Limerence began with a guitar riff written by Serag Baddar when he was 15 or 16. He loved the idea behind it, but at the time he felt he wasn’t yet good enough at songwriting or guitar to turn it into the song he imagined. He therefore put it aside until he could do it justice. More than a decade later, Baddar finally returned to the idea. Originally called “Lotus,” the track has a small connection to Buckethead’s Padmasana, whose rhythm guitar influenced one section of the song. “Padmasana” means lotus pose, which inspired the original title. Over time, “Lotus” evolved into “Limerence.” Musically, the song grew from Baddar’s love of the clean sections found in heavier bands, particularly groups such as Opeth and Tool. Rather than treating those sections as a break from the heavier material, he wanted to explore what would happen if that cleaner, atmospheric side became the foundation of an entire song. One of Baddar’s favourite aspects of “Limerence” is that the instruments aren’t simply following one another. Each part is doing something different, yet together they form a cohesive piece. At the end of the song, Baddar demonstrates this concept by playing the three riffs […]