MUSIC & POETRY
Just like some of our favourite albums of the 90s and 00s, we love to occasionaly leave hidden music and poetry at the end of podcast episodes! It’s just another way to indulge in our creativity and despite being rough around the edges, we have so much fun making these songs and poems and would love to share them with you.
Play them from the players below, listen to them on the episodes and if you would really like to support us, think about purchasing the tracks! Money will go towards us making more fun content for your enjoyment!
These songs and poems are all original compositions and all rights belong to Kat Anderson and Natalia Anderson.
Expat Immigrant Theme
You’ll hear this song at the beginning of every episode!
(Words by Natalia Anderson)
The theme music to the Expat Immigrant Podcast! Where it all began!
This has to be my favourite jingle / theme song that I’ve written (see Tuneful TV and Tuneful Radio for others). I wanted it to really evoke a quintessentially British sound of the knees up round the piano, juxtaposed with the lyrics of being Expat Immigrants and British and Black. It makes me laugh every time! I think it sets the tone perfectly to who we are and our intersectional identities. When I wrote the music to this I was listening to The Beatles a lot and was inspired by the clunky piano sounds of ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’.
Jamaia Land We Love
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 3 EP 2 – Jamaica Land We Love’.
It is our love song to Jamaica after we visited for a holiday in July 2023. We really wanted to create a novelty song with a throwback reggae influence. Artists like Horace Andy, Chaka Demus and Pliers and Maxi Priest were in our minds when we wrote and recorded the song.
This is one of those instances where the musical ideas in our heads was much bigger than what was available to us in terms of tech and skillset! Lol! We recorded this song using Logic Pro X (that wouldn’t save changes and kept crashing) and the laptop keyboard for the midi instruments. So you can say, it was very much a labour of love to even get it to this demo stage! Maybe one day we’ll get to visit some of the legendary music studios in Kingston Jamaica to record a new version!
HOW I REMEMBER YOU
You’ll hear this poem at the end of ‘SE 1 EP 23- Remembering Dad‘
ONE YEAR WITHOUT DAD
(Words by Kat Anderson, first published on her website www.katallthat.com on 02.05.2021)
This week marked a year that we lost my beloved dad, John Anderson. To think that it’s been a year that I haven’t spoken to him or seen him. It doesn’t seem possible. That life is going on without him near, feels absurd. That he’s not here to see what I’m up to, all the big steps I’ve taken this year. I can’t fathom it.
I love when people tell me that my dad would be proud of me. Or that he’s watching over me, smiling down on me. Sometimes I find that hard to believe. But I’ve come to a fresh understanding this week, whether it’s hard to believe or not, I have to believe it. I was feeling so bereft because I couldn’t feel dad around me. My sister would say that she could feel him around us, so close. And I didn’t feel anything which surprises me because I’m spiritually literate and well into this kind of thing. But this week, I made the conscious decision to believe that he is with me. This week, I started to remember him and all his isms, his fun side, his silly side, his parenting style, things that irked me and things that made me absolutely adore him. My sister and I spoke about dad for hours. I had been afraid of forgetting him, losing my memories but through writing my notes and speaking with my sister, I felt dad with us. Alive in some way. Our mother-in-law reminded us of the quote “They say we die twice. Once when the breath leaves our body, and once when the last person we know says our name”. So there you have it, as long as we keep saying his name and honouring him, he’s still alive with us in some form.
How I Remember You
sunny day
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 2 EP 13 – Year Abroad‘
(Words by Natalia Anderson)
This has got to be one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written. I wrote it back in 2010 (I think!) and in all those years had only shared it to a handful of people before it made its public debut on our Year Abroad episode. At the time I knew I wanted to write a song that summed up my experience living in Spain on my year abroad, and in my songwriting career up to that point, it was the first time I actually sat down with a purpose in mind and a feeling I wanted to evoke. I’m so proud of it because I think I really captured what I set out to do. It was also a time where I was learning how to use Garage Band as a tool to compose songs (before that I’d just write songs on my guitar and then share them to my bandmates). Despite it being a demo and messy (like where did the bassline go in the second verse??!!), I knew at some stage I would share this song with the world. I hope that if you’ve ever travelled or lived abroad, this song will bring those feelings of newness, simplicity, independence and wonder back to you.
In terms of musical reference, I was listening to a lot of Fefe Dobson and in particular was inspired by one of her unreleased tracks named, ‘In The Kissah‘ which was produced by the Neptunes. There’s also a bit of a ‘Pure Shores’ by All Saints vibe in there too!
BABY MAISON
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 2 EP 5 – Katty In Paris‘
This is what will go down as “BoyBoy’s” first song at 2 years old! As often is the case, he was with us as we were recording the episode about Kat living in Paris. At the start of the episode you’ll hear us ask him about his favourite things including his favourite song. His response was, “Baby Maison”. So of course Mama (Nat) had to turn it into an actual song then jump on the track for a feature! The result is this trumpet lead funky genre bender (meaning I don’t know what genre of music this would fit into😂)!
sun summoner
(shadow & Bone)
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE1 EP 25 Dystopian TV – What In The World‘
This track was inspired by the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone (Season 1)
Of course the song had to be in the style of UK Garage because of the way the words ‘Sun Summoner’ slip off the tongue! It was super fun to make this one! I was inspired by Ms Dynamite’s song ‘Boo’ and was also thinking about the way Alesha Dixon would rap in the early days of Mis-Teeq!
FOR YOU
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 2 EP 22 – Are Parisians Romantic? A Valentines Special‘
(Words by Kat Anderson)
This is a love poem for every single friend I hold dear to my heart. I wrote it around Valentine’s Day circa 2015. Usually, I view Valentine’s Day with dread as I don’t have a special someone to lavish me with gifts and make an extravagant scene of being my other half. As much as that is true, my life has never lacked love, true love from the most wonderful friends. I am full, rich and overflowing with love always.
Receive this poem as a gift (especially if you are a friend of mine and not only for Valentine’s). I know how it feels to be down about being single – but remember you are loved and worthy of being loved. Same to you, my coupled up friends. No hate. Just love. Thank you for being there!!
For You
40 (KAT)
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 1 EP 2 – Kat Turns 40! Hip Hip Hooray!’
(Words by Kat Anderson)
As I approached 40, it was really important to me to take a moment of reflection and give thanks for my life, to my creator, family & friends and all the experiences that have shaped me to this point. I am grateful for it all and so blessed.
Initially this piece was a poem, but when I shared it with Natalia, her creative juices jumped with joy as she could see it was a song. A reggae song no less, which is a reflection of my heritage and the perfect way for me to honour all of who I am.
40
40 – THE REMIX (NAT)
You’ll hear this song at the end of ‘SE 2 EP 17 – Nat Turns 40! Hip Hip Hooray!’
(Words by Natalia Anderson)
Given that Kat had made a song about turning 40 two years prior, I felt it only right that I also make a song to mark the occasion! I liked the idea of using the end of her song at the beginning of mine with a record scratch in between to make it sound like a musical take over or like a Missy Elliot music video where she jumps from one song to the next. Still using the sentiment of gratitude that Kat had set up in her song, I wanted to experiment with a harder sound.
My inspiration for this song came from the Black British national anthem, ‘Talking the Hardest’ by Giggs.