Richard It's You And The Stars

Recorded at the Audio Underground Studios, London. Produced by Nathan Fustec.

Vocals and acoustic guitar - Luke Dooley
Electric guitar - Joe Brand
Bass - Adam Pearson
Drums - Ben Jeary

Lyrics:

Frankie's in his Martinette
He thinks of all the things he should be stealing
Car is full of suffragettes
Frankie thinks he must be dreaming

"Still I can't forgive and I can't forget
I gotta be part of the leadbitter set
I'm all settled down I'm too proud for that now"
(Frankie finds a way to keep dreaming somehow)

Frankie went down to Lee Valley
Driving with the lights on in the rain
Then he laid down in the marshes
Never to be seen again

Music and Lyrics by Luke Dooley

Frankie's In His Martinette

Recorded live at The Comedy Pub, Leicester Square

Acoustic and vocals: Luke Dooley
Electric guitar: Joe Brand

Lyrics:

And in the moment when my day begins
I rise for work and I shave my chin
I think of you and I hold you in my possession

And as I button up my M & S shirt
I clean my face of the last night's dust and dirt
I think of you and I hold you in my possession

Forever and of all time
You will stay inside this bind
Forever in the wire that binds you
Forever on a Brighton road trip
Together with our branches entwined 
Though you've been waiting for the wood to dry
I cannot stay without you
You will stay inside this bind

Eleven comes around and I sip my tea
You are the only vision I see
I think of you and I hold you in my possession

And when I run for the 242
I gaze at the pain and remember you
I think of you and I hold you in my possession

Forever and of all time
You will stay inside this bind
Forever in the wire that binds you
Forever till our death bells chime
Together with our branches entwined 
Though you've been begging for the bond to break
I cannot stay without you
You will stay here for my sake

My darling believe me - there is no way out of here
Close your eyes and sleep
Settle down and sleep
Within this warm embrace
The blanket 'cross your face

Forever and of all time
You will stay inside this bind
Forever in the wire that binds you
Forever on a Brighton road trip
Together with our branches entwined 
Though you've been waiting for the wood to rip
I cannot stay without you
You will stay inside this grip

Music and lyrics by Luke Dooley

The Wire (acoustic)

Recorded live at The Comedy Pub, Leicester Square in April. 

Lyrics:

There ain't no room in this life for sentimentality
A child's mother is gone, he's hurt and angry
At once a teenager and a crying baby
She robbed all your reasons to be telling this story
Your eyes tell the story of a tragedy

Why should you listen to me
when the world feels so dark and scary?
You had a lip-drawn provider who don't wish to return
Your will has gone early for the lessons you learn

A vapour your heart - no emergency
A watery gaze - vagrancy 
I tell you you don't get it but it's me that doesn't understand
Cos she ain't no replacement for the one that holds your hand

Why should you listen to me
when the world feels so dark and scary?
I'm not surprised that my words have no meaning to you 
when the day leaves you early and the night leaves you blue

Why should you listen to me
when the world feels so dark and scary?
You had a lip-drawn provider for the lessons you learn
Your will has gone early and don't wish to return

Music and lyrics by Luke Dooley




Why Should You Listen To Me (acoustic)

Recorded live at The Good Ship, Kilburn, London

Lyrics:

Hey night, would you welcome into the palace of sleep?
Hey night, would you welcome me into the stable of sleep?

The air is cold on Chesham Road
The 343 is nowhere to be seen
I break my waters in the winter air
I could have brought Suzanne
but she didn't want to follow me there
The bus driver wheels up sour-faced and opens the door
I grip onto the red bar until my fingers are a little sore

This is how these things start
A chance meeting, a cough, conversation and a spark
And this is how these things end
A dull ache, and a pain in my heart that'll never mend
"How on earth do you live your life in this way?"
"Because I know no other way."

Slowly the streets are emptying and I stare into the black
My mind replays the conversation and I list the things I lack
I listen out for the woman's voice she tells me where to get off
The rooks are all racketeering as I step out towards the shop

Red-nailed lover, smile a happy smile.
Be-suited boy, hold her close and don't be coy.
Hey glum banker, don;t you hurt her
Cos pretty soon she'll disappear

The last of the Saturday revellers 
are stumbling out of the bars
I battle my way across the crossing 
and I weave my way around the cars
Mr. Chicken Man, would you pick me the bone
that'll stifle my tears? 
Cos my heart is full of torture and my mind is full of fear

This is how these things start
A chance meeting, a cough, conversation and a spark
And this is how these things end
A dull ache, and a pain in my heart that'll never mend
"How on earth do you live your life in this way?"

Hey night, would you welcome into the palace of sleep?
Hey night, would you welcome me into the stable of sleep?

Music and Lyrics by Luke Dooley



This Is How These Things Start

The Azaleas' debut 5-track EP, available from http://theazaleas.bandcamp.com/album/frankie, iTunes, Spotify and other online outlets from 17th Nov 2015.

THE AZALEAS - Coke & Fries

THE AZALEAS - Caroline's Bicycle

THE AZALEAS - 7 Steps

A free taster - the title track from The Azaleas' debut 5-track EP, available from http://theazaleas.bandcamp.com/album/frankie, iTunes, Spotify and other online outlets from 17th Nov 2015.

THE AZALEAS - Frankie's In His Martinette

THE AZALEAS - Heidi

The Azaleas formed in London in early 2013 after Luke Dooley, inspired by his friend - producer and sound artist Tim Bamber - decided to filter through the collection of songs he had amassed in over 10 years of writing. Having recorded almost all of them and selected the silver bullets, Dooley put together The Azaleas, and has since been crafting a radical romantic sound, inspired by 80s guitar bands such as The Cure, The Go-Betweens and Orange Juice, as well as alt. country giants such as Ryan Adams and Howe Gelb.
 
The band made an awesome video for the song 'Frankie's in His Martinette' (see link), rocked The Good Ship in Kilburn, and headlined a charity event at The Stag's Head in Hoxton, but disbanded in April 2014. Undeterred, Dooley kickstarted the next chapter with a stripped down acoustic show, performing as part of a duo with ex-guitarist Joe Brand at The Comedy in Leicester Square.
 
The Azaleas played his first solo gig on 11th October 2014 as part of an all-day live music takeover at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. During 2015 he has performed at acoustic nights at The Lucky Pig, Fitzvoria and The Beford Tavern, Islington among others. The summer saw a showing at the ‘Refresh The Elephant’ festival of street food and music in Elephant and Castle. He has also played events organised by fellow acts-on-the-rise White Heath and Trecco Beis, including an exciting recent appearance at basement record and comics shop ‘Rye Wax’ in Peckham. 

The Azaleas’ debut 5-track E.P. ‘Frankie’ was released on Tuesday 17th November 2015. It is produced by the aforementioned Bamber, who also plays trombone and cello on the record. Stemming from a lo-fi acoustic base, layers of found sounds, stretched strings and warm brass were laid over the top to create a sound that is sometimes minimal, sometimes bombastic. The sound Dooley and Bamber forged has been compared to Mutual Benefit and Sparklehorse, particularly the latter’s classic late 90s album ‘Good Morning Spider.’ 

Bamber describes the recording process:

‘In terms of Recording, we used lots of paulstretch, as well as recording through radios, cassette Walkmans, transducers and a bit of sampling of paraphernalia such as part blowers for Coke & Fries. I guess another significant thing was recording an entire brass band all from one trombone. The main DAW was Logic 9 and we did some programming and sampling in Reason. We also did some early recording out in the field using shotgun mics, hence the homespun quality at the beginning of ‘Heidi’! In terms of Mastering, in the spirit of the project, we home-mastered with only in the box EQ, a Softtube tube compressor and the Brainworx XL limiter.’

Dooley’s acerbic lyrical style spins tales of sexual misadventure (‘Heidi’), rapidly fading glories (‘Frankie’s in his Martinette’) and wistful nostalgia for childhood days (‘Coke & Fries’).

Dooley on writing ‘Frankie’:

‘I write a lot of story-songs about people who only partly exist. Even though the E.P. features three such characters, Frankie is the central one because he represents the idea at the core of this record, the idea that people can live through times of glory, when everything they touch seems to turn to gold, but these are inevitably fleeting, and, when they fade away or fizzle out, then what’s left? What lives on in the abandoned chamber?’ 

The pair are now working on a second record, which has a post-punk/alt-country vibe - if you can imagine that. 

Follow The Azaleas on Twitter TheAzaleas@theazaleasmusic