the deep listen - day 4

Hello from Day 4 of The Deep Listen! Today we start on the songs that make up Side B of Sprezzatura: “Twenty-Third Fresh Start” and “In Spite of Language”.

“This is an album that begs to be played loudly from an open window.” –Glide Magazine

the songs

behind the songs

twenty-third fresh start

Yeah you’re always running
and you change the same
crossing borders and boundaries
till they’re all that remain

Keep the mattress inflated
Pitch a tent with no stakes
When there’s nothing to build on
then there’s nothing to break

Collecting all the things that keep you apart
Burning all the friends who break your heart
What better way to get ahead these days
than with a twenty-third fresh start?

With a mind on the daybreak
you make eyes at the moon
Yeah you flirt with disaster
the oldest lover you’ve known

in spite of language

Tonight I’ve found
more than I was looking for
Sometimes it’s true
You get luckier

Tonight I’ll dream
more than I was meant to dream
I don’t mean to press you
but can I undress you?

Words not just hanging in
the air but puncturing
Tearing holes in the sky
to raze speechless passers-by

Growing old together
Obvious from the start
Talk plainly or don’t speak at all
Don’t ruin this moment

Tonight I’ll rhyme
not one solitary word
Language, it fails
but shall I paraphrase?

Sha-la-la
Ooh-ooh-ooh

EXTRAS

Twenty-Third Fresh Start (keys and strings)

In Spite of Language (Acapella Version)

Working with Max Butler (keys) has been one of our favorite things about our most recent records. In this mix, we’ve isolated his organ and keyboard parts on this song, accompanied by Alison Dooley’s insanely cool string arrangement. And while we’re busy stripping these mixes way back, we’re also including the isolated vocal take for “In Spite of Language”.

Even the best laid plans, etc.… Going into the album, we planned to have two different versions of “In Spite of Language” — the duet version more familiar to folks who have seen us perform live, and the full-band version to use as a b-side or bonus track. A few takes of the duet version were recorded live, but something about the performance wasn’t translating well, so we decided to scrap it and keep the band version for the album.

Production notes for both versions of In Spite of Language and Twenty-Third Fresh Start.

This is the first live performance of the band version of “In Spite of Language”. Shot at the Distillery in South Boston by our friends at Treebeard Media for that years’ NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest.

Tomorrow we dive deeper into side B with “Renters for Life” and “Cresting Waves”.

Links
Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3