Look at the Harlequins! [EP]

by Sparkbird

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a lovely wallet case with photography by Kai Hayashi and design by André Casey. Harlequin Duck-inspired makeup design by Dr. Lisa Buckley (#BirdGlamour).

Includes unlimited streaming of Look at the Harlequins! [EP] via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

You'll also get a download of the CD insert, with lyrics and credits along with beautiful photos and graphic design.

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1.	Grey & Green 03:38	lyrics	buy track
Land in my mind Crawling through the sound I found it Now I recognize it Everywhere Everywhere it's aground Swimming up a concrete river Paddling through pine and pavement I melted Blent in and then Recemented Inside an unprotected Hostel suite Astride a bicycle Defrosting wheat Atop a tower with an Unrevolving view Of illuminated sails Grey and green Grey and green The brightest blue could Never come between Grey and green and Amber Rowing toward a lowered drawbridge Clambering onto the Seawall Confecting cloud-covered cinnamon rolls Wowed by crowds of Glaucous-winged Gulls See? No sea. Look at the harlequins! —I wish you'd said to me. Over a decade I discerned A path My passport went defunct Now that junket's out of reach Grey and green Grey and green The reddest flags Forever come between Grey and green and Amber Everybody's body sways In unfamiliar funny ways Traveling on rainbow Wheels of color down below The crows pecking suet-surfaced streets The subway sounds resounding beats Beckoning me to retreat On the heels of mighty feet! But where there's a will There's a way And I will Every day Until I dry Every day until I dry— Wait Wait Don't tell me Blare the Heritage Horns But I won't leave I haven't heard firstear The 9 o'clock gun Or the steam chimes I've yet to feel firstfoot The boom of the Sooty Grouse In the mountain woods I have more notes to take On the colors of the Land in my mind I have a wish To blow through the mist Of the dandelion fountain I have a truth To seek in the xeriscape Of the hill on the hill I have a past, a present, and a future In this city Maybe no more than moments But there's still a possibility.
2.	Overwintered 04:41	lyrics	buy track
Teeth chatter Automatically A beat clicking double-time To the crunch of snow An animal Licks a beater A Northern Flicker Clucks a whimper A beep goes off inside— Is it time — or just a timer? Decalcomania Ironed on our hides by the Scarlet fever-stricken Two-bit hypocritical Neo-Puritans Turning on a dime. What are they? A little more than kin And less than kind We live in the same But we run on Different time. You are safe You are sound You are safe You are sound I feel your frequency Resonate at my core Enkindle my extremities Echo through my bones Hiccup out its tones […] We face apocalypses every day And fumble stricken phrases We ball up to play: When we feel forlorn Just keep peeling those little oranges They keep stealing, we keep peeling Stuck on an uneven keeling Every Great and Snowy Egret's Speaking of my evening grossness Every Evening Grosbeak's Speaking of my great and snowy egress Even if we deviate Even if we deviate The ice rink's set to counterclockwise There's no exit till we skate I lurch along the verge A strawberryless frozen biscuit My flimsy figure zero traps A miraculous lemniscate When the intercom comes through I think I've lost my refound calling Oh, Winter Tanager You help me walk but you leave me crawling. You are a cardinal You are a cardinal And I should be so lucky As to be a part of you at all You are safe You are sound You are safe You are sound […] You bring the tropics to these chilly parts The contrast shocks my system Chilblains swell upon my heart.
3.	Lead & Tin 03:53	lyrics	buy track
I thought I had been shot— Been shot a thousand times— It's not a shocking way to die In the fields this side of The enemy lines. But I've fired my fair share of guns, And I know full well that bullets Don't just fall down from the sky— So I opened up my eyes. I saw a flash of light— I saw it through the black—whoa! I saw the flooded track— I felt the hail upon my back—oh, I saw the start of the foggy maze— I couldn't see for several days— But then a sunbreak finally Burned away the haze. (You know I'd kiss you if I could—ah, But my lips are made of wood, And it wouldn't do to splinter you In an unfamiliar neighborhood.) I dodged a ball of flames Fueled by the dust the sun'd kicked up A stone's throw from the tonsil crypt I eschewed the beaten path On a SUP. Tight-lipped and planing through The murky millrace surface— These flavescent leaves, Crispy teardrops shed from crying trees— Murmurations— "'Tis autumn?" "No, only fallout," Sighed beside A chemical breeze. Oh, stratocumulus Oh, circumbendibus I saw and ceased to push I'd seen and heard too much My oar became a crutch I sculled into a reef It sawed the board in half I saw my former single fin I soldered lead and tin I sauntered out I saw interred my kith and kin (You know I'd hold this post a while If I could only learn to smile But by the time I earn the privilege Only grimaces will be in style.) Surf Scoter on the pond Coyote on the fescue Siroccos on the flesh Globe lightning to the rescue An earthly comet rolling by A stoic guide toward a new clear era No shadows cross the sterile mind No leks distract the prairie-chickens from their terror I found a brand new clearing Next to the old new clearing A welcome change From the adjacent older new old clearing I didn't feel at peace but I didn't feel at war— A welcome change. (You know, I went to your old home You know, the site of your new grave You know, I'd pay my last respects But the respects I have I'd better save.)
4.	Hope or Float 03:49	lyrics	buy track
Oh What an Unfortunately Unsurprising turn of events… Oh What a Conundrum it presents. Swing with a white-knuckled grip and Cling to the pieces of ship— Or start in the water and End in the water? The swells, After all, Intercept Just the tip. Oh What (on earth) can I do I want help you (on sea) I want to help you unsee I want to help But if I help you I can't help me And if I go unhelped What help can I be? But what if everything is okay? What if everything is Easy for once? Maybe everything can be Easy for once. Maybe everything can just Be okay. Yay. Maybe that isn't a psychopomp Maybe that's our lifer Hoopoe. Maybe that little Grim Reaper Will grow up to be a lighthouse keeper. Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. I hit the deck A cannonball From a diving board On the crow's nest. Best leave the stunts To the unprofessionals. Leave the stunts To the unprofessionals. The boat's A hoax A fantasy of control A joke. See it for what it is Now that it's broke. Now we avail ourselves of its Splinters and rope To impale ourselves And hang ourselves. Hope is what kept us from Learning to float. Float. Float. Float. Float. Float. Float. But go ahead. Offer me another free cruise on a shipwreck. How could I refuse? Why can't I refuse? While there is life, there is hope—so Why, for the life of me, can't I just float? Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. Hope. As if the water I fear Is not the water I bathe in.
5.	Reverse Nature Shock (家の家) 03:41	lyrics	buy track
ハシブト and ハシボソガラス¹ caught colds And シジュウカラ² Got a yellow throat And I feel Like I don’t belong; When I open my window I hear all calls No song And in the forest The lianas Traded gold for evergreen Threw shade On the fauna So ムササビさん³ Hides their head away Can’t peek out To catch some rays Ooh ooh 家の家はどこですか Ooh ooh もう家の家はどこですか⁴ I spent One month In paradise It ruined me For other surroundings I spent Two months In paradise They stripped me clean Of any lingering grounding Reverse nature shock An itinerant Song Sparrow⁵ returns to the flock With the distant stare of a Rough-legged Hawk⁶ With the deep despair of the last Great Auk⁷ Sticking a key in an electric lock Ooh ooh 家の家はどこですか Ooh ooh もう家の家はどこですか ¹ハシブトガラス — Large-billed Crow ²ハシボソガラス — Carrion Crow ³シジュウカラ — Japanese Tit ⁴ムササビさん — Musasabi-san (Mx. Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel) ⁵家の家はどこですか… — Where's my home [or, my home home] / Where's my home again? ⁶Song Sparrow — ウタスズメ ⁷Rough-legged Hawk — ケアシノスリ ⁸Great Auk — オオウミガラス
6.	Pompeii 03:29	lyrics	buy track
No one can see My bravery; I stomp on humdrum ground, I navigate mundane terrain. But all the same, An ancient flame Ignites a fervency that Surges into every vein. Dash, jump, climb, crawl! Gotta get out, gotta get out— Dart, dive, fly, tumble! Gotta get out, gotta get out Gotta get you out, out, out! In a previous life I surely Swept you off your feet And carried you away From the choking ash And scorching heat, To begin anew Beyond the ruins of Pompeii And to live To see another sunny day. On every list Of things to do, An unchecked box reminds me That the task of saving you Remains undone And unbegun And unfulfillable Until the day we need to run Until the day we need to run We need to run— Dash, jump, climb, crawl! Gotta get out, gotta get out— Dart, dive, fly, tumble! Gotta get out, gotta get out Gotta get you out, out, out! In a previous life I surely Swept you off your feet And carried you away From the choking ash And scorching heat, To begin anew Beyond the ruins of Pompeii And to live To see another sunny day. From form to form, From place to place, From birth to birth, From death to death, From earth to outer space— From Plague and flood, From fire and blight, From each catastrophe That threatens to eclipse your light— Dash, jump, climb, crawl! Gotta get out, gotta get out— Dart, dive, fly, tumble! Gotta get out, gotta get out Gotta get you out, out, out! To begin anew Beyond the ruins of Pompeii And to live To see another sunny day.

about

Poetic piano pop with abundant avian references.

credits

released January 11, 2019

Produced by Stephan Nance
Co-produced by Adam Caswell

All songs published by Stephan Nance Music (ASCAP)
All songs written & performed by Stephan Nance

Engineering by Kash Mowatt (Sprout City Studios) & Matt Greco (The Rye Room)
Mixed & mastered by Thaddeus Moore, Liquid Mastering

All songs recorded at Sprout City Studios, Eugene, Oregon
Yamaha GC2 recorded at The Eugene Piano Academy, Eugene, Oregon
Bass, drums, & auxiliary percussion recorded at The Rye Room, Portland, Oregon
“Hope or Float” drums recorded at Chimpanzee Studio, Kagoshima, Japan
Trumpet & guitar recorded at Tim McLaughlin’s home studio

Promotion: Luke Neill, Sounds of PDX
Makeup Design: Dr. Lisa Buckley, #BirdGlamour
Makeup Artist: Rheanna May Murray
Makeup Inspiration: Harlequin Duck
Photography: Kai Hayashi
Graphic Design: André Casey

Musicians:
Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synths, programming
Simeon Brown - violin
Jon Caponetto - trombone
Adam Caswell - backing vocals, programming
Lizzy Donovan - cello
Milo Fultz - upright bass, electric bass
Amy Kappeler - flute, backing vocals
Maddi Krafve - alto & tenor saxophones
Tim McLaughlin - trumpet, guitar
Hannah Murawsky - bassoon
Lyle Nance - backing vocals
Nehemiah Nance - trumpet
Shigeki Okubo - drums
Hannah Pell - oboe
Merlin Showalter - drums, percussion
Rebecca Waterman - backing vocals

Arrangements:
Grey & Green - Adam Caswell & Stephan Nance
Overwintered - Stephan Nance & Merlin Showalter
Lead & Tin - Adam Caswell, Milo Fultz, Merlin Showalter, & Stephan Nance
Hope or Float - Adam Caswell, Milo Fultz, Tim McLaughlin, Stephan Nance, & Shigeki Okubo
Reverse Nature Shock - Adam Caswell, Stephan Nance, & Merlin Showalter
Pompeii - Adam Caswell & Stephan Nance

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about

Sparkbird Portland, Oregon

Sparkbird, a.k.a. Stephan Nance. Chamber folk-pop. Pronouns: they/them.
Booking/sync/licensing/inquiries: music@stephannance.com

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