I love this composition. It is brilliant! I feel like it captures lost opportunities and lost love. The music weeps, but with hope. Track 5 (Taddlib) flows perfectly into Faute de Mieux. I had to ask Doug what thoughts were on his mind when he wrote this song. Here is his response...
Faute De Mieux is a song that came into to being like many others. Generally I sit at the keyboard and begin to write. I start by finding one idea and either melodic or harmonic, and try and build around the idea. For this song it was the first 4 chords that repeat. I liked that cycle and I started to find ideas to flesh it out. After a little bit I had the first melody (the one that Erik first plays) and the cycle, but it seemed to call for more so that's when the second melody (that eventually was played by the cello) came into being. After I complete a section I look for a transition idea or another section, in this case both seemed to be needed. It's important that the ideas work together, and many times they don't so some parts are thrown into an idea pile that I keep. These recycled or unused ideas are good for other songs so I don't have to start from scratch all the time. Sometimes after a song is done it takes awhile to find the right group or instrumentation. In this case Erik has a really relaxed feel that makes the first melody really float and James has a romantic sound that provides enough contrast but enough gentleness for the two melodies to work together. This was not the case with other groups, the feel just didn't work out. It's a big credit to Erik and James that they can make it work because the rest of the musical material is really in the background. Even after we had the song the middle section eluded us as a group and we tried several different versions of the song before the current arrangement came into being. It seems simple that the two of them would play alone in the middle but the idea didn't strike us for a long time.
The title took even longer. I usually name the songs after they are done. They
seem to musically ground certain ideas or feelings I might be having at the
time. In this case it was a song about my girlfriend Yvette. It sounded like
affection and love, and also a little sadness, which my girlfriend certainly
loves. She enjoys melancholy and finds it beautiful. Words to express this where
elusive, and for a long time it went untitled until I came across this saying
in a book. The saying "For lack of something better" certainly seemed
appropriate in this case, and it certainly has more of a flow in French than
in English.