the grateful

La Quiero

some songs I've been working on between 2015-2016

photo by Will Barrett

How Hard Is It To Know?

Marching Church, the onetime solo project and now bona fide big band formed by singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, has followed its leader’s muse everywhere from their early days of 4-track lo-fi tapes, to Sam Cooke-tinged soul on This World is Not Enough, to outré free jazz on their most recent Coming Down 12". For Telling It Like It Is, Rønnenfelt and his bandmates have foregone much of their past proclivity for wild stylistic swings in favor of thematically unified, complicated, but fundamentally cohesive song arrangements; the studio itself at times acting as an auxiliary band member. The result is the most focused vision of Marching Church yet, but one that has lost none of its swagger, and none of its power to enthrall. 

“We have here one world united under the sparks of one enormous disco ball hanging over us like the moon,” Rønnenfelt elaborates. “In one fleeting moment in the light of its mirrored surface we see human endurance, in the next we see doom.” The light and shade he finds in this worldview permeate the songs on Telling It Like It Is. 

Rønnenfelt describes the new work “an album which raises multiple flags,” and “the sound of individualism stuck in the center of the modern world, swimming with and against the current.” This never ending push-pull is eloquently stated in lead single “Heart of Life,” wherein Rønnenfelt sings, “my delusions vaguely resemble paradise,” and “Inner City Pigeon,” in which he surveys society from an avian perch and decides he’s “never coming down." This restlessness again is spotlessly reflected in youth anthem, “Up For Days." 

The band in 2016 comprises Rønnenfelt and his frequent collaborator and Iceage bandmate Johan S. Weith (on electric viola and guitar here), Lower’s rhythm section of Kristian Emdal and Anton Rothstein, trumpet player Jakob Emil Lamdahl, and Hand of Dust’s Bo Høyer Hansen. Augmenting these sessions are Maaike Van der Linde and Thora Sveinsdottir of the Stargaze Orchestra on flute and strings, and Sonja La Bianca of Choir of Young Believers on saxophone. The obvious chemistry among these players, coordinated with overall production by Escho’s  Nis Bysted, makes this the most cultivated  Marching Church album to date, unveiling the full spectrum of capabilities and musical dexterity of each player.  Telling It Like It Is taps into a debauched lunacy that teeters equally on the verge of exhaustion, and the charged sensuality rooted in our loins that keep us going. 

Telling It Like It Is

Let It Come Down

drive away a different day

Sounds Of The Great Southern

Sharknet

Live @ The Bird on 17/03/18

Huge thanks to Chris Wright for the live mix!

an epiphany in the local pub

Bass - Harry Johnston
Drums - Jack Seah
Guitar and Vocals - Carla Geneve 
Recorded by Dan Carroll
Mastered by William Bowden
photo by Matt Sav
Design by Harris Waters

Listening

Big thanks to Nannup Festival for the recording time! Also thanks to Carla for singing on tha track <3 



Recorded by Lee Buddle at Crank Recording.
Violin recorded by Sam Perrignon at Tuna Fish Recording Company's studio.
Mixed by Sam Perrignon.
Mastered by Joe Cerra at Crystal Mastering.

Vegemite Sandwich

Written and recorded in a day with my friend kye who played the drums on this track.  Thanks to carla and kayla and max too.

falling over my feet

Stupid

Another attempt at double tracking both the guitar and the vocals. As usual, string-slide-sounds are present; I know they're not so pleasant to listen to. I've been having a lot of trouble with my voice lately, so this was all I could give at the moment. Not an improvement as far as that goes, but I feel like the mixing is at least a little better (compared to my previous attempt). Still haven't got it entirely right though.
Featuring one of my favorite photos of Elliott. (:

Elliott Smith - New Disaster (Cover)

New album 'Freakenstein' out March 8th on Howlin' Banana Rds.

Th Da Freak - Peeling The Onion

As I fall into this place
The clouds surpass me as I'm embraced
The roots stretch out with grass in hand
To pull me faster than gravity can

Like an atom smasher we fused
And my legs become your tooth
And our guts tangled a feud
As my face crashed into you

I hear your voice, it's in my bones
They form the bark that is your throne
The ocean sails me row by row
Where I'm going, I'll never know

Like an atom smasher we fused
And my legs become your tooth
And our guts tangled a feud
As my face crashed into you

Ungrounded

Kinlaw - Permissions

First single from Pet Shimmers second album of 2020, 'Trash Earthers', out 2nd October. Pre-order on tasty ltd translucent red vinyl ere: https://petshimmers.bandcamp.com/album/trash-earthers

Amy Gough: incredible visuals
https://www.instagram.com/aegough/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petshimmers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/petshimmers
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/petshimmers/
Bandcamp: https://petshimmers.bandcamp.com

As if faith waits for pillars of proof, well so do you
With a head full of history too, said “feeling cute”
Still, we’re all going home in an ambulance
Best stay cognisant, someone to give the driver directions

Of, blind ambivalence, in the aftermath.
A reckless optimist, of symbolic swells.
We’re all just playing along, two flaws in unison.
Overcome with overthought, until we’re inside out.

Back stepped, all things, conscious, comets, honest, summits

My inklings fade with false alarms
Her ink face decorates his arms
Tied perfect knots around the tubes
And your mother looks confused
Because you still buy baby’s shoes
Just one’s you know you’ll never use
Spoken like the truest friend
So, make a move, I’ll make the next

The moment passed, it came and went
It never started, never ends

Traced steps, flawless, conscious, comets, secret, handshakes, complex, dissuade, obsessed, haunted,
safe space, flightless, nervous, oh nothing!

How Hard Is It To Know?

Jack Annear

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