Feature: Grey Jacks Decodes “Numbers Game”
What was the creative process like for this particular single?
I wrote the album after hearing late-night stories from his Mom about her orphaned childhood growing up outside Waco, TX in the 1950's. The song “Numbers Game” was recorded and mixed by Shakey Graves producer and drummer Matt Pence at his Echo Lab Studios in Denton, TX. “Numbers Game” is the first single of the upcoming 2026 ten-song album ‘INTERgenerational.’
This song and the album tell the story of the murder my grandmother committed at age 42 in Amarillo, TX in 1966. She killed her 32-year-old lover and then took her own life immediately afterwards. My mom was only 18. No one in my family, including my father, had ever heard any of these stories until I was in my 30's. The whole INTERgenerational album is mostly a through-line narrative in my mother's childhood voice, with the occasional voice of the bitter lover entering. Numbers Game is definitely in the voice of the bitter lover.
How did you approach the arrangement and composition of the music for "Numbers Game?"
“Numbers Game” took 7 years to write and the song went through many iterations musically. The guitar is very groovy and is inspired by songs like Just by Radiohead off their Bends album and Optimistic from Kid A. My vocal is definitely crooning, with a lyric that dares the unseen antagonist to make a move. "So you want me to die, well get down on your knees. Take some mud in the eye. Taste the chemical scream."
How does "Numbers Game" fit into your overall artistic vision and what can listeners expect from you in the future?
I chose “Numbers Game” because it just rocks and it grabs you from the beginning. I really love the way the chorus vocal grows with a growl on the line "how the hell should I know what's about to happen". The full album is lush, with string arrangements and guest vocal appearances by Argentinian artist Valeria Stewart, so this track stands out as a straight, radio ready, rock song.
Echo Lab Studio is a full analog studio that has been in operation for 30 years, recording amazing records by Nikki Lane and many, many others. This was my first time working with a string arranger, and I spent three months in pre-production collaborating with David Pierce, who also conducted the string players over a 9-hour day, as they layered parts over 6 of the 10 album tracks. There are no strings on Numbers Game, but you will hear them on the next single “Used To Be.”
The whole album was recorded in 14 days at Echo Lab in Denton, TX last year. The location is significant because I grew up 30 miles away in Dallas and the producer/studio owner Matt Pence had recorded with me 20 years ago, when I was recording with the fantastic band Glossary. Working with Matt was definitely a sweet reunion and I have changed a lot in the last 20 years and Matt is pretty much exactly the same. Except now he produces Shakey Graves records and drums in Shakey's touring band.
