http://www.vocalchords.ie

As part of Vocal Chords Iarla Ó Lionáird visited the home of world renowned singer Peter Gabriel to talk to him about the voice and what singing means in his life. They share a wide ranging discussion about the voice and singing. He talks about his journey as a singer and what performance, song and singing means to him and Gabriel shares his favourite music, from the Beatles’ ‘Love me do’ and songs of the “Pakistani Pavarotti”, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to his key musical influences including Otis Redding and Nina Simone. The Vocal Chords Special – In Conversation with Peter Gabriel broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm, on the 26th of December 2014, as a special and marked the beginning of the Vocal Chords journey.



Vocal Chords - In Conversation with Peter Gabriel

Demos

Mexicali Whites

Night Never Fell

Chronic Todd

Here's a bit of holiday nonsense.  You can probably guess the inspiration for this masterpiece.

Sweet Silver and Gold Nose

A rhythmic loops acts as a pedal tone as bass, and drone move through a simple chord progression.  A simple melody and brief stuttering chaos take turns are primacy.

The Unsound Mind

I know it's too late for Thanksgiving 2017, but the thing is I wrote it on thanksgiving and cranked it out as quickly as I could thereafter.  So, here, on the first day of December, I present you with my third Thanksgiving holiday song.  Incidentally my first thanksgiving song, which I never released, was remixed and updated and included as the B Section of this track.  

Lyrics:

Breaking bread,
Your face gets red,
From Drinking all the wine

Talk politics
While burning sticks,
Everyone's feeling fine

It's Thanksgiving!!
It's Thanksgiving!!

Grandpa's drunk
Spitting like a skunk
While he's passing you the mash

You grab your cuz
To join the buzz
And sneak off to smoke some hash

It's Thanksgiving!!
It's Thanksgiving!!

Whoa
It's Thanksgiving

The turkey's ate
And everything is great
And you think you might even score

The party's loud
You love this crowd
Take a minute; say what you're thankful for:

Healthy Children, Employment, Sick Beats, Hot Showers, Dry Towels, Cold Beers, Vocoders, Rational Fears

We give thanks for everything
We give thanks for food with wings

Day turns to night
There ain't been a fight
And playin' football was lots of fun

As they turn to rovers
Have some leftovers
Wrapped up inside a buttered bun

It's Thanksgiving
It's Thanksgiving

Whoa
It's Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving (NEW ORIGINAL HOLIDAY CLASSIC)

"The science is way off," says Maine-based songwriter Chris Robley of his new single 'Collapsing Star,' musing on how pop music is rife with mixed metaphors and factual inaccuracies. ""In this song a giant sun steadily dims and shrinks; I think stars actually get big and bright before they finally collapse, but I chose sentiment over science." 

Robley, whose previous album saw him "at the top of his game" (KCRW), has been releasing a series of singles over the past year, the latest of which is a song about the promise of devotion in the face of aging. It’s a Bowie by-way-of Death Cab sprawl, both epic and ultimately tender, the music patiently shrinking under its own slow gravity.

Recorded at Secret Society and Mysyerious Beard Studios in Portland, Oregon.

Engineered and mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman.

Mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph.

Performed by: Arthur Parker (synth bass), Daniel Adlaf (keys and synth), John Stewart (drums), and Chris Robley (voice, guitars, glockenspiel).

Chris Robley - "Collapsing Star"

Galumph

The new synth-rock single from Chris Robley recalls Secret Machines, Muse, Radiohead, and Bjork, with its obsessive, buzzing bass, soaring vocals, and squalor of guitar.

Engineered by Jeff Stuart Saltzman at Secret Society in Portland, Oregon.
Mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman at Mysterious Beard in Portland, Oregon.
Mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph in Portland, Oregon. 

Performed by:

Arthur Parker - Keyboards
Daniel Adlaf - Synth Bass
John Stewart - Drums and Percussion
Chris Robley - Vocals, guitars, and keyboards

Lyrics:

I gotta let you go (4x)
Oh, how could you shut me out right now
when I couldn't need you more
and how haven't you realized by now
the one you've been waiting for is here

But I wanna be the only one (3x)
you love

Let You Go

Chris Robley - "Let You Go" (radio edit)

01 - Pieces

Chris Robley is a poet, songwriter, and producer whose lush, orchestral indie-pop has been praised by NPR, the LA Times, the Boston Globe, and others. Skyscraper Magazine said he is “one of the best short-story musicians to come along in quite some time.”

Robley’s poetry has been published or is forthcoming in POETRY Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Beloit Poetry Journal, RHINO, Magma Poetry, and more. He is the winner of Boulevard’s 2013 Poetry Prize for Emerging Writers and a 2014 recipient of the Maine Literary Award for poetry.

Chris Robley - "Collapsing Star"

Chris Robley Music