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Summoning Suns

by James Blackshaw

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Important Records edition of Summoning Suns LP.

    *Please note, the CD/LP does not include the bonus tracks 'Holly' and 'Boo, Forever' which are included in the free digital download*

    Includes unlimited streaming of Summoning Suns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Averoigne 02:12
2.
Confetti 04:32
We are having so much fun When the police come But I think it's finally time to go To a cheap motel in the snow I throw confetti in the street As you hang yourself with the sheets And now I think it’s time to go To a cheap motel in the snow Releasing poisonous Spores in the spring Abusing angels Tearing their wings out The needless noise you air Echoes everywhere Leveling cities For our beliefs Assaulting gargoyles Pulling their teeth out The pointless breath you breathe Steals oxygen from the trees And we’re running out of air
3.
Towering spires And carrion choirs Abandoned at the arcade By the ghost Gone astray In ruined mazes You're already Other Sprinting through the parade As failure's flame Reduces the way To ashes Black bells ring For the counterfeit king While I dream Slow music In the mercury mirror Doubt disappears And the blood Evaporates
4.
I learn patterns Of diminished returns And constant machinations Unseen beings Dictate sick scenes As I bury heavy history Send for my successor To do the same things better In eras of errors With no care for carers In fantasy forever You weren't kidding You sign out and give in To nothing ever after Send in our successors Everyone will forget us
5.
You’re a salty saint An oil slick entertainer Devouring words Coughing up chaos here With estuary tongue And no sense or reason I'm summoning suns Waiting for permission To break everything you make And roll through the debris Where I'm drunk in the daylight To murder your memory You are shield and spear When nothing happens Healing with squares In mountains of monitors I break everything you make And roll through the debris Plush toy mediators and God Won't bring back your body
6.
Towa No Yume 05:45
7.
Winter Flies 03:07
8.
9.

about

'Summoning Suns' is James Blackshaw's tenth studio album and the first recording to feature his voice and lyrics. Drawing inspiration from 60's and 70's singer-songwriters, baroque/orchestral pop and folk music, while still sounding contemporary, 'Summoning Suns' is Blackshaw's foray into more traditional forms of songcraft.

Blackshaw sings in a gentle but assured voice while his words combine his personal experiences, neuroses and fantasy through many layers of abstraction, poeticism and dark humour.

While the deft fingerpicking acoustic guitar style of Blackshaw's previous recordings is still a prominent part of the sound, the songs are lushly and intricately arranged for drums, bass, piano, violin, flute and pedal steel guitar and features contributions from Simon Scott (Slowdive), Annie Nilsson and Japanese musicians Mori Wa Ikiteiru and Kaoru Noda (with whom he duets in Japanese on one song).

"It's guileless, charming, and the anchor of a masterful few minutes of acoustic pop so good they make you ask an unlikely question: Why hasn't James Blackshaw been singing all along?" Pitchfork 7.9

credits

released February 4, 2015

James Blackshaw - vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, piano, glockenspiel, organ
Charlotte Glasson - flute, violin, bass clarinet
Kazuhiko Masumura - percussion
Annie Nilsson - vocals
Takuro Okada - pedal steel guitar, banjo
Kaoru Noda - vocals
Simon Scott - drums, ambient guitar
Yu Taniguchi - piano

All music written by James Blackshaw. All lyrics written by James Blackshaw except ‘Towa No Yume’ written by Kaoru Noda. Published by Mute Song.

Recorded by John Hannon at No, October 2014. Mixed by John Hannon and James Blackshaw. Mastered by Michael Lawrence and James Blackshaw. Additional mixing and recording by Yusuke Odagiri, Takuro Okada, Tom Biller and Simon Scott.

Artwork by Ai Blackshaw.

Many thanks to all the musicians, engineers. artists and labels involved in the making of this record and to Jordan Anderson, Ben Chasny, Alex Cobb, Duane Pitre, Qu Junktions, David Tibet and my family for their kindness and support.

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James Blackshaw Hastings, UK

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