So it was like this: Saturday, instruments. Sunday, vocals and everything else. We'd decided to make this one with a more rock orientated feel than is on our previous offerings and felt that capturing the majority of it as live takes would be the most suitable way.

Quite why we chose the hottest weekend of summer 2011 to do it though is anyone's guess (maybe we didn't have a gig..?), but we arrived early, set everything up, hit 'record' and didn't stop 'til 2 out of the 4 of us wanted to go home.

We were naked by the end. Ross then took these tracks back to his house where he would set about putting his magic touch on them as only he knows how, whilst the world outside his studio turned from summer to autumn and back to summer again (..Indian?).

Along the way, some fine and fabulous people dropped by to throw some tasteful delicacies into the mix. We might pay them. We probably won't. The tracks that have made it onto here are a combination of new songs that were tight, others that were older and perhaps less tight and one that, in fact, just came together on the day.

As with the previous album, we haven't named this one. It merely represents what sort of thing we are doing at the time. The next one could be totally different. But to avoid confusion, this is the second official Cousin Avi album. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it.

Cousin Avi
October 2011

'The Red One' is our third EP release and is a pocket-full of pop.

From the reggae rhythmic 'Don't Be Shy', the Motown injected 'Crazy' and the melodically poignant 'True Love Waits', 'The Red One' represents a shift in style for us, but definitely not in substance.

Following on from the process taken to record the previous EP ('The Blue One'), 'The Red One' is self recorded, produced and mastered.

So pin back your lug holes and enjoy!

'The Blue One' saw our return to self production. The summer months of 2010 were spent recording lots of songs, with the intention of putting together a second album.

We experimented with different methods and approaches to recording and began to get more involved with arrangement and production. Refusing to compromise on integrity, we decided to put out an EP, rather than an album, containing three tracks that benefited greatly from studio embellishment.

'The Blue One' reveals a more serious side to our music and is arguably the perfect juxtaposition to the previous release.

Muchos love and thanks to our guest musicians: Lucy Revis (Cello), James Atashroo (Trumpet) and Laura Rea (Saxophone).

'The Orange One' was recorded in January 2010 at Moles Studio. Situated in a five story 18th century Georgian house in the heart of Bath, the studio was relaxed, modestly equipped and had an endearing retro vibe.

This, coupled with the dedication and enthusiasm of our engineer, Nick Jopling, really helped us to capture the desired performance for these upbeat songs.

All three tracks were recorded live, with a few overdubs laid on to season the mix. Not bad for a weekend's work!

Our debut album, 'Cousin Avi', was conceived in 2008. Armed with a low budget, a mac, a fistful of microphones and plenty of passion, we recorded and produced the whole album by ourselves at our rehearsal space and in our homes.

Six months of hard work for 42 minutes of music... This was certainly a labour of love! We learnt a lot about ourselves and our music from the entire process and we were proud that our first aural offering to the world was a full length album.

Muchos love and thanks to Suz Hemming for the beautiful album artwork.