I don’t think it’s a bad thing to let a half-finished track sit for a while. But my approach, if I do that, is to not listen to it, do something else, forget it exists, and so when I come back to it I’ve got fresh ears and a little distance from which I can be more critical of what I’m hearing. And if I got nothing, I’ll leave it again. I remember sitting on an unfinished song for almost a year and a half because I couldn’t come up with good lyrics for the prechorus. I’m really glad I waited for the right idea to hit.

Now if I’m trying to push something forward, well, there’s something to be said for the old saying, “90% of inspiration is keeping your ass in the chair.” It never fails for me that sitting and noodling for an hour or so will net some new material which I can either use right away or stash for later use.