The Sound of Silence (Cover Tune)

Written and Produced by Francesca Louise
Recorded, Produced and Mixed by James Wyatt @ Sloe Flower Studio
Mastered by Rogan Kelsey @ Kelsey Mastering

Vocal - Francesca Louise Fairclough
Backing Vocal - Francesca Louise Fairclough
Drums / Percussion - Josh Neale
Bass - Aaron Stout
Acoustic Guitar - Francesca Louise Fairclough
Strings - Polly Virr & Isabella Baker
Piano - Francesca Louise Fairclough

Artwork - Claire Umney

The Sea - Single

"The Second Coming" is a poem written by Irish poet W. B. Yeats in 1919, the poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse  to allegorically describe the atmosphere in the immediate aftermath of WW1. The poem was written in the weeks following Yeats's pregnant wife's recovery from the flu. The virus had apparently bought his wife close to death. 
These themes of senseless destruction and pandemic seem to echo the world in which we currently find ourselves and the work seems like a chillingly apt allegory for our present situation.

A further twist to this piece is that the dialogue was generated using AI Voice cloning, the AI was trained using a recording of the English actor David Warner, who passed away in July 2022. The text of the poem was then simply copied into a text dialogue and the audio was then created within a minute. I slightly slowed the audio, split some sections and added some subtle convolution reverb, but otherwise the voice you hear is generated entirely by the AI.  
While this has been an interesting exercise in discovering what is possible, it does concern me regarding the rate at which AI technologies have suddenly exploded into the public arena.

Should we be worried.... possibly?

Dialogue: AI txt to speech generated using Eleven labs speech synthesis
Accompaniment: Andy & Helen

The Second Coming - W.B. Yeats (A dark ai verse for dark days)

Beckenstein: guitar parts, musical composition and mixing @jonathan_beckenstein
Wheelwright: other instrumental parts, musical composition, vocal, vocal melody and lyrics

Fictive Sisters https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com is a transatlantic online collaboration between Wheelwright and Jonathan Beckenstein. Notes for the Fictive Sisters curious appear after the lyrics below.
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Man running from burning building
He says why does everyone, everyone have to be on a journey
What if I don't want, I don't want to be on a journey

And you can fight the flames
Try to salvage what remains and tell yourself you're someone good
But there's a part of us that's wild
Doesn't want to be rewired to live in tidy neighbourhoods

Man running from burning building
He says why does everything, everything have to be for a reason
What if I don't want, I don't want to know if there's a reason
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Image credit: Unseen Histories unsplash.com/@unseenhistories
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The ongoing online collaboration between Jonathan Beckenstein and Michael Wheelwright has been named Fictive Sisters.

Fictive Sisters does not have an SC page and so all tracks will remain exactly where they are on SC. This is also the plan as/if/when we ship new ones, and all Fictive Sisters tracks will of course continue to be free to stream on SC - so no change on SC at all really.

We have though setup on bandcamp https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com and corralled a selection of past and present tracks into Immaculate Distraction, an album-type-thing, so anyone who wants a download (of a single track or the whole lot) can now obtain the original files for a modest consideration.

bandcamp

Wild (with Jonathan Beckenstein) (Fictive Sisters)

THE END (E)

we were the last ones awake
sun was rising, and i noticed
when it hit you that it hurt

no color, no color, no color 
no color, no color, no color

I asked you for a ride home
so you unlocked your car
where you lived alone
you said "come inside,
sorry for the mess."
I said, "I don't mind"
and gave you my address

we took a wrong turn
we were not concerned
a farmer sold peaches on the side of the road
we bought all the ugly ones 
and watched them glow
in the gold swirling light
coming through your windshield
and in that moment i'd swear 
you could feel

some color, some color, some color
some color, some color, some color

will

"Lesson Givers" abound in this life if we expand our awareness.
A true story, made into song...The wisdom of my Labradors has enriched my life. I hope the telling of this tale enriches your journey!

"White Labs, fast asleep on a soft burgundy quilt...
I'm pleased to know I raised them, quite oblivious to any sense of guilt.

Master Echoes Vol Two

Tangerine Sky

Soldier of fortune (Re-Mix )

Bottle Up Your Life

Written by Kathryn BERRY
Production and guitar Sari Dajani @psdmusique
Got a call from the doctor
This is what she said
I'd like to see you on Wednesday
I asked...if it could wait
You see... I've been feeling tired
I need some rest from sleeping too much
My min's in over drive
I've been really down on my luck
Could it wait

Chorus
My blood my bones and my senses know
My blood my bones and my senses know

And even though she didn't mind
She said I should really make some time
She had something to discuss
But, don't worry, it's not serious

Chorus

It reminded my of that time
You had me on the telephone line
and even though you weren't there
I felt the mourning in your stare
I felt it everywhere

You see my wants had grown too fat,
My ribs a cage for all that
All that desire

Chorus

And now you say it wasn't fate
that brought you to me
It was only chemistry
It was chemistry
and now you wanted to discuss
How it wasn't serious

Chorus

My Blood My Bones

Jonathan Beckenstein: Guitars, bass, musical composition and mix http://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein
Clarence Paisley-Cheesemont: Drums
Wheelwright: Vocals, vocal melody, lyrics and sampled cello

This track is available on Immaculate Distraction https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com/album/immaculate-distraction

I am a great admirer of Jonathan's work and when he approached me with this wonderful piece of music asking if I might have a go at lyrics and a vocal I felt really privileged. I wanted to try to do as good a job as I could, but initially I struggled, and then, feeling extremely despondent I took a break from it. On my second attempt I think I started to listen properly to what the music was saying – rather than imposing too much of myself on it – and I  began to get melodies and word patterns that seemed like they were there under the surface already.

This has been an amazing project to work on, and Jonathan has been hugely supportive throughout. I've done my bit for sure, but it would have been nothing without the music.

Jonathan's posting of the song is here:

http://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein/we-all-know-how-it-ends

---

Last night I dreamed that I could play the guitar
I was on The Titanic trying to sing
My heart will still go on
But I kept getting it wrong and
I couldn't get the high notes but
At least we hadn't hit the iceberg yet and

All the stars above us shone
Like cheap sequins in the sky
Like they'd all just been stuck on
By someone who didn't try

I was studying Kate Winslet
She was standing by a ventilation inlet
In a girly dress despite the cold and
I could see that she was not impressed
By my extraordinary rendition
I said you're looking nice and
I need relationship advice and she replied
Let's take a walk on the starboard side

And the stars above us shone
Like cheap sequins in the sky
Like they'd all just been stuck on
By someone who didn't try
When life's too flattering too sweet
We all like to pretend
But we all know how it ends

We're listing to port and
Kate's politely listening as
I'm listing all the things I should have said to you but
Never did
And realistically I think she's thinking
Less about you and me and
Rather more about the fact that
We've all started sinking yeah
Into the unforgiving sea oh

But the stars above us shone...

We All Know How It Ends (Wheelwright + Beckenstein)

Songs of Purpose, Promise and Celebration

Tangerine Sky

Tangerine Sky Project

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