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Everybody's Insecure

by Elk City

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Undertow, Above the Water, Michelle Is Stoned, Souls In Space, Everybody's Insecure, House of Tongues, New Believers, Hold Tight The Ropes, and 2 more. , and , .

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1.
Sparrow 04:13
you say you want to know me. well, i'm not that showy. airing dirty laundry. go to the toy box. reach years behind us. a set of new wings. don't forget helmets. they should be velvet. we can be anything. i don't know if I'll ever be as free as a sparrow. they talk about. they write about. they dream about. i don't know if i'll ever be as free as a sparrow. i'll try. why take the time out? to figure you out. you're an open book. too much information. but i'm mistaken. your heart is breakin'. i don't know if we'll ever be as free as a sparrow. they joke about. they boast about. they read about. i don't know if i'll ever be as free as a sparrow. i'll try. oh, looking back i know that you cried. we were just dying to escape the horrors of our lives. oh, looking back i know you did the best you could. we were like two baby deer trying to run out of the woods. i don't know if we'll ever be as free as a sparrow. they wrote about. they hope about. they grieve about. i don't know if I'll ever be as free as a sparrow. i'll try.
2.
tick of the clock. watch your watch: he’s having a baby. he says he’s not ready. to work there we go now. with a wave and a stain. dreamt about you last night. oh, wouldn’t it be nice. (if) every time i go to sleep i dream? dragon stay with me for a while. touch down to earth and smile. dreaming never ends it seems. sometimes it’s hard to stay on track. but we do it again. it’s hard to stay on track. but we do it again like it never happened. streamers lined in time. busy talk, let’s dine. pendulum sways in the breeze. derailed back online. two times love sublime. DNA parade in spring. sometimes it’s hard to stay on track. but we do it again. it’s hard to stay on track. but we do it again like it never happened. hard to stay on track. but we do it again. it’s hard to stay on track. but we do it again like it never happened.
3.
lexy groove in a mood. walking with that obnoxious gait. rake those feelings up with me. license plate - what does it mean? terrace where they once lived. now we drive all night on a dream. floral morals with portals. did you know i hate that song? it’s overrated on you. he ran all the way home with dried fruit. dollars and cents spent on rent. ride the slide - try not to think. vacation dollars in hand. united, figuring a way out. magical, a shining man. ride the slide - try not to think. and we are beautiful. in a realm full of fire. trying to get out - to get higher. marked, resolved, confused and burned. turn and turn, you learn, you learn. words are wasted on me. make me listen, make me believe. join us every week my friends and you’re sure to get a smile. and we are beautiful. halcyon in the light. halcyon in the light.
4.
what if i said that you were dead. what if i didn’t cry a knot. what if i said that you were dead. i was relieved at the thought. i thought that sunshine wouldn’t come out. i thought the music had left my mouth. and the thought of you in the ground. or maybe your ashes all over town. your parents - they are relieved, too. a word that rhymes with thick, now i’m soothed. i dreamed of sunshine - then it came out. there’s so much sunshine in my mouth. but it took you to die off to me. you to lay off your hands to me. it took you to die off to me. for the sunshine to come out. for the sun to burst out of my mouth. for there to be music. oh, there was sweet music. all that’s left is music. oh, there is sweet music. i thought that sunshine wouldn’t come out. i thought the music had left my mouth. what if i said that you were dead. simply because i said so. like a bud picked in the spring. in the fall i let it go. oh, there was music. oh, there was sweet music. all that’s left is music. oh, there is sweet music.
5.
you take all the hand in store. who you are - it’s really more. what you are not capable of. what you are capable of. you take all you cannot feed. no responsibility. what you are not capable of. what you are capable of. and still we know you’re uncomfortable around us. shame higher. wedding liars. around us. take the blame and take it out. on another when in doubt. what you are not capable of. what you are capable of. be yourself to strive higher. or are we just all pre-wired? what we are not capable of. what we are capable of. and still we know the love in your eyes. overshadowed by a battle bigger in size.
6.
My Manual 04:31
my manual. taking me on a plane. my manual. taking me on a plane. would it make you feel much better. if we know the way we’re going? would it make you feel much better. all day and every night? would it make you feel much stronger. if you couldn’t feel no longer? guide away your days. you read it all day and every night. ah, waiting for the answer to your call. my manual. taking me out of mind. my manual. pages erasing time. is your every day much harder? if you had a silent charter? dream away the coats and mixes. standard, underground. maybe in a box it’s easy. reaching out is complicated. drive away the night. the trees can hear you every time. ah, waiting for the answer to your call. I’m waiting for the answer to your call.
7.
25 Lines 04:03
phones are garbage - pretend they’re not. candlehead buys burrito. neon stripes for a man like this. oh, so daring as you go. you want from me. a fuss, believe. i hate cologne. a flower, a toad. i wrote you 25 lines - i’m not through. i wrote you 25 lines - i’m not through. circus parade in the afternoon. we’re wading in my perfume. easy just like an average day. nothing to do, still get paid. curtail it please. to brood takes ease. something off the cuff. too much. not enough. i wrote you 25 lines - i’m not through.i wrote you 25 lines - straight up blue. we blow through 25 lines - we’re not through. i wrote you 25 lines - it’s all i could do. now we know we are starmakers, love takers. wasting time with a notebook with too many lines. don’t rue the glamour, the fashion. don’t talk about the passion. cradle your creativity. cradle it like it was me. don’t waste a page. write on my beret. savor delight. write on a bike. i wrote you 25 lines - i’m not through. i wrote you 25 lines - it’s all i could do. we blow through 25 lines - we’re not through – I wrote you 25 lines.
8.
No Depth 02:37
downtown they work for free because they bought into the myth. created oh-a legend then they slipped right on it. delight a brilliant mind - shine away jennifer. ever gone down to the lot?-it’s great fun when you get there. no depth - get over it. i sell you all the summertime, summertime i like....ahhhh. have you heard from her? she’s back in sydney bitty bye bitty bye butterfly. downtown they work for free - locked in a dream again. drunkard makes a plan but no one calls on him. dreamt about him last night - sublet to fame famoose. he’s got his own delight - he’s got his own ship to sail out on. so long to the every day. it’s better this way. so long to the every day. it’s better this way. no depth - get over it. those folks and jokes and stokes and tokes and yokes for blokes. in the varibbean - bit by bit we’re meeting with them for a while. downtown they work for free because they bought into the myth. finely craft a legend - then they slip right on it. delight a brilliant night - it’s really who you know. want to meet down at the lot and greet the other folks? so long to the every day. it’s better this wa. so long to the every day. it’s better this way.
9.
what ever happened to cupcakes o'brien? she dated bukowski for a day. if she had a good man. by her he would stand. he’d never ever float away. does your man have good shoes? be sure he never sings the blues. a creator created me. sliding down a slippery slope. a good man - he’s no joke. be honest, please be sweet. just the other day i watched a show on hemingway. he married so many times. he was in love with love. yeah, i’m in love with love. no reason, without rhyme. does your man have good shoes? be sure he never sings the blues. a creator created me. sliding down a slippery slope. a good man - he’s no joke. be honest, please be sweet. please wear root beer shoes. i’d float away and never doubt a day again. please wear root beer shoes. i’d float away and never doubt a day again. if i tell you now how it all works out. there they go completely laughing all the way out of the house. if i tell you now how it all works out....maybe an epiphany. it’s possible. i do believe your shoes are touching mine. and before i pull away, something tells me i should stay. because good shoes are so hard to find. does your man have good shoes? be sure he never sings the blues. a creator created me. sliding down a slippery slope. a good man - he’s no joke. be honest, please be sweet. please wear root beer shoes. i’d float away and never doubt a day again. please wear root beer shoes. i’d float away and never doubt a day again.
10.
we two have grown like souls in space. no soul alone, but always together. we two have drifted like souls in space. like, always appreciating. and always together. always together. always together. always together. always together.

about

Elk City’s soundscapes encompass galaxies while retaining intimate and introspective thoughts and feelings, like epic adventures under the skin. Everybody’s Insecure, the group’s fifth album, was released by Bar/None Records on March 16, 2018.

Collaboration is at the core of every great band, and Elk City’s lead vocalist Renée LoBue and drummer/producer Ray Ketchem are two people ready to strap themselves into wet suits, climb into the immersion tank and get the job done. This pair is ably abetted by guitarist Sean Eden (Luna) and extraordinary keyboardist Carl Baggaley. Elk City has just welcomed guitarist Chris Robertson and bassist Richard Baluyut (Versus) into their line-up.

Throughout the album’s recording, Ketchem was building his new studio, Magic Door Recording, a gorgeous, good-vibes HQ for musical expression and experimentation in the center of Montclair, NJ’s arts community. Far from the humble beginnings of his first clammy basement studio, Ray has become a sought-after producer/engineer, working with Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Okkervil River and Brother JT.

While writing Everybody's Insecure, LoBue presented her songs using late-night voice recordings she’d sung in a ghostly, whispered warble. The band would listen intently, then come up with instrumentation ideas, chord structures and tempos while Ray kept the recorders rolling - driven by his goal of capturing the creative spark at its most luminous. Every track on Everybody’s Insecure is actually built upon those very first impressions. Session after session, Ray went to work using an arsenal of studio wizardry, mining and combining, stretching and condensing, manipulating and re-amplifying sounds, building sub mixes and adding new instruments until the final mastered version is a spit-shined sonic delight, ripe for the memory box.

There's the atmospheric reach-for-the-stars feel of “Souls In Space,” and a discussion with someone about the positive effect of imagining them dead: “The thought of you in the ground or maybe your ashes all over town…there’s so much sunshine in my mouth…oh there is sweet music!” Perhaps the most succinctly introspective song is the opening track “Sparrow,” in which Renée turns the lasers on herself and contemplates the desire to flee one's own personal demons by turning them into art—"I don’t know if I’ll ever be as free as a sparrow. I'll try.”

In her lyrics, Renée is able to take the stuff of everyday life and add a layer of magic to the proceedings. Her songs often take the form of a conversation, as she finds intriguing entry points into relationships much more nuanced than boy meets girl; her lyrics might observe the woman who meets the man who's having a baby with someone else or finding trust and admiration for a guy with the sense to be wearing a pair of root beer-colored shoes.

So drop the needle into the grooves and float down the mysterious rotating streets of Elk City. Let Ray, Renée and their merry bunch of music makers be your guide. It’s time to step through the Magic Door.

credits

released March 16, 2018

Produced by Ray Ketchem
Songs by Renée LoBue and Elk City
© 2018 Elk City published by sound is crazy music (BMI)

Renée LoBue / lead and backing vocals
Ray Ketchem / drums, percussion, synths
Sean Eden / electric and acoustic guitars
Carl Baggaley / piano, organ, synths
Martin Olson / bass guitar
Claudia Chopek / violin and viola

Recorded and mixed by Ray Ketchem
at Orange Road Recording, Montclair NJ
Additional mixing on “25 Lines” by Mark Plati
at Alice’s Restaurant, New York City
Mastered by Alan Douches
at West West Side Music, New Windsor NY
Cover photo and design by Ray Ketchem

This recording is dedicated to Charles R Ketchem Sr.
Thank you for listening.

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Elk City Montclair, New Jersey

"Elk City’s cool and elegant sound draws on 1980s “dream pop” and bits of 1960s folk-rock."
- The New York Times 

"Elk City is one of NYC's best kept secrets; they'll appeal to fans of the Clientele, Camera Obscura and, seriously, Fleetwood Mac."
- L Magazine 

"LoBue is a firebrand - soft and gentle one minute, raising the hairs on your neck the next."
- PopMatters
... more

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