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Asphodel Meadows

by The Ashenden Papers

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 8 The Ashenden Papers releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Night Walk, Spring, Winter, Fall, Summer, Asphodel Meadows, Melodie Robin, and The Ashenden Papers. , and , .

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  • Vinyl Edition
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    LP with full color inner sleeve with lyrics.

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1.
Sea on Sand 03:34
Lying on the ground Looking at the clouds They’re forming shapes Suggesting other places And other times Filter through my mind I’m selecting the ones I wish I could rewind Now I’m standing up Straightening up my cuffs And realizing It’s all enough If my experience bent my wings Still I clamber my way down these avenues of kings Take a second look at the sky Got no need to question why I ended up right here Bide my time ’til I feel the light Of the next year And they’re gonna keep on coming Like the ocean waves Pounding the shore Sea on sand Green on grey Walking ‘round the town With my eyes on the ground Following cracks and lines it’s taking me back Some are there by design Others formed by time But the deepest ones have the two intertwined Doesn’t seem so tough When I’m in my cups And realizing It’s all enough If my experience bent my wings Still I shamble my way down these avenues of queens Take a second look at the sky Got no need to question why I ended up right here Bide my time ’til I feel the light Of the next year And they’re gonna keep on coming Like the ocean waves Pounding the shore Sea on sand Green on grey Pounding the shore Sea on sand Green on grey Pounding the shore Sea on sand Green on grey
2.
Melodie Robin says She feels she's at her best after creation Of little sweets and drawings Saw her pictures on the wall She knows intuitively when they're ready "'Cause if they couldn't be right by now They won't be right anyhow" And from her high window She wonders what will happen In the beautiful world below. You've got your colors changing, don't you? And individuality's fortune You know your leather jacket's sitting right In the moonlight You're waiting on a shooting star Dream a dream of newness next year Fields of lilac, tulip and king's spear And all the colors keep you feeling bright You're in the moonlight Hoping for a shooting star Your life's a mystery But like a tree Over time all the branches grow.
3.
Say what you will But you don't believe me anyway I know we could go away from here But I can't see And you said you did nothing wrong Said you just can't believe it's not me Say we can go away from here It's not clear I know what you'll say That it's not your way anyway And you said you did nothing at all Said you just can't believe that it's not me Yeah you said you did nothing at all Said you just can't believe that's it's not for real anymore
4.
It’s the time of year where the need to get away hits a higher gear Need scenery drove a thousand miles and still my windscreen’s clean it’s a mystery And when we do arrive Feels like winter wine is warming on the hob We’ll stay inside for the night cuz that winter wine is warming, winter wine is warming on the hob Through fields of fading green remember, walk right in between the river and the old mine Wheels rolling through the breeze crushing the fallen leaves beneath They’ve not fallen for the first time, nor the last time Rising out of bed See the strap-leaf willow And the soft-leaf sedge Rising sun still red This scenery inspired a thousand poems and a thousand scenes on cinema screens And since we have all night, drink the winter wine that’s warming on the hob We’ll stay inside for the night cuz that winter wine is warming winter wine is warming on the hob Repeat chorus We realize our time is running by interrupt the day to think about tomorrow night and heading back to our own daily life Hoping that this place will live through our attempts to change it Through fields of fading green, remember to walk right in between the river and the old mine Believe this sylvan scene And let it breathe into your dreams Then it won’t have to be the last time Not the last time Not the last time
5.
Where did it come from, I don’t know But it’s testing out my sanity I’m in a boat that I just can’t row And I just can’t see how I’m taking 5 and 6 degrees Out of my philosophies And I’m stuck on this repeat And I’m on my knees Wishing I could stand up like the Sycamore trees Of my memories I found a nest in the overgrowth of a garden near a stand of trees now I need to find my way home but I still can’t see how I’m taking 5 and 6 degrees Out of my philosophies And I’m stuck on this repeat, And I’m on my knees Wishing I could stand up like the Sycamore trees It’s a dark energy, running through my mind my soul and my body These kids don’t want to go to sleep There’s a black dog nipping at their feet Spreading dark energy Should be sailing seas or climbing trees Working out geographies Making things I’ve never seen Not crawling on the street Wishing I could stand up like the Sycamore trees It’s a dark energy, running through my mind my soul and my body These kids don’t want to go to sleep There’s a black dog nipping at their feet Like a satellite spinning round with glee Seems it’s always gonna be there circling me Spreading dark energy I found a nest in the overgrowth of a garden at the edge of the meadow and I swore I’d find my way out.
6.
Spent my life trying to capture a scene Searching for this beautiful tableau Or set piece Some shady porch on a late autumn afternoon Girl by my side and drink in my hand Guitar in my lap, good friends making me laugh Is all I ever wanted Just this beautiful scene And I read somewhere, yeah I read somewhere That beauty is truth and truth beauty If I could just set the scene like an image on an ancient vase Maybe I could cheat life Yeah, If I could just set the scene like an image on an ancient vase Maybe I could cheat life And I tried… But why’s my girl now sour Drink turned bitter Song’s unfinished And friends moved on Well I know why I figured out why Because beauty’s not truth, truth not beauty That’s a lie.
7.

credits

released May 22, 2020

Jason Dezember: Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, percussion
Marie Davenport: Bass, guitar, piano, keyboard, backing vocals
Ella Cross: Vocals

Songs by Jason Dezember

Recorded at houses in Alameda, Walnut Creek and Sacramento, California

Mixed by Matt Bullimore at Fighter Command, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mastered by Patrick Haight

Art by Kate Mink

Thanks to Scott Miller, Marie and Ella for the musical insights, Ed Carroll, Leon Levy, Kate Mink and Bobby Martinez

Dedicated to the memory of Micah Kennedy. RIP, and come visit me in my dreams again sometime.

Secret Center Records, SC#31

©℗, Illyaku Music, 2020


"The album is a life-long romance and testament to the rare beauty that is THE perfect pop song. ..These ear-bones hear a wide array of inspirations from the sublime - 60s baroque, early singles from Sarah, Creation, Flying Nun, Kindercore, Rough Trade and boy/girl harmonies that oddly reminds one of the band, Bongwater (really!) - to the more obvious ones, like Felt and Belle & Sebastian but also subtle hints of unexpected bands such as Aislers Set, The Chills, Biff Bang Pow, Orange Juice, The Church, and The Pastels, all in a non-cloying way."
-Dennis Yudt

"Lovely track indeed...some serious Ric Menck / Paul Chastain vibes.
-Tonevendor

"Couched in the slightest of fuzzed pop tendencies, adding brass flourishes to the weirdest sophisti-pop vibe that no one has ever really bestowed upon the world and adorning the underlay with the warmth of rounded vocals and flickering jangled guitar work, The Ashenden Papers are back with absolute aplomb."
- Janglepophub

"The songwriter and performer of The Ashenden Papers is Jason Dezember , a passionate and inspired musician...the superb title Melodie Robin... is built with lines of variegated guitars, bass and bounding keyboard...the sumptuous song is accompanied by a trumpet to refine the jangle-pop orchestration."
-Piggledy Pop

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The Ashenden Papers Concord, California

Jason Dezember's (plastic shoelaces, nar, bagpipe operation, ski instructors) project of bedroom tunes, featuring musical contributions from various friends.

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