A message from David Bazan about “Blanco”
With hindsight it’s clear that we put out the Bazan Monthly songs in a format that severely limited the number of people who might discover them. For instance, the promotional money and muscle that normally goes into the release of a full length record were never a part of the monthly series in our minds. We instead conceived of it as something special to share with my 20k social media followers. But with the way social media actually works in this very noisey marketplace the Bazan Monthly turned out to be a little more ’boutique” than we had envisioned.
At this point, we estimate that less than 10% of past Bazan listeners bought (or in many cases even know about) Bazan Monthly. Which was fine at the time because I was mostly too busy getting my groove back and frantically writing 20 new songs to notice the bigger picture. It was when I turned my attention to writing ten more new songs for the NEW new album that I thought, HEY… Wait a minute. I didn’ret even get to do a proper round of club touring on all these Bazan Monthly jams. It hit me that some of my favorite work that I’ve ever done was about to be paved over with whatever ten new songs I was preparing to write and record.
The bottom line is I love these songs and the energy of these recordings and I want more people to get to hear them. But even more than that, as we were choosing the songs, adding new sonic layers, and remixing everything to put the album together and as I’ve been playing them at house shows, I realized the most exciting aspect of it all: these songs describe something about the mess of very strong feelings that are pulsing through me right now the way that Curse Your Branches did back in ’09. The Blanco” songs are very personal and important songs to me and I need to spend the rest of this year singing them over and over again.
Listen.
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“Blanco” will was released world-wide on May 13, 2016 by the fine folks at Barsuk Records.
SONGS
Both Hands (Over My Eyes)
Oblivion
Kept Secrets
With You
Trouble With Boys
Teardrops
Little Landslide
Someone Else’s Bet
Over Again
Little Motor
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LYRICS
Both Hands
if I’m not losing sleep
I’m probably over it
might take a couple of beats
for me to decide
didn’t think you’d take this long
to make up for lost time
can’t help wondering why
it still feels like
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
sometimes twice a week
we make ourselves vulnerable
we get a little peek
over enemy lines
even as what weighs on me
is bubbling over
I understand I can’t sweat
what mystery hides
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
both hands over my eyes
Oh
Oblivion
hello again
oblivion
can you find the frequency
while the specters hover whispering
yeah, I guess you probably could
if you were really any good
you sold yourself a trope
but then the dollar broke
hello again
oblivion
but it’s no good to complain
of fatigue and existential pain
on a six-week solo drive
while your friends work nine-to-five
what really threw me off
is that all these years I thought
I’d work it out
did you sing it like it is
cause you’d really thought it’d pack ’em in
cause your kids are growing up
and you still don’t make enough
hold onto what you’ve got
though it may not be a lot
cause now is not the time for second thoughts
you believe in it
now it’s time to follow through
you believe in it
what does that say about you?
Kept Secrets
Your worried mistress thinks you need
Physical exertion and vitamin D
Misunderstanding the real enemy
Sunlight and gravity
When kept secrets flow down crooked slopes
And cut a hundred riverbeds in valley floors below
Every liar knows he’ll die alone
Still you hide your hope and hedge your bets until the snow
Is white with ocean foam
Down on her hardwood bedroom floor
You pen the doctrine of preemptive war
Gladly performed for deafening applause
Then you call it sabotage
When kept secrets flow down crooked slopes
And cut a hundred riverbeds in valley floors below
Every liar knows he’ll die alone
Still you hide your hope and hedge your bets until the snow
Is white with ocean foam
With You
I might have found someone who could love me
I might have found someone true
But I turn around, my life’s half over
And I’m with you
Ooooooh
I’m with you
Ooooooh
You might have found someone with better genetics
You might have found someone not so blue
You might have found someone who didn’t inspire you
To be untrue
Ooooooh
To be untrue
Ooooooh
Self-loathing
Paranoia
Jet lag
Alcohol
Bad dream
Long-distance calls
Babe, I don’t feel well at all
Babe, I don’t feel well at all
The power’s out in our first apartment
I’m on the couch worried that we’re through
But when the lights come on, I’m really under the covers
And I’m with you
Oooooh
I’m with you
Oooooh
Oooooh
Oooooh
Trouble With Boys
All your trouble with boys
Like you’re making a choice
Still, you really don’t know
Why they treat you so
So bad
Your stepbrother smirks that it has
Nothing to do with your dad
And you dream that the sound of his voice
Might melt them away
Your trouble with boys
And you wonder what he would say
And would it be enough?
Either way
You are worthy of love
You are worthy of love
Teardrops
setting sun
streaming through smeared windshield
not quite home
feeling low and unreal
breathe in deep
open your eyes
slam into brake lights
that’s when you realize
you are not alone
teardrops fall from your eyes
flesh and blood and bone
oh
sitting up
in a daze uneasy
flashing lights
plastic cuffs, still breathing
having to
admit you made
another mistake
that’s when you realize
you are not alone
teardrops fall from your eyes
flesh and blood and bone
teardrops fall from your eyes
that’s when you realize
Little Landslide
I’ve gotta get out of my body
And into muddier streams
Remember what I was doing
And gather up first fruits to bring
Coax it into the open
But not by smoke or drink
Little twist of the compass
Little landslide on the brink
Sit and think
And think
And think
And think
And think
And
Another young man tells his story
Before his heart is even broken one time
Like a stand-up who forgets his punchlines
So before you hand over the kingdom keys
For a lifetime of free drinks
Know you’ll stare at that face a long time before he blinks
Stop and think
And think
And think
And think
And think
And
Someone Else’s Bet
white light
maybe time to go
surrounded by all my love
dozing off
persuaded by
my mother’s fear
deathbed sinner’s prayer
fingers crossed
I will not lay in bed
with the wheel turning in my head
trying to figure out the spread
on someone else’s bet
dinner’s on the table
your mother’s at the door
kids are watching TV
you never needed me more
you never needed me more
you never needed me more
telephone is ringing
bill collectors buy and sell
I may not be in heaven
but you’re in hell
okay, I’ll lay here a little while
if you promise to run our history through my head
when my horizon flipped
i sat down and i made a list
and I’m never gonna rest in peace
in your debt
I will not lay in bed
with a wheel turning in my head
trying to figure out the spread
of someone else’s bet
Over Again
under the water
fifteen years deep
no one is listening
no one can breathe
transmit the signal
wait in suspense
over and over
and over again
in the middle of everything
you whisper something to me
that I can’t believe
under the covers
finally alone
no one is listening
no one is home
pushing each other
up to the edge
over and over
and over again
in the middle of everything
you whisper something to me
that I can’t repeat
Little Motor
so you’re made of flesh and blood
and your daughter, she called your bluff
you get emotional over empty cups
grow up
every day you wake up alive
little motor behind your eyes
that wars are fought about
by those who have no doubt
out loud
most evenings when the sun goes down
you think of leaving but you stick around
it’s just a flesh wound with a proper noun
calm down
every day you wake up alive
little motor behind your eyes
that wars are fought about
by those who have no doubt
out loud
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