Title: Last Known Surroundings
Released: July 8, 2012
Format: Digital Download, Radio Airplay, CD Single
Recorded: Avatar Studios, New York City, New York
Genre: R&B, Soul, Blues
Length: 4:41
Label: Tric-Jam Records
Writer: Alicia Lena
Producer: Alicia Lena, Nevaeh Martinez-Smith, Will.Rocca, Julian Morello

‘Last Known Surroundings’ is a song by American recording artist ‘Alicia Lena’. It written by Alicia in February 2012 during the recording sessions for her third studio album ‘Reign Over Me’ (2012) and was produced by Alicia alongside Nevaeh Martinez-Smith, Will.Rocca and Julian Morello. As the third single from her latest LP, it follows the commercially and critically successful singles ‘Drop The Needle And Pray!’ [#1] and ‘Place A Wish In Your Heart (feat. Chloe)’ [#2] and it marks the thirteenth single from the R&B/Soul singer-songwriter since breaking into the industry over three years ago.
The song was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York City, New York where the vast majority of her third studio album was recorded and ‘Last Known Surroundings’ was the final track to be completed from the album due to the fact that it wasn’t written until late April and only three weeks away from the album’s release date but due to her love of the song she made certain that the song would be included on the album and worked quickly to both record and produce the track in time for the album’s press release and eventual release date and it was the final track added to the album and was placed in-between the album’s only two collaborative songs ‘My Four AM Miracle (feat. Benji Luna)’ and ‘Place A Wish In Your Heart (feat. Chloe)’. ‘Last Known Surroundings’ is the third official single to be released from ‘Reign Over Me’ and will be available to request on Airplay and available to purchase from 8th July, 2012.

Description

The song was written in April 2012 by Alicia Lena at her Manhattan apartment following a studio session earlier in the day, it was reportedly a song that was heavily influenced by ‘Simon & Garfunkel’ and most notably their 1966 hit single ‘Homeward Bound’ but in a recent interview she states “Although ‘Homeward Bound’ is probably the main influence of the song, I think it would be more likely that ‘Last Known Surroundings’ was inspired by a combination of ‘Simon & Garfunkel’ songs because they were definitely my music obsessions at the time of writing the songs and they’ve always been one of my favourite artists so it’s only natural that I’d find influence in their short but incredible body of work”

It’s clear that ‘Last Known Surrounding’ is a song that is heavily influenced by many artists of the past, it has the emotive beauty of old-fashioned soul and the lyrical influence of folk musicians that have gone by most notably the aforementioned ‘Simon & Garfunkel’.
The song follows an emotional narrative of a woman that has lost the people in her life that were most important to her and as she’s stuck in the town that she grew up in while almost everybody has managed to leave and create a better life somewhere else she is almost haunted by a former love and her family try to hide her pain, “They just whisper your name under their breath/But they don’t understand that it has the same effect” is perhaps one of the most emotive lines from the album and the track in particular is one of the most artistically interesting tracks and shows a different side to Alicia’s songwriting.
The song is dominated by the echoed tones of the piano keys and the soft twang of the strings of an acoustic guitar that set the mood throughout the song again in a similar way to the sound of a lot of ‘Simon & Garfunkel’ songs, it’s a rather quiet and emotional song and Alicia’s vocals are reigned in as she sings with a softness that isn’t often heard by her, throughout the song you can almost feel a silence and the loneliness that Alicia sings about as the narrator and finishes with the combination of piano and acoustic guitar.

Songwriter’s Comments

“I think that as a musician your obligated to create something meaningful, your music can be any number of things but so long as it’s got heart then it’ll find its audience within time, take a look at ‘Hallelujah’ by ‘Leonard Cohen’ that is in my opinion a flawless song, there’s very few songs that could compare to it, the delicate beauty to it is untouchable but it was never a stand-out hit, as time passed and countless people covered the song it became a hit that many people are now familiar with it and the point that I’m trying to get across is that if a song is good it will find its audience in some form, even if it’s a cover version that gets attention it’s always because of the heart of the original version.

Music is all about opinions and tastes and they vary, I always try to create some sort of underlying meaning in the music that I put out or some sort of imagery because that’s the type of music that I’m drawn to and that’s the type of music that I want to create and this song in particular is the most obvious indication of my musical tastes and influence, although they vary from different genres and times from Sam Cooke to Bob Dylan to Prince I think it’s always a nice moment when you create something that is everything that you initially wanted it to be and I think that with this song I have done that.
It’s a song about abandonment, fear, self-doubt and regret. As you grow older you find that certain parts of what you’ve taken for granted are no longer there and you wonder about certain things, people and places that you’re no longer part of or in contact with and it can get dark sometimes because letting go of things can be difficult and letting go of your past or your youth is one of the hardest things to do but it’s something the majority of us have to let go of and I guess that’s pretty much the theme of the song. I guess I’d say that this song is almost like a love-letter to my lost youth.”
- Alicia Lena

Lyrics

The fields that surround us are now only bleak memories at best
They’re just dry and dusty plains of nothingness that over time will die
Like the loneliness of someone who just let the world pass them by
Look hard and close and you’ll notice something more than dirt in those fields
You’ll notice the image of the carefree innocence of youth that you once shared
But old images these days don’t seem to last
We can’t hold onto the past

The river banks where we’d spend those nights
Splashing around in the freezing cold water
We’d be huddled together for body heat as we’d hold each other tight
The careless games we’d play for fun
The adrenaline rush as we’d learn to run
From the danger we’d cause and the trouble we’d make
We thought it would last forever
Thought it would never break

But as the years go by and our lives move on
No time for freedom and everything’s a rush
We have new worries and no more thrills
We just kill ourselves working to pay the bills
And we never give a second thought to the life that we once led
The memories we once had, the memories we once shared

But with an instant rush of blood to the head
I’m looking for you and the memories we shared
The hands that we held and those incredible stories
Have vanished from us in a blaze of glory
The tone of your voice and the beat of your heart
Are the things I miss most since we’ve been apart
But I’ll forever keep searching for you
In my hardest of hearts I know that much is true

And in these last known surroundings
I’ll find myself searching for you
They’ll pretend you don’t exist
They just whisper your name under their breath
But they don’t understand that it has the same effect

In these last known surroundings
I’ll search for your face
But the more that I look
It gets harder to trace
In these last known surroundings
I’ll mention your name
But it’s clear to me
things can’t ever be the same

Personnel

Alicia Lena – vocals, piano, lyrics, composition, production, art direction
Benjamin Luna – acoustic guitar
Nevaeh Martinez-Smith – production
Will.Rocca – production, mixing
Julian Morello – production, engineering