Neal Francis isn’t quite ready to move on from the material he wrote and recorded for his 2019 debut album. Released back in September 2019, Changes was a fitting arrival for the talented pianist, who made his soulful solo introduction on the eight-track album.

While COVID-19 prevented Francis from promoting the fresh batch of songs on the album by touring throughout 2020, the past 10 months did offer the musician added time to reflect and re-examine the recordings on Changes.

With a new year presenting new opportunities, Francis will look to start 2021 by releasing the demo recordings from his Changes sessions as part of a four-song EP to be released on both digital and vinyl formats on March 12th via Colemine/Karma Chief Records. Francis already shared his demo recording for “Changes” back in October and today Live For Live Music is excited to premiere the demo for “How Have I Lived” ahead of its arrival on digital platforms on Tuesday (1/19).

The early recording for “How Have I Lived” is missing the familiar glistening tones of the organ, horns, and added guitar parts heard on the song’s final album version, but still delivers plenty of spunk and low-end power to lead the listener through until the end. Listening to Francis groove through the raw and unpolished funk track with mostly just keys, drums, and vocal parts in tow offers listeners a blueprint of his creative vision prior to its final, produced version. It’s no surprise that Francis and his team opted to charge forward with finishing this song for the album, as the demo itself offers the right amount of retro-inspired shine to warrant further exploration into its full potential.

According to Francis, he used this demo version of the song to gauge exactly how he wanted to set his vocal performance, which was still a developing part of his skill set at that time. “I was still trying to imagine myself as a vocalist. Singing was very new to me,” Francis tells Live For Live Music. “I got a lot of inspiration from J.J. Cale. He sounds effortlessly cool and sexy on his recordings without virtuosic chops. Mike Novak [the engineer] and I went after that production style. I was using a Rhythm Ace Drum Machine on all the demos to build up the tracks which placed it even more in that sound.”

Get the first listen of the previously-unreleased demo recording of “How Have I Lived” below.

Neal Francis – “How Have I Lived (Demo)”

[Video: Colemine Records]

Revisit Francis’ virtual performances as seen during last year’s Quarantine Comes Alive, Justice Comes Alive, and Democracy Comes Alive.

Neal Francis Changes Demos VInyl