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Closer Now

by Sister Species

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1.
leave it and don’t turn back lest the mountains return to sand you can hold in the palm of your hand nothing will bring those days back you spent in one long sigh all the fortune that burned in your eyes you can run, you did run, but you can’t hide from the sorrow that keeps you alive so sit with me in this quiet invitation wrestle your sorrows aside stay with me, and leave your explanation to the wind / to the wolves / to the wild all of you shines with a great light as we hold on to (h)ours tight they are shorter than short, blinding bright one stays back while the other takes flight i’ll leave a trail for you to someday find in these city blocks that pull from me like tides what is yours now, it once was mine and nothing can bring me home to that time so sit with me… i’ll return in due time to find we’ve all gone on with our lives even ten thousand lakes cannot hide— we all caught that fast train to ride so call us mostly satisfied and sit with me in this quiet invitation wrestle your sorrows aside stay with me, and leave your explanation to the wind, to the wolves, to the wild
2.
Red 03:55
i am not afraid no i am not afraid but i'm bleeding my veins run red with your name i will not refrain i won't be restrained i still need you so breathe deep and tell me now that you'll stay i am not ashamed i won't be ashamed but i mean it when I say that i can't change but i'll take the blame i won't be kept down i won't wait around you have me right where you want me you might find me looking now but i'm not stepping out for the night you can keep your life classified 'cause you've got something that might keep me quiet so i won't make a sound no i won't say aloud but will you feel it? guilt like mud packed on her skin and in your mouth i am not afraid i am not afraid i'm still breathing my lips stained red with your name
3.
i stayed up all night wrestling with an angel i stayed up all night… in the morning, i said to he- i won't let you leave 'till you bless me with your black black coffee and burn a new name into my lips sewn with the promise i could let you leave this time i went for a walk down by the Mississippi tried to clear my mind… in the water what did i see-- my own damn reflection staring at me, looking so whole & steady a mirror calm & glassy i thought i'd have a limb missing without you at my hip, by my side tried to build a house on the river delta filled the banks with stone… now the bed is wild & unmade, and i'm the one to blame-- for this wounding this faith shaking like Jacob, i stole your blessing so let me go, you say dawn's the only thing worth breaking will you bless me, with your black black coffee? your black black coffee your black black coffee…
4.
when i'm up and away i can't keep them at bay, i start crawling like i'm sprouting a vine and i'm patching that time is it falling? it's not falling in line at the heart of a mess full of hurt and unrest it's beating it's pounding and fierce and it rings in my ears and it's fleeting but it's leading the rest a simple thought can tear you up don't drop out, i won't drop out we'll say when we've had enough i'm a scratch on your lens so i'll buff and pretend i'm not aching a sacrifice makes compromise no mistakes but it's breaking and i'm not taking what's mine a simple thought...
5.
Closer Now 03:29
you say you'll take me this time around, and i should know better now but i'm tinged with fever, a subtle heat-- no-- i'm bursting at the seams when you let me close take a firm hand with a tender grasp, now i'm begging for collapse you held me in i want you to know me and i'll sink into you i could fight it, but i don't wanna try one touch and my mouth runs dry i've got this fever, a raptured core now i don't sleep anymore do you want me to know you will you sink into me i want you closer now
6.
the sun arranging light... don’t call my distance cruel the floodgates hold back your floodgates hold back but the river takes its own path you pulled a storm/of songs from my lips drenched from the downpour & soaking through your skin talk to me/like a whale under seas a swarm of honeybees, you left with a sting nothing about this is clean... a brightness in winter, a false promise of heat June/is a dream when ice is all I see water/turns to steam to fill all the space you need the sun estranged from light... don’t call my distance cruel the floodgates have cracked your floodgates have cracked from your rules & your silence, your lines & your past you pulled a sword/of songs from my lips bent from the pressure & piercing through your skin talk to me/like a land under siege a swarm of honeybees, you left with sting a swell, a reason to breathe- unreasonably the sun arranging light... don’t call my distance cruel
7.
Surrender 04:09
tell me no- you don't wanna see me here anymore you already know- i'm the wishy-washy type, the kind who keeps you up at night the kind who writes you all these songs about nothing tell me no- you don't wanna hear the songs i wrote you already know- what they're all about, what they're all about and you don't wanna fell those strikes and blows you don't wanna get your heart broke over nothing i surrender... i gave you it all-- all my blues and my brick walls you can have it all- take the reins and make the call break and news, (em)brace the fall take my everything and all of my nothing i won’t rush-- water and blood are fast enough wait for the wind to die back down but I'm the fiery impatient type the kind who keeps you up at night the kind who wants to treat you right if you'll let me i surrender... tell me no-- you don't wanna see me here any more you already know-- i'm your messy murky one the one who makes your plans undone the one who writes you all these songs about nothing
8.
I Don't Mind 03:08
if i could find a way to say it right if i could find some peace of mind this ache runs deep i can't begin to try to cool my yearning but in due time i know that i won't mind the way it feels to lay alone i won't mind my hands aren't broken down with no one to hold but it's no stretch to say that i could stand to learn some self control i breathe in cool, i'll bite my frozen tongue the things i want to say ain't right so i'm a fool, i know i've just begun to lick my wounds out in the light i won't fight i'll let this run its course i won't breathe easy, and i won't lie my thoughts are racing, screaming, and growing hoarse just tell me something i can't hide and soon i won't mind the way it feels to lay alone i won't mind, no my hands aren't broken down with no one to hold with shaking knees i'd say that i could stand to learn some self control i could use some self control
9.
Star 03:02
i let a wolf into the house i gave him a key / he sat on the couch where the ghosts and the dust surround a creak in the wood/ a crack in the door the air flows down so pull the string tight across and measure the loss/ in the loosening knots that once cradled us run through my fingertips like water flow through my lips like wine i’ve got blood on my fingertips like water and i could never stay the same, it’s a lie— no we never stay the same, it’s a lie i’ll paint you as you are— a distance/ a cold flame /a flashing light— a star

credits

released June 1, 2016

All songs written, arranged, and performed by Sister Species

Sister Species is:
Emily Kastrul (she/they)- Vocals, Accordion; songwriting tracks, 1, 3, 6, 7, and 9
Abby Kastrul (they/them)- Vocals, Guitar; songwriting tracks 2, 4, 5, and 8
Jake Baldwin (he/him) - Trumpet
Sten Johnson (he/him) - Trumpet
Noah Ophoven-Baldwin (he/him) - Trumpet
Ryan Hays (they/them)- Double Bass
Lars Johnson (he/him) - Drums

Featuring:
Additional voices on "Surrender" by Artemis (Mandy Goldberg, Alia Jeraj, Tara Loeper, Elizabeth Roddy, Tessa Silbernagel), Ryan Hays, Sten Johnson, Noah Ophoven-Baldwin, and Dexter Wolfe

Additional harmonies on "Closer Now" by Sten Johnson

Additional guitar on "Star" by Dexter Wolfe

Recorded by Dexter Wolfe

Mixed by:
Matt Bedrosian (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5 ,6, 8 & 9)
Dexter Wolfe (tracks 2 & 7)

Mastered by Rob Schlette at Anthem Mastering

Album art by Britta Anderson
Photography by Hannah Fraser
Album layout by Fiona Avocado

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Sister Species Minneapolis, Minnesota

mpls-based chamber pop septet

Fronted by accordionist/songwriter Emily Kastrul, chamber- pop septet Sister Species is known for their thoughtful, dynamic arrangements and opulent three-part trumpet harmonies.

"Heat Death (Hold Me Here)" music vid: youtu.be/hO44Io2GNgU
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