Headeye. (Courtesy Photo)
Jason Hedrington knew his relationship was in trouble when he was told the universe had someone else in mind for his then-girlfriend.
He was admittedly caught off guard when she told him that her psychic had informed her the stars were aligning her with another man — one whose traits did not exactly match Hedrington’s.
And like that, it was over.
Rather than angrily shake clenched fists at the heavens, Hedrington immediately turned to his music. He sat at his piano and — inspired by the head-scratching situation — started banging out a riff that would morph into the new Headeye single, “Ja Aber Nein.”
“Ja Aber Nein", which translates into “Yeah But No,” is a sprawling seven-minutes-and-twenty-five-second journey of Ben-Folds-meets-Todd-Rundgren-meets-Pink-Floyd psychedelic-prog-pop-funk.
“Originally we were excited to release this one because it was only four-and-a-half minutes,” Hedrington says. “This was going to be the short, poppy song. Of course, things happened and the song started to grow on its own.”
“Ja Aber Nein” continues down the same path Hedrington began charting with the first Headeye single, “Shadyside.” (Headeye is the moniker of Hedrington’s fictional alien alter-ego from the the Tralfamadorian System.)
Both songs will be included on the forthcoming Headeye album, Earth Girls.
“More of the catharsis was in the early days, finding that spot to laugh it away,” Hedrington says. “The best thing you can do right from the get-go is laugh this thing off. Not that I was hoping or lingering or any of those sort of things, but it definitely gave a final cut of the chord.”
“Ja Aber Nein” opens with a spoken word sonnet by the song’s narrator, “Mermaid Mama” (voiced by Sam Beedle), before the music spills over into intricately layered melodies.
This is not a one-sided story told from the perspective of a scorned lover. The Bethlehem resident says he wrote the song in a way that both the male and female points of view would be expressed.
“I knew with the first two verses I wrote, I wanted it to be a conversation. There are so many songs where it’s ‘here’s my perspective,’ but you never get to hear the other side,” Hedrington says. “It gives the woman the chance to fully respond and give her peace of mind. I was really trying to probe all the reasons things can go awry. Musically speaking, we did our best to take you on the emotional journey as well. It’s funny, it’s angry, it’s shocking.”
The song also features contributions from German music group Two Times Twice. Hedrington says he met the band a few years ago during a trip to Poland.
“We became such great friends and I said we got to keep collaborating; let’s make something happen on the internet,” Hedrington says. “They recorded their parts in Berlin and sent them over.”
As he did with “Shadyside,” Hedrington brought in a slew of guest Lehigh Valley musicians to flesh out the song’s musical structure and lyrical narrative — including bassoonist Silagh White, saxophonist Barry “Bee,” bassist Shawn Cavanaugh, and Rio Bossa/Jakopa’s Punch vocalist Alyssa Allen.
“From day one there was going to be a female response in the second verse and Alyssa (Allen) knocked it out of the park,” Hedrington says.
Hedrington, who also handles keyboard duties for Easton-based rock band Roi and the Secret People, says he and producer John Paul DeBard started working on the song two years ago.
“It came out right away and everything gelled,” Hedrington says. “John Paul (DeBard) and I work from this foundation of we always do what’s best for the song.”
Hedrington says the next Headeye single will be the anticipated “Facebook Booty Call,” which Hedrington teases is “right in your face.”
“The whole album is pretty much a sonic assault on every sense imaginable.”