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We Are The Foxes

by The Bookshop Band

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The Bookshop Band release WE ARE THE FOXES, their second album of 2016, inspired by a collection of books that revolve around stories of cities and those who live in them, curated by their local independent bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights. The songs were first performed in front of the authors themselves at the bookshop’s events.

    The city-tales that inspire this album span both time and continents; from the seedy printing worlds of London’s Victorian backstreets in MJ Carter’s novel The Infidel Stain, to the Australian high rises in Tim Winton’s Eyrie. The band sing on urban life through the many different lenses each book gives, via the lives of a household in Armistead Maupin’s groundbreaking Tales of the City series, to through the eyes of the foxes that roam the streets in Ned Beauman’s GLOW.

    Includes unlimited streaming of We Are The Foxes via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 500 

      £12 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
A whimsical and fleeting moment as she notices the shapes that the shadow of the railings make. But the whimsey only comes with words because the feeling it creates inside her is a truth that can never be described. She’s like a plucked string vibrating from deep inside. She’s like the wind when it’s catching something light and dancing it to the sky. And in the dance you might catch a glimpse of her. And as the note rings she feels a tingle of truth that she always watches for, but can never, never be described. And all those moments cling to her, and one by one they stitch together. And as she stands in this new dress, she finds that it reveals parts of herself usually carefully concealed. She’s like a plucked string vibrating from deep inside. She’s like the wind when it’s catching something light and dancing it to the sky. And her body is a sight of contrasts, like the city in which she lives, refusing to be held back like London and its many costume changes, well like London and its many costume changes. And no one will ever know the way these moments feel. And no one will ever know there’s no way to say. It’d never sound right if I tried to explain. The words would cast the wrong light, it wouldn’t be the same. I’m liked a plucked string vibrating from deep inside. I’m like the wind when it’s catching something light and dancing it to the sky. I’m liked a plucked string vibrating from deep inside. I’m like the wind when it’s catching something light and dancing it to the sky. And my body is a sight of contrasts, like the city in which I live, refusing to be held back, well like London and its many costume changes, well like London and its many costume changes.
2.
Run, Oreo 02:59
This house is full, why don’t you Leave the food and just Run Oreo, run… Don’t look back as you pass Cerro de la Chingada Leave your home and mother The house is marked for disaster It all just makes you run faster Cerro de la chingada Run Oreo, run… This house will fall It makes good soil for new walls We’ve no home for being poor Better off are cattle Run Oreo, run…
3.
My father is clever but stubborn So he never gives in We had a chance to escape This shit we live in Can’t tell if we are poor Or simply growing This line’s so fine we dine on Whatever’s going My family think I’m a liar Reality burns like the fire Listen you wont hear the silence The rich they get to eat As much as they like No idea that I take because it’s a fight For survival in this box of nonsense Noticed for the wrong and not the right My family think I’m a liar Reality burns like the fire Listen you wont hear the silence Confusion it feels like losing It leads to bruising Losing to the rich is just confusing Impossible to be free in your choices Suffocates the mind hearing these voices Listen you won’t hear the silence
4.
We are the foxes working around the town We are the foxes working for you Bring out your boxes before you settle down We are the foxes working for you Don’t be afraid cos you know what we prefer Smile on your faces, so that’s what we do Don’t need to pay us, we’re happy in our work We are the foxes working for you Running rings round Covers more ground We’re foxes in a big rush Jumping on a night bus City lights glow Like a light show We’re keeping strange hours Smelling all the flowers And in the morning when all our work is done Shifts are changing and you’ll be up soon We’ll hear you coming then we’ll be on our way We are the foxes working for you
5.
You, with your dark, sleepless, eyes Me, with my, silent disguise You didn’t ask I liked it like that We didn’t need The conversation That we lacked We just sat, and walked, in the silent snow To me so beautiful To you an old foe And we fell into a swift intimacy That suited you That suited me In a new coat and warm gloves That meant that I wasn’t such A foreign sight I became, a new, occupation in your life And you became my new disguise And we fell into a swift intimacy I stuck with you, you stuck with me The Snow, keeps me off the ground As I plant, my heavy feet A face, unknown in this town My past, is buried deep And we fell into a swift intimacy I stuck with you And you stuck with me
6.
No familiarity Keep my anonymity Hope for an incongruity To set me free, falling through A place, in my old mind I see, through these new eyes Less fixed by this old frame Less weighted down Less weighted down Set me free falling, set me free falling Set me free falling, set me free Something violent and free is in me As I walk these streets Stepping in time, to my Own, line, of thought No familiarity Keep my anonymity Hope for an incongruity To set me free, falling through Set me free falling, set me free falling Set me free falling, set me free
7.
Father’s left us for a beauty queen If only he could see that we need him The gap is getting bigger, we’re all drifting If I were a boy I could step in She’s still searching for a better place Lavenders blue but there’s no trace Shame she can’t disguise her face If she was born here might not be the case Secrets fill our minds up We’re hiding so much We’re guided by the past We’re Shrouding the truth in veils The boy is only seven going on 19 No one noticed that he grew up The other fell towards a violent scene Didn’t want a stain to our name Longing for my own closed door Where I can hide my fears and my joys Restricted by a family law I can’t be free like the boys She has seen it all before In a different place, different name The other tries to save their honour He loves her and he hates her for the shame.
8.
The falling 03:47
You know my face Even though I don’t Recognise myself And here I was Hanging on by a thread To this place on the shelf Pushed out and down No one to see Until your old eyes Fell on me And it’s me, I am falling I will catch you, Here I stand With the wild, birds soaring Come with me, Take my hand It is me, I am watching I will catch you, here I stand The child, He’s still drawing Dreaming creatures, Here I am And it’s wild, The storm is coming The world is spinning, Round and round The heat, Where I’m now laying So sudden, Hit the ground The eyes, are surrounding Shrouded, covered face And it’s me, I have fallen Hit the surface, Stop the chase And the child, He’s still drawing Every breath, Found him safe The wild birds are soaring Hit the surface stopped the chase It is me, I have fallen Tried to catch you, here I lay And the child he’s still drawing Standing witness, he is safe.
9.
I'm dust 02:55
Find me, my head is bloody. Help me, my father’s coming to hide me. I’m dust, and you’re going. But you’ll find me When you settle your toes in. Hold me, I know how you’re feeling Find me, you’re close and I need you.
10.
Cleveland 03:56
Quaaludes and cocktails A story book lane A girl with three names A place, post Watergate Freed from its bird cage Where the unafraid parade But in the sparkling mess of it all From the back of her mind this thought Takes to the floor Perhaps, we should all Go back to Cleveland Where we know what around the bend Go back to Cleveland But then a shock of birds Soar through the crystal blue sky Citizens of Atlantis The Madrigal Enchantress cries All San Franciscans must return to the sea The royal we, are just biding our time On this far out, far flung peninsula Where an earthquake Waits to take us home But for now we’ll boogie on down the road Whilst we wonder in the back of our minds Should we all go back to Cleveland Where we know what around the bend Go back to Cleveland But then a shock of birds Soar through the crystal blue sky Citizens of Atlantis The Madrigal Enchantress cries And we decide, to stay and bide our time On this far out, far flung peninsula
11.
Look at me, numbed by the TV I’m stone to the end, I’m stone to the end. I said I’m fine It’s not my fault, it’s my wife We’re born in the bed To be alive when we’re dead She said I’m blind. You live in hope but you’re not alive When fear plays no part And hope blinds your heart So you a gambling man You live your life in the next hand Eyes closed to the sky Asleep where you lie Instead of waiting for your life Look around and see your wife You sit there dreaming you could fly But you can walk there if you try There’s a sedative to hope That can stop you being in love There’s no point hoping you can fly But sit there dreaming if you like Instead of waiting for your life…. Look at me, peddling this old dream There’s hope in this show I subdued for now.
12.
Let us sing a story Of murder in a shop The details are so gory You’d pay us to stop The coppers say it’s fine And to go about our days Singing for a living in (dis)honest ways The case is closed. But it wont no accidental, and everybody knows it We suppose that the coppers gone and looked the other way We’ve seen these two odd gentlemen about the place Asking everybody what they heard So chuck us down a penny, we won’t lie (to your face) And we’ll give this song another verse The case is closed. But it wont no accidental, and everybody knows it We suppose, that the coppers gone and looked the other way There’s lots of speculation bout who it might have been Who’d have the motivation to set this awful scene The Duke of Cumberland Or Spring Heeled Jack? Or any of the fellas We see round the back? The case is closed. But it wont no accidental, and everybody knows it We suppose, that the coppers gone and looked the other way The poor get no say in these criminal affairs Let alone the matters of the state Even if the printer sold his dodgy wares We didn’t think that he deserved his gruesome fate The case is closed But it wont no accidental, and everybody knows it We suppose, that the coppers gone and looked the other way Get lost, we’re closed Cos it wont no accidental and everybody knows it We suppose, that the coppers gone and looked the other way
13.

about

Songs inspired by stories of cities and those who dwell in them.

credits

released July 3, 2016

All tracks written by Beth Porter, Ben Please and Poppy Pitt, except track 11, by Ben Please and Beth Porter. The reading in the bonus track 13 is used by kind permission of the author. Produced, mixed and recorded by Ben Please, except track 10 which was mixed by Richard Evans at The Labour Exchange. String arrangements by Beth Porter and Ben Please.
Mastered by Marco Migliari
Artwork: Jacob Stack (www.jacobstack.net)
Case design & layout: Ben Please
Cases printed and cut by Opal Print, inserts by Richard Lawrence, disks by Key Production.
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12 were recorded at home, with engineering by James King on tracks 1, 4 and 10. Tracks 5, 6 and 7 were recorded at Ashley Manor, Wiltshire. Track 3 was recorded at Cloisters, Bath, track 9 was recorded at Christchurch, Rode and track 11 at Realworld Studios, Box. Additional recording in The Love Lounge (The Bell, Bath), The Open Book (Wigtown), Chelvey Manor, Emma’s house, Pete’s house, Greg’s house, Christchurch, and Jools’ house.
Those who added huge value to this project were Marco Migliari, Greg Baxter, all the musicians who played with us, Brauner microphones and Louis Austin, Grace Designs, Microtech Gefell GmbH microphones and Sound Link Pro Audio, Leigh Haggerwood, James King, Richard Evans, Will Cookson, Steve Belgrave, Mike Hillier, Stuart Bruce, Chris Hughes and Ashley Manor, Universal Audio, UA Digital and Source Distribution, Realworld Studios, The Wigtown Book Festival and The Open Book, Nigel and Jackie at Rave Box Studios, Owen Benson, Anna Botterell and Andrew Hooker Violins, Keith Lunt and co. at Opal Print and Richard Lawrence, Vivi Tobies & Paul Walton. Big thank you also to Caroline Waterlow and Ashley Harrow. Also to Shoo Rayner and Siriol Davies (and John Ruddock in Siriol’s proximity) for our foxes.
Thank you to all our Patreon supporters, past and present, including James Patterson and Alan Squire Publishing, and our song sponsors (see tracks for details). And big up to Jacob Stack for being such an amazing illustrator.
Thank you to Nic and Juliette Bottomley and ALL the staff at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath for curating our reading (and checking our spelling). Last but not least, to all the amazing authors we have been inspired by to make this album, thank you. Go seek out their books folks.
THE BOOKSHOP BAND

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The Bookshop Band Bath, UK

The Bookshop Band write songs inspired by books and play them in bookshops. They started as a collaboration between a group of musicians in Bath and their local independent bookshop, Mr B's Emporium. Now they are about to go on tour, sponsored by Vintage Books and Independent Booksellers Week, around other bookshops and lit fests. Catch them if you can. Details at www.thebookshopband.co.uk ... more

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