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Tracing Raindrops - Album

by Army of Mice

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GARY STANDLEY
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1.
The Girl in the Attic 03:51
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The Girl in the Attic I climb to the room, where I see the sunlight Crisp white sheets and the golden one I want to fall like the Monsoon rain I'm waiting for the heat that'll take me home again I want to feel the heat that'll take me home again Feel the heat, take me home again Far from home I shed my skin The rainbow scales that glitter again Bangles and beads, all my disguise The girl in the attic is cunning and sly High in the eves, where no one can see us Closing the door, turning the key I want to rise like steam from the engine Mist on the glass and there's nothing I must say Feeling like there's nothing left to say Feeling like there's nothing left to say Far from home I shed my skin The rainbow scales that glitter again Bangles and beads, all my disguise The girl in the attic is subtle and wise
2.
Memories of Snow Part 1 04:33
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Memories of Snow: Verse 1 Turn winter world, back to the sun, and the light The bells are ringing, there's something hidden Inside the darkness, that's come to find me. You are a hunter, a thing of wonder Something to capture, and I'll keep you forever Chorus: I'll build a fire, watch the flames, fight the snow Burn, shadow sun, keep the wolves from the door. Verse 2 Hide your disguise, your hungry eyes, hold no fear The blade is shining, there's no denying The door is open, the sparks are flying. Outside the firelight, I hear you calling How grey the circle, and the lonely song of mourning What do you owe me, come in and hold me I'll be forgiven, if I take a kiss for knowing. Verse 3 Ground hard as stone, sleeps the wolf all alone The blade is shining, there's no denying The door is open, the sparks are flying. Chorus: I'll build a fire, watch the flames, fight the snow Burn, shadow sun, keep the wolves from the door.
3.
Tracing Raindrops 04:55
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Tracing Raindrops Walbrook, Tyburn, Effra, Peck Sudbrook, Quaggy, Stamford Brook West Bourne, Rom, River Fleet Hackney, Brent, Counters Creek No sorrow, No anger We've lost you to strangers We need you, we'll find you Never leave you alone No centre, No circle No place for your story We'll find you a new focus Set you dreaming again Can't you see the rain is coming? All your gold will count for nothing Something known for stealth and cunning Creeps beneath the radar Gods and men, will battle break us? Gods and men will never save us Chorus What if the river rose up to meet you? Time and tide And the Druid stone recognise you Power and pride Where are the sacred hills of the city? Lost and found Gone with the Fleet and fog, into hiding Underground A circle, an island A sky full of ravens Deceive you, confuse you Remind you of home A building of crystal A shard at your centre Will give you a pinion Set you spinning again Can't you see the rain is coming? Storm clouds veil your eyes Something older, something hidden Wakes in you tonight In the streets of shadow London Stones will shake the night Moving with the sound of thunder Split the sky with light. 13/11/13
4.
The Pleasures of the Long Thin Garden 03:13
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The Pleasures of the Long Thin Garden. Barefoot in the head she's dancing Spinning now the light is fading Hands above her head she's shaking Floating high and feather flying Phosphorescent glow Moss on honey skin Breathe the pollen grain Ride the flow Over the garden wall She's climbing Hide from the city lights Entwining Lost in another world Desiring Caught in a twist of space Unfolding Spirited away forever Claimed by rain and summer thunder Lost girl in a trance Flowers in her hair Falling off the map No return Over the garden wall She's climbing Hide from the city lights Entwining Lost in another world Desiring Caught in a twist of space Unfolding Even the smallest thorn Re-writing Messages on the skin Exciting Cuneiform cruelty Composing The blade and the looking glass Transforming
5.
Lost Rivers of London 04:13
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Lost Rivers Of London Chris Bond / Army of Mice Chorus 1 & 3 You Sold Tomorrow To Yesterday Disowned the River and the Gods of your good fortune. Under the City The Rivers flow The Blood of London Draining into the Ocean Chorus 2 You Sold Tomorrow To Yesterday Disowned the River and the Gods of your good fortune. Look in the Water What do you see? The Rain and Sorrow Flowing into the Ocean Verse 1 Three Rivers meet Three Rivers flow Under the Oak Your Gifts must go The tide turns here The Gods are found Push Shield and Spear Deep Underground Turning again Nothing here is built forever Ice on the stream Fires that flood the streets of London Bridges that shake Towers that pierce the eye of Heaven Under it all Something Pays for Something Given. Verse 2 Three bridges built Three bridges burned All of the things We never learned So digging deep Under the shell The waters Broke As London fell The River Forever Calling me Still Rising Returning To the Sunless Sea
6.
Flame 04:22
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Flame Dry boned houses capture memories Sticks and stones to soak up emotion Ghosts are waiting for their freedom Walls are falling as the flames rise round them Face of Buddha smiles upon them Close their eyes and pray for ignition Will you whisper your desire Will you take me to the fire All I see is paper thin Shadows dancing on my skin See the ghost bride at the table Raise her veil, walk on the cinders Every footstep takes her further On the pathway rising above her Up a mountain breathing fire Like a pilgrim seeking an answer I'm in love with 451 Burning like the midnight sun If you speak my secret name I'll set your world to flame 19/09/2011
7.
Dancing with the Crows Part 3 05:22
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Dancing With Crows - Part 3 Verse 1. The Crows decline, but they once spoke In tales of fortune that you wrote Choose your words and call them down To watch for faces in the crowd Hear them laughing at your crimes You know they'll make you pay in time They watch you reign and turn their heads To tell the stories of the dead Verse 2. Wrap yourself in feather cloak Beat your drum and crack your bones Take your dance into the skies Find your temple on the hill Circle round the church of trees With arches wreathed in emerald leaves On each branch there is a bird A parliament of laws unheard Chorus 1 & 2 Wake me in the morning When all the sky's aglow You tell me that you love me But then you turn to go You fold your wings around me Your feathers hold the night But while I'm waiting for you I'll be dancing at first light With the crows Chorus 3 Tether me and feather me Tie me to the drying ground Reel me in and clip my wings Don't see me free 'til rain begins Fields of wheat and summer flowers Glow blue and gold beneath the stars Crows still sleep on the branch Dreaming of their dance Wake me in the morning When all the sky's aglow You tell me that you love me But then you turn to go You fold your wings around me Your feathers hold the night But while I'm waiting for you I'll be dancing at first light With the crows 9/9/17
8.
The Green Hour 05:35
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The Green Hour Chorus Split spoon, crystal white Sugar cubes in wormwood nights Poets, painters, visions call Dance their muse until the dawn Drink for sorrow, drink for joy Drink the rain out of the sky Emerald wings and pale green ghosts Haunt their minds as vapours float On the surface of the glass Slows down time and speed the heart   Verse 1 Give me one single hour A time apart beneath the stars Cold the glass against the lip Between the worlds our senses slip Drink and vanish in the green From root to leaf, from cell to door Senses rush from wave to shore   Verse 2 Give me a single drop A secret key to turn the lock Or drink entire against the crowd Over ice and underground Set your sail and banish fear Become the lightning in the storm Drink and join the world unknown.
9.
Waiting at the Toffoli Gate 03:57
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Waiting at the Toffoli Gate I was searching Slowly gaining ground Words of wise men Scattered all around With no focus Slow to see the truth But I hear you calling From the stars of morning When the light is shining And the wheels are turning You'll be here, I know you'll see What I've made and what I'll be Chorus Counting grains of sand Falling one by one Waiting here for you While the world moves on Write or read my mind Electric in design Waiting at the gate for... Dark storm rising Somewhere 'cross the sea Fire on water Signals from the deep Losing battles Drowning one by one But I hear them calling And the words are hiding I will know their meaning When the wheels are turning Spinning gears and bright machines Crack the code and set us free Are we always running? Are we one or nothing? When the clock is ticking And the rain is falling Tiny grains of drifting sand Form their thoughts at your command 23/07/2012
10.
The Armory Show 05:12
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The Armory Show Running down the stairs she came Soaked to skin by summer rain One thousand one has crossed the sea Always moving, never free Steal the show, bring the crowds The president will bring you down Man Ray smiled to see you there Two four one descends the stair Revolution failed the world The twentieth century was never ready for you Chorus Something new and something old that threatens We are falling into night together We are statues, Oil on canvas Let this be your last show All the guns silent now So you heard the slow explosion Senses shaken, new emotion Smoke is clearing from your eyes New obsessions, new designs Planes unknown, new shapes and tones The art of war will bring you down Nothing gained, no vision spared One chance only, if you dared Explanation still unheard The march of history would never listen to you
11.
The Highest Science 04:03
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The Highest Science Verse 1 Here to try something new Wearing white, Vapour thin Open Window, Polished Floor Shooting Script, Improvised Rising Heat, Moving Forward Enters Quickly, Through the Door In the room, Camera’s Running To Record, Each Reaction. In pursuit She stops at Nothing Gone Atomic, Lost in Passion. Chorus: I don’t know what led me here A scene to play, A mask to wear Never Hide from Unseen Eyes Experiments that Energise Verse 2 Waves are rising, Ever growing Higher Science, Never stopping When the Bodies Intertwine Rosebud under the snow Frozen Flash, Afterglow Fusion Light Endless Time Electric Blue, Sends the Spark Reaches Into the Dark Broadcast Now, ‘cross the Wire The energy that takes you Higher.
12.
Memories of Snow Part 2 04:48
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Memories of Snow Part 2 In the trees the fever waits for me Drifting seeds and shining wings follow me From the clouds and sun lit mountainside The quiet song and the slow reply Speak their name and open paths for me Between the bark and heartwood lead me I'll explore the secrets of something wild Keep the memories to save me Lost in the treetops Hearing them whisper Speaking their cyphers Words that surround me Speaking of fortune Of words in a diary Things with no meaning But sent here to guide me On the breeze the words are flying free Spinning high and dancing through the leaves On the page and somewhere deep inside Hidden lives and mystery What I thought was lost and torn apart For a while shall glow and light the dark Explore the world and something tells me My orphan heart will set me free 09\09\2010

about

Welcome to 'Tracing Raindrops', the debut album from Army of Mice. Further developing the sounds and themes set up in their 'Wildflower' EP, 'Tracing Raindrops' is the soundtrack to twelve trips sideways in space and time. The songs presented here focus on people or places outside of the ordinary; explorations of psychogeography, the loves and lives of artists and scientists and the deep countryside of an abandoned future England.

The band have been slowly refining and evolving their sound since their last release. Although primarily synthesiser based, and driven by a combination of programmed drums and live percussion, the tracks here always strive towards sounding organic. Mark's tastefully constrained rhythm and lead guitar work provide further textures and graceful solos and above all are Ellie's strong and seductive vocals.

Beginning with the Steampunk Victoriana of 'The Girl in the Attic' we have twelve songs which, whilst maintaining the AoM sound throughout, range from the reflective to the driving and dynamic. Soft chimes and bells abound in these tracks, enveloped in swirling synth strings. Occasional reversed voices and whispers weave through machine beats. In other places sounds of the natural world can be heard.

Guest musicians Ruth Murray and Vincent Maltby provide flute and violin respectively and Leighton Williams steps in for a vocal duet in 'The Pleasures of the Long thin Garden'.

Strangely, for a band whose soul seems to reside in the wilder parts of the English countryside, a trio of songs at the centre of the album evoke London. In the songs of Army of Mice, even a suburban garden can conceal a gateway to another world.

Artists and their muses (a perennial theme with AoM) appear in 'The Green Hour' and 'The Armory Show'. Lyrics on other tracks hint at Dickens and Nigel Kneale, shamanism and the work of Alan Turing.

After 'The Highest Science' swerves towards drum and bass territory, 'Memories of Snow Part 2' finally ends the album back in the mysteries of nature.

An album of thoughtful and whimsical musical journeys, 'Tracing Raindrops' refines the Army of Mice sound and sets them on the way to future travels.

credits

released December 11, 2018

Ellie Coulson : Vocals
Mark Reuter : Guitar and Synthesisers
Chris Bond : Synthesisers
with
Leighton Williams : Vocals on track 4
Ruth Murray : Flute on track 9
Vincent Maltby : Violin on track 4

Recorded at Seaplane Studio, Norfolk.
Mastered by Chris Pavey Mastering, Cambridge.
© Army of Mice 2018
armyofmicemusic@googlemail.com

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Army of Mice Norwich, UK

Army of Mice make music combining traditional song writing with electronic textures and found sounds.

Mixing vintage analogue and modern digital synths, dirty guitars, and gorgeous vocals, AoM enjoys exploring a variety of styles, from down-beat trip-hop to bouncy electro-pop.

Our first EP 'Wildflower' was released in 2009 by Lakeland Records Ltd. and is still available from Bandcamp. ... more

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