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Pink Air

by Elysian Fields

supported by
Philip Graham
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Philip Graham The magnificent Elysian Fields roughs up its sound in response to the horrific Trump years. And yet there's no lack of dreamy beauty, either, in yet another first-rate album.
Plus, I love it when Oren breaks out the electric 12-string guitar. Favorite track: Time Capsule.
lordkelvelos
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lordkelvelos Another amazing album! Though I am saddened that Tidal Wave didn't make it into the vinyl. Favorite track: Tidal Wave.
Emily Violet
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Emily Violet Feels like EF's most noir-ish album, but I love that. Smoky, powerful, and sharpened to a devastating edge. Favorite track: Storm Cellar.
David
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David Been listening to elysian fields for more than half my life. Every album is a new journey. Thank you and much love Favorite track: Beyond The Horizon.
Deidre House
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Deidre House Not sure how this band keeps putting out consistently great albums but they better keep it up! Favorite track: Tidal Wave.
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    Limited Edition Pink Air cassette with 2-sided j-card and pink shells printed in black and silver ink. Includes digital download of Pink Air

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    Pink Air compact disc comes in a full color 6-panel gatefold wallet (no plastic parts)

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1.
Storm Cellar 04:13
There’s a storm heading east I don’t need to hear the forecast But it’s coming for me There’s a chance that it might outlast Life above ground So we’ve got to head down Blow this little ghost town Batten down the hatches so to speak Seal it up tight Here’s a chance to live by candlelight As we head down below To my secret grotto Climb down, climb down My storm cellar As the thunder swells Make like Make like we’re cave dwellers As the whole world melts Got this funny old cot Working on this magnum opus It squeaks a lot Pretty soon you’ll hardly notice Where it’s damp and divine I got roots, I got wine A dirty sheepskin rug Lay you down and keep you snug Climb down, climb down My storm cellar As the thunder swells Make like Make like we’re cave dwellers As the whole world melts Put the genny on low Move the dial real slow Get your belly on the floor Gonna bear that load Shake a moon below Where the mushrooms grow Let the airwaves flow On the crank radio When the 7 horn blow Then it’s time to go And you can’t say no With your belly on the floor
2.
Star Sheen 04:38
There’s a curve in every road Don’t swerve or you might miss it Your head’s drooping like a rose When the sun forgot to kiss it The desert called you there To play songs for desert flowers So don’t you, don’t you Don’t you count the hours Caught between the leaves Of a book you cannot read Now the words have blurred Your mind’s disturbed The ghouls have come to feed I shouldn’t try to dream Of a world that can’t be seen For if you’re not there I cannot bear the stars without their sheen Only dark can feed the soul If you don’t manipulate it When a silent earth has spoken Planets swoop intoxicated So laugh with me dear friend We’ll tap dance to their punches I need you, need you Beside me in the trenches Caught between the leaves Of a book you cannot read Now the words have blurred Your mind’s disturbed The ghouls have come to feed I shouldn’t try to dream Of a world that can’t be seen For if you’re not there I cannot bear the stars without their sheen If you’re not there I cannot bear The glare of senseless gleam If you’re not there I cannot bear The dream within this dream
3.
We are on the horizon Like fireflies or stars inciting the dark And though the flames are low I know that they’re climbing The neolithic flint that’s making a spark And every time we go We’re always arriving To that secret place that’s only our own Would you believe I’ve gone beyond the horizon Where the flower lives inside of the stone Futures may wax and wane Like civilizations Find us flowering again We cannot be tamed The skin of the moon remains  Remains in our secret garden We are on the horizon Like fireflies or stars inciting the dark And though the flames are low I know that they’re climbing The neolithic flint that’s making a spark And every time we go We’re always arriving To that secret place that’s only our own Would you believe I’ve gone beyond the horizon Where the flower lives inside of the stone Funny how the world falls by Falls by the wayside The heavy gaze of your eyes quiets the noise Funny how the world falls by as we sigh It all disappears
4.
Tidal Wave 03:19
There’s a wave I want to beckon She’s a master, she’s a thief, she’s a Wiccan Got to give yourself, don’t stop yourself No getting wrapped up in your head It can set you free, It can make you see And it doesn’t just happen in bed That tidal wave that makes my ears stop popping The force is shocking, eyes roll back in my head That tidal wave that turns my inside out And that makes me shout When I even forget who I am At first you may not be certain Is this real? What is real? And you’re flirting Gotta risk it all Got to tempt the fall Though chemistry’s over your head It’s your only truth Though it feels uncouth Some things are better unsaid That tidal wave that makes my ears stop popping The force is shocking, eyes roll back in my head That tidal wave that turns my inside out And that makes me shout When I even forget who I am Who I am Who I am Who I am Who I am I’m a slave, I’m a slave to my tidal wave I’m a slave, I’m a slave to my tidal wave
5.
Karen 25 05:18
I met Karen 25 the last days of the archives Our instructions scrub the files From the master hard drive Supervision watched our every word And every whisper Her eyes were white in the black light The deaccession chamber Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Oh Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Oh Dead radio if all we know is all we know  Then all we know is all we know  We know we know we know A vacant signal came down From the 13th constellation I saw her in the layout For the brides of resignation I received an orange command Report to supervision Memory test loyalty test Mapping my cognition Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Oh Dead radio if all we know is all we know  Then all we know is all we know  We know we know we know Today I had a flashback Staring at the smokestacks Karen 25 and me behind the wall But I’m useless after all useless after all Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Reprogrammed Oh Dead radio if all we know is all we know  Then all we know is all we know  We know we know we know
6.
The numbers have grown tremendously That I could host a tea party But none of you were tea drinkers anyway Looks like martinis today Straight up and extra dry Hey Daddy, here’s mud in your eye Here’s to all the dearly departed And finishing up what you started Just as a rocket splits apart a life Barely a chance to make a start in light If I don’t answer when you call I’m not ignoring you at all Just trying to make sense of the senseless Left here with these chumps And their fences And when I forget my head Recall the funny things you said And the way it felt to be near you No matter which way the wind blew Just as a rocket splits apart the night Barely a chance to make a start in light All of you warned me This world could be bought and sold So many people Busy doing what they’re told But the right stuff Ain’t the right stuff It’s just old And I think of you When the cold wind blows I tip my hat A nod A Cheshire cat I got no answers but I hear you I just got to continue Got to continue What else can I do
7.
Fat chance Philistine Jackknife Awaits you You made him a star Disaster A festering piehole Infecting Those near and far It’s not my problem The kid said on the train It makes no difference ’Cause they’re all the same Hey, I know Let’s take selfies Like we’re messed up Passed out on the train You look amazing One day we looked in the mirror Like always Guess what we saw? The cancer Spread by the quidnuncs The door prize Arrived at stage four The horror show Is now livestreaming No more time for daydreaming In real time We’re all knee deep in real slime And this ain’t a dream The muck is sticking Can we smoke him out Tear him from the garish tower Mercenaries standing by Clocking in by the hour Some say calm down Change the channel Abstain Muffle the pain I want to But I can’t keep from caring And feeling insane Is that the aim I want peace and love to be king And someone said let freedom ring But sometimes No matter how much you want to You just can’t sing When you’re too busy puking Can we smoke him out Tear him from the garish tower Mercenaries standing by Clocking in by the hour Watch out Philistine Jackknife is gunning He’s at it again The wastrel The sniveling piglet The puppet See how he spars Deranged Just like a mad cow He’s charging Danger Pink air is coming out the showers The problem is ours The problem is ours The problem is ours
8.
Dispossessed 03:43
I need to take a chance Break the line Kick up some dirt babe Lifeless as a stillborn child Am I blue Waiting to breathe for you As I catch my breath There’s a squall Tearing at my chest And I’m dispossessed, dispossessed Every time the trapeze swings my way I freeze Should I trust the air to float me in the breeze From up here the world is far away and small I look down to see nothing’s going to break my fall Falter and you’re good as gone Rendezvous with nothing to hold on to Trancelike the rhythm in your head Concentrate, imagine a feather bed As I hit the crest  There’s a thief yelling no contest And I’m dispossessed, dispossessed Every time the trapeze swings my way I freeze Should I trust the air to float me in the breeze From up here the world is faraway and small I look down to see nothing’s going to break my fall
9.
He floats down the river in a basket odd She bandages the eyes of the household gods He commands the fires that contort the light He walks down the stairs, lays down the night A ragged grey moon rises over the walls Her tears wet the carpets of the winding halls Her hands feed the dogs of the winter snow Her hearth grows cold in the wild echo The hounds are scratching To get out of their cage Sunken wounds Hateful words of rage That can’t be unsaid Stuck in a maze with the walking dead Asphyxiating Levitating Taken to bed Never giving up the ghost Kneeling for the host This is my body This is my blood These are the twisted limbs I love the most She patches the plaster then she mends a seam He ignites the chamber of the seraphim And I’m watching from a window like a shadow play Down below, no one can tell that they’ve run away And I’m helpless To do a goddamned thing Am I selfish To burn the rope that makes them swing Am I great enough To get out in front of this wave To save the ones that still can be saved I used to be brave But now I’m full of doubt They’ll ever make it out alive
10.
Cowards that dare not show their face Follow the grand conductor Squire their underground campaign Parade in ghost regalia A fraternal oath in saltpeter Blight of the grim crusaders Come hear the proclamation Knights of the White Carnation We are the consummation So tend to your preparations Terror breeds a futile strain Kin of condemnation Expose themselves in sallow flame Fear and desperation Righteous mobs like locust march Loyal sons who plunder In the name of false empires Splitting skulls asunder Come hear the proclamation Knights of the white carnation A dark illumination A murdering resurrection Lords and Queens of the castle walls Heirs of the great plantations Hands that whipped black skin Hold the keys of the private prisons Mystic Bishops peaks reveal The high source of their privilege Come hear the proclamation Knights of the white carnation Trigger the purification Hang the reconciliation Laying waste to the nation Knights of the White Carnation This abomination Sound the lamentation
11.
Time Capsule 05:14
Mystic yellow buttercup like a wand hold it up to reveal our desires in our secret hearts the first time I knew shame and it gave me a start betrayed by nature’s golden beam trading notes and dressing up kissing games and growing up skipping ahead why couldn’t we wait to gypsy fortunes we’d entrust our fate I buried a time capsule deep in the ground when I was ten with my best friend for a faraway future to find one day they’d say they were alive they were alive treasures of then we sheltered for them a cracker jack ring and a dandelion stem the wishes blew off so we wrote them all down with the thorn of a rose in blood it was bound shooting pool and throwing darts wearing masks and playing parts I wanna reach for the heart of this honeycomb but it’s falling apart and there’s nobody home the bees are nowhere to be seen (Are they dreaming?) learning love and breaking up taking risks and fucking up feeling the weight, feeling the weight give the wheel a lively spin write the wishes down again death knows your name but you’re here just the same in nature’s parlor game I buried a time capsule deep in the ground when I was ten with my best friend for a faraway future to find one day they’d say we were alive we were alive treasures of then we sheltered for them a cracker jack ring a dandelion stem the wishes blew off so we wrote them all down with the thorn of a rose in blood it was bound

credits

released September 21, 2018

All songs Charles / Bloedow
Voluptuous Mind Music BMI /
Lux Perpetua Publishing BMI

Jennifer Charles – vocals
Oren Bloedow – guitar, backing vox
Thomas Bartlett – programming, piano, keyboards
Matt Johnson – drums
Jonno Linden – bass guitar
(O.B. – bass on “Star Sheen” “Household Gods”)
Simon ‘Hurricane’ Hanes – guitar

with
Vernon Reid – lead guitar on “Knights Of The White Carnation”
Ed Pastorini – backing vox on “Dispossessed”
CJ Camarieri – trumpet and brass arrangement on “Beyond The Horizon”

Recorded by Danny Blume at Hidden Quarry – Woodstock, NY
Mixed by Thomas Bartlett
(except “Tidal Wave” and “Knights Of The White Carnation” by Danny Blume
and “Star Sheen” by Mark Plati)
Cover photo by Willie Ablao
Art Direction by Lance Scott Walker
Mastered by Tom Durack

Thanks to Lance Scott Walker, Rachel Swaner, Thomas Bartlett, Michael Lavine, JGT, Lindsay Smilow, Laure and Jean-Louis, Peter Spagnuolo, Ed, Hannah, Maxim, Keith, Pat Dillett, James Yost, Dusty Snapples, Jonno, Simon, Sam, CJ, Danny, Mark, Tom, Eddy & Willie, Durian, Mochi, Eartha, Alix, CK Wilde, all whose care and assistance helped enable this recording.

Thanks to our listeners. Eternal love and gratitude to our family and friends, who both are both

Farewell to our friend Tom Athans (1950–2017)

In memory of Peter Charles

Humanité

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Elysian Fields New York

Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow are the writers who make up the critically acclaimed New York band. Cult status, cosmic appeal, since 1995

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