Shitfaced and Shameless is a Southern Rock ballad from Chris Missen’s 2025 album Saudade Stories. This track blends gospel, blues, and country influences and features passionate vocals, piano, Hammond organ, pedal steel, and a blistering guitar solo that drives the song’s emotional arc.

The piano and organ interplay creates a warm, immersive texture, letting the instruments trade lines and reinforce each other. I shaped the organ tone using varying drawbar settings and Leslie speeds—from mellow and haunting in softer passages to grittier and brighter during the song’s most intense moments. For the piano part, I drew on influences like Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, and Chuck Leavell to capture that soulful, Southern Rock ballad vibe.

The arrangement comes together with atmospheric pedal steel and a roaring guitar solo, giving the track its wide, expressive dynamic range. Together with Chris’s passionate, powerhouse vocals, these make this song the emotional centrepiece of the album.

Want to hear a behind-the-scenes perspective?
Listen to the isolated piano and organ version here.

Listen to the isolated piano version here.

Music & lyrics by Chris Missen

Musicians:

Chris Missen - Vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, drum programming

Will Sketches - Electric guitar

Lisha Kayrooz - Piano, organ

Jy Perry Banks - Pedal steel