Bash Co.’s “Velvet” is a love song about enduring affection through difficult times, shaped by a six-day stay in Prague. The city becomes an important part of the song’s writing, with references to Kafka, Prague’s monuments, the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the Iron Curtain woven into its words. Influenced by INXS and their connection to the Czech capital through “Never Tear Us Apart,” the song brings personal emotion together with the history surrounding the place where it was written.
Prague appears to have given “Velvet” an unusually immediate creative direction. Bash Co. describes the song as arriving naturally during the trip, rather than developing through the weeks of writing and composing that usually shape the work. That sense of urgency led to the song being completed while the connection to Prague was still fresh. Its subject remains centred on love through rough times, while the historical references give that affection a setting marked by separation, change and endurance.
Recorded in Bash Co.’s home studio, “Velvet” includes a carefully developed percussion arrangement that becomes particularly significant in the second half. The drums were deliberately shaped to resemble marching troops, connecting the sound to the Velvet Revolution, the Iron Curtain and the presence of troops associated with that history. It is a specific production decision tied directly to the song’s subject matter, even if listeners may not immediately know the reason behind the marching character of the percussion.
Released on Bash Co.’s birthday, “Velvet” carries a personal significance that extends beyond its subject as a love song. Its connection to Prague, the references to Kafka and the city’s history, and the distinctive percussion idea all come from the circumstances surrounding its creation. Rather than separating the romantic story from its setting, the song places enduring affection alongside a backdrop of historical change. “Velvet” therefore stands as a personal recording shaped by a particular place, a particular moment and the need to capture that creative feeling before it passed.
