Blog Tour: Unrest by Michelle Harrison - Playlist

For my stop on the blog tour for the fantastic Unrest by Michelle Harrison, I have playlist to perfectly accompany you’re reading. So here you go!

A link to the Spotify playlist

Now I’m honoured to pass it over to Michelle who has a few words about each of the songs she’s chosen:

Unrest is the first book I’ve made a play list for. It probably seems an odd mix of songs but it’s representative of my taste in music as a whole. I’ve never listened to one particular type of music – anything can grab me if there’s a certain emotion or a powerful lyric. I don’t play music while I’m actually writing as I can’t concentrate, so this is what I listened to during thinking time to get a feel for certain characters or scenes.

1.    ‘Yesh’ ~ Planivaar

You’re probably wondering where on earth I found this! ‘Planivaar’ is someone I worked with a few years ago. As well as being a musician he’s a talented painter and one of the most unusual people I’ve met. To me this song encapsulates nightmares, it’s like a looping, twisting maze you can’t find your way out of. It’s how I imagine sleep paralysis feels.

2. ‘Was it a Dream’ ~ 30 Seconds to Mars

When I hear this I think of Elliott driving around lamenting his old life before the accident. Plus, I had to get Jared Leto in somehow – I imagine Adam, Elliott’s older brother to look a bit like him . . .

3. ‘Tainted Love’ ~ Marilyn Manson

Early in the book, there’s a scene where Elliott briefly feels a little bit like his old self, which leads him to take a risk with a girl. It ends up damaging his esteem even further.

4. ‘Just the Way I'm Feeling’ ~ Feeder (not in the playlist – bonus track)

I’m a big Feeder fan and this is one of my favourite songs. The imagery of internally screaming and bruising is so sad and powerful, it could be referring to Elliott and Ophelia and how they’re both the ‘healing hand’ that each other needs.

5. ‘Sex on Fire’ ~ Kings of Leon

I LOVE this song. This song does strange things to me. Elliott and Ophelia go to watch Adam’s band one night, and Adam, being a bit of a cad, uses the lyrics as an opportunity to flirt outrageously with other girls while his girlfriend is there.

6. ‘Running Up That Hill’ ~ Kate Bush

I became a bit obsessed with this song while I wrote Unrest – I’m not really sure why, but I listened to it loads. The more I did the more I felt that Ophelia would be a Kate Bush fan, so this song is another that’s played by Adam’s band after Elliott requests it for Ophelia.

7. ‘A Historic Love’ ~ Trevor Morris

An instrumental piece for the love scene in the Past Lives orchard. Fans of The Tudors might recognise it from a raunchy scene with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

8. ‘Stay’ ~ Shakespears Sister

It’s all about Siobhan Fahey’s part - they should have made the whole song like that.

9. ‘Low’ ~ Foo Fighters

‘Hey you . . . are in you in there? I’m stuck outside you . . .’  The angry guitar and lyrics describe Elliott’s state of mind perfectly at the point when his body is possessed. He’s starting to realise that not only is he in danger, but so is Ophelia.

10. ‘F.E.A.R.’ ~ Ian Brown

I think this song is about self-acceptance and courage. Elliott has to accept his ability before he can overcome his fears. There’s the promise that once he does, he’ll be able to use his ability to do some extraordinary things.

11. ‘Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart’ ~ Gene Pitney & Marc Almond

I really wanted to use this song as the one that keeps playing when the spirit of Sebastian manifests. The lyrics can be taken in two ways; firstly as a love song, but also as something sinister and insidious. Sadly, anything involving permissions has always been a nightmare for me so I ended up writing my own lyrics.

12. ‘Banquet Hall’ ~ Loreena McKennitt (not in the playlist – bonus track)

I love Loreena McKennitt and listened to her Stolen Child a lot while I wrote the 13 Treasures trilogy. Listening to Banquet Hall transports me straight to an Elizabethan feast in my head, which fits with the penultimate scene at Past Lives.

13. ‘Ordinary World’ ~ Duran Duran

I’ve had a crush on Simon le Bon since I was three - my sister told me I was going to marry him - so I had to make room for Duran Duran. This song really belongs to Tess, the first ghost Elliott encounters and the catalyst for the story. It’s all about moving on and trying to regain a sense of normality after a relationship ends.

14. ‘Ophelia’ ~ Darren Rook (not in the playlist – bonus track)

A haunting piano piece composed by my lovely boyfriend. Initially we wondered whether we could use it in some kind of promotional video but to me it became more than that, it became Ophelia’s theme.

Thanks so much, Michelle! Now I have to order you all out to buy a copy of Unrest which is awesome and hits the shops today, and if you don’t believe me, read my review first!

Sophie