the eight-song “The Fine Print,” singer-songwriter Amanda Rose Riley expanded her acoustic guitar palette to an include electric six string, as well drum and bass programming.
However, the track that has gotten the most streams is the opening acoustic number, “The Bench at the Top of the World,” the Makin Waves Song of the Week. It can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. Aug. 13 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com.
“I wrote this song early last summer,” Amanda said, “and it’s become one of my most played songs during my weekly live streams, one of my favorites and a fan favorite too. I decided to keep it acoustic because I was so used to it that way that it was hard to imagine it differently. I intentionally made the lyrics vague so that everyone could imagine their own favorite place, but in my heart, it’s about London."
“I fell in love with London about eight years ago the first time I visited, and I’ve never looked back,” she continued. “I think my absolute favorite spot in the world is a particular bench on Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath, that’s perfectly hidden away with a great view of the city, so that’s what I was picturing. With all the stress, deprivation, and mental health upheaval of last year, it really made me feel good to picture a place that makes me so happy and calm, and to turn it into a nice little song I can sing to myself and others. I look forward to getting back there again someday soon!”
Amanda not only produced “The Fine Print” herself but also recorded and mixed it and programmed the additional instrumentation.
The eight songs presented are among nearly 100 she said she wrote during the pandemic.
You can hear “The Fine Print,” several of the unrecorded songs, and a few already being recorded for her next album 4 p.m. Wednesdays on Facebook Live @AmandaRoseRiley. For more info, visit www.amandaroseriley.com.
Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at makinwaves64@yahoo.com.
