THE WILD (2017)

Produced by KD & Jeffrey Foucault

Like the moon rising, THE WILD reveals itself by degrees, slowly baring a remarkable depth of soul. Panoramic sonic landscapes frame elegantly turned, incisive phrases to paint scenes of wonder, discord, and joy. The album shows Delmhorst in the fullness of her powers, with restraint and maturity in equal measure, a songwriter of range and clarity who can imbue the day-to-day struggle of ordinary living with visceral immediacy. Twenty years into a career, thirteen into a marriage, nine years into motherhood, Delmhorst has gained access to new floors in the tower of song. Far up the winding stair from kids writing journal entries about trying out love, she takes aim at the bones of life, our connection to each other and to the world.

The result, while a deeply personal album, looks upon universal human situations with unflinching compassion. “Did you shake like a mountain?” Delmhorst asks, in ‘Temporary Existence,’ “Did you lie like a lamb? Did you cry like a fountain? Fail like a man? If you tell me your story, I’ll tell you my story too.”

CREDITS

Produced by KD and Jeffrey Foucault.
Engineered by Justin Pizzoferrato at Verdant, Athens, VT, and Sonelab, Easthampton, MA. Mastered by Alex McCollough at True East, Nashville, TN.

Kris Delmhorst - vocals, acoustic guitar, cello, piano, wurlitzer, rhodes
Jeffrey Foucault - electric, resophonic, and acoustic guitars, ukulele, piano, toy piano, vocals
Billy Conway - drums
Jeremy Moses Curtis - electric and upright bass
Alex McCollough - pedal steel guitar

Design by Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst
Photos: Front cover Jeffrey Foucault, all others Joe Navas

TRACKS

1. All the Way Around 2. Temporary Existence 3. The Wild 4. Rules to Games 5. I Don't Need to Know It All 6. Magnolia 7. Color of the Sky 8. Foolish Blood 9. Lonely West 10. Hollow 11. Tracks in the Snow 12. The Light in the Hall

LYRICS

ALL THE WAY AROUND

I burnt my eyes on the moon last night, I was looking for a reason to shine
Reaching out past my second body, reaching out past my mind
Into the darkness, into the darkness, into the darkness of what we don't know
Into the place behind the place we never go

And now I'm coming all the way, all the way around
Now I'm coming all the way around

We left our skins on the shore last night, we were drinking from a bottle of time
I felt the tug of your blood, the lean of your love, I felt your heart's electric whine
And you're with me, you're so with me, you're so with me when you're far away
I think of all the time it took to learn to stay

And now we're coming all the way, all the way around
Now we're coming all the way around

I closed my eyes on the road last night, I was listening to the sound of the stars
Listening to the song of life getting long and the music of the way things are
A little silence, a little silence, a little silence at the end of the day
A little space to let the music fade away

And now it's coming all the way, all the way around
Now it's coming all the way around

TEMPORARY EXISTENCE

A temporary existence, a fleeting affair
All of your persistence, all of your cares
Did they shoot like an arrow? Blow like a breeze?
Did they die like a sparrow? Fall like the trees?
If you tell me your story I'll tell you my story too

The bottomless ocean, the limitless land
Your secret devotions, your tentative plans
Did you shake like a mountain? Did you lie like a lamb?
Did you cry like a fountain? Fail like a man?
If you tell me your story, I'll tell you my story too

THE WILD

If you looked for me, you'd find me then
I'm in the same spot I've always been
Working for love, loving for fun
Holding a place for everyone
In the wild, in the wild, in the wild

Do you remember what you do it for
When you get done, the prize is more
You're the horse and the cart, the pimp and the whore
Could you even find your way anymore
In the wild, the in the wild, in the wild

When you get home, end of the night,
Kick off your shoes, kill all the lights,
Gets so quiet, nothing but you,
Remember how you used to live there too
In the wild, in the wild, in the wild

If you found me here in the smoke and the rain
In a thousand years I'd still know your name
You can't wash it off, it's an old tattoo
This was the world and the world was you
In the wild, in the wild, in the wild

RULES TO GAMES

I can see that you're sick again, sick of November,
Sick of the city and sick of your hands
Sick to death of the whole thing, sick of just waiting
And all of the wanting, and all of your plans, you're sick of your plans

You can see that I'm tired babe, tired of trying
Tired of dancing that delicate line
Tired of sleeping, tired of waking up
In the grey of the morning that won't even shine, it won't even shine

Is that me, is that you
Arguing over rules
To games we don't even want to play

Can we take it and leave it, make a pile of the heavy
And all of the petty things we didn't mean
Burn it to nothing, make love in the ashes,
Lie down in the river til it all runs clean

Is that me, is that you
Arguing over rules
To games we don't even want to play

I DON'T NEED TO KNOW IT ALL

Honey it would mean the world to me
If I could sit right here and watch your willow tree
Learn to grow straight up out of the ground
Learn to trail my branches all around
I don't need to know it all, I don't need to know it all

Oh my friend how lovely it would be
If you should come along and sit right next to me
All my molecules go to one side
And for a moment I could call that satisfied
I don't need to know it all, I don't need to know it all

And my heart, when it flies, flies like a desperate bird
All alone, in the night, warbling every song
Every song that it's ever heard

Oh my love now it would be so fine
If I could see out through your eyes and you through mine
All my earthly burdens fall away
How could I ever leave, how could I ever stay
I don't need to know it all, I don't need to know it all

MAGNOLIA

I'm gonna drink a sweeter wine
I'm gonna get it right this time
I'm gonna finally lose my min

I'm gonna have a little fun
I'm gonna let that river run
I'm gonna set right with the sun

All of the way, all of the way back home again
Gonna find out how the circle bends

I'm gonna be somebody new
Paint my room a brighter blue
I'm gonna leave a space for you

COLOR OF THE SKY

In deepest blue I step onto the avenue and everyone sees
And in the night the pretty lights that shine so bright they all shine for me
People talk about me, baby
People talk about me, baby
People talk

Don't you understand me baby, don't you even realize that I can change the color of the sky
I, I don't, I don't even have to try
Lately I've been feeling you don't want to see it, when my light comes on I see you close your eyes
I, don't, I don't even know why

Above the din the record spins and I begin my evening routine
The heavens wheel, the hearts unseal, and no one feels the space in between
People wonder at me, baby
People wonder at me, baby
People wonder

FOOLISH BLOOD

And all the time you were mine
You were mine in my secret life
My secret life that I held so tight
I held so tight in my mind like a lucky star

And all that time the garden grew
The garden grew twining high up towards the sun
Towards the sun, til I hardly knew
I hardly knew seeds I'd laid in the ground

And my foolish heart only pounds and pounds and pounds
And my foolish blood goes around around around

And who knows why cells divide
Cells divide, new skin and a brand new mind
A brand new mind but an old design
Your body turns towards the light whether or not you try

And the way it feels tonight
Is like anything is possible, the fences all come down and you can
Roam where you like
Like it's yours to lose, yours to choose again, to choose

And all that time we were alive
We were alive under wide and unbroken skies
Unbroken skies and a road that winds
A road that winds to the place where our garden grows

And my foolish heart only pounds and pounds and pounds
And my foolish blood goes around around around

LONELY WEST

In my chilly east, in my lonely west
In my lion's lair, in my eagle's nest
I get high when I hear your name
I get high when I hear your name
I get high when I hear your name

In my foggy dawn, in my afternoon
In my screaming sun, in my fading moon
I'm alive when I'm in your game
I'm alive when I'm in your game
I'm alive

I'll come in late, I'll come in low
I'll come in fast, I'm gonna meet you
I'll come in late, I'll come in low
I'll come in fast as you please
I go blind when I see your flame
I go blind when I see your flame
I go blind, let me see it again

HOLLOW

Well time don't fly it only crawls
In circles on the kitchen wall
And a song just ain't no use at all
If there's no one who can play it
Well things are different since you came
My wings don't work in this heavy rain
Now everybody knows my name
But no one's gonna say it

And you, you leave me hollow, leave me hollow
You, you leave me hollow, leave me

Well I wanted to be an instrument
That life or god could play I guess
Cause music comes from emptiness
When the air is moving through it
So I guess I owe my song to you
You changed me like I asked you to
And now the sound just flows on through
Like I knew that it would do it

And you, you leave me hollow, leave me hollow
You, you leave me hollow, I'll leave you hollow too

TRACKS IN THE SNOW

All the lengths to which we're driven
All the mercies that we're given
Tracks in the snow, oh oh oh
Can you see me coming home

Let me be a rank beginner
While the light grows ever thinner
Tracks in the snow, oh oh oh
Can you see me coming home

When the world has disinclined you
I could be the one to find you
Tracks in the snow, oh oh oh
I can see you coming home

When there's no one left to hate us
Fold into the one who made us
Tracks in the snow, oh oh oh
Can you see me coming home

THE LIGHT IN THE HALL

Don't let me fall asleep, I know it gets dark and deep
Promise you'll keep a light on in the hall
You know me, my limit and my lie,
Grief and my greed, I know you know sometimes I need it all
To just go away

That's why I ask you over and over again
Over and over again

Don't let me fall asleep, promises hard to keep
The loneliest leap, the farthest to fall
We been watching our friend close their eyes
Know how it ends, never be surprised
Watch them decide to just know it all

Be the sun in my eyes, be the voice in my head
Be the thorn in my side, be the fight in my bed
Be the curve in the road, be the wave crashing over the sea
But please

Don't let me fall asleep, and I won't let you fall asleep
Promise we'll keep a light in the hall