We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Middle Voice

by Kate Fenner

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10.99 USD  or more

     

1.
Two Minds 03:22
Part net, part wind Full sail, all slack Some nerve, some fear Abundance and lack There's something wrong with me All calm, all thrum Called forth, called back All want, no smarts Twinned light and black Dense is the mystery Bright mute, dull roar Bright shock, no more Straight time, no swing Beginning beginning Driving without stopping Narrowing, sharpening Listening for you listening Ambered in this binary This is all it's meant to be Sharp act, mirrored charm Hedged bets, false alarms A supplicant with empty arms All reason disappearing Driving without stopping
2.
This Divorce 04:55
I'm so glad this is over-- lead away in cuffs to a single bed in cinderblock From a romance that drove her to the stormy bluff where the ocean itself wouldn't be enough The night all spent, then the day's lament The cycle's fatal force finally ran its course straight to this divorce Search your night for a reason Try to lay some blame Find the perfect point where the slide began Hit the floor on your knees and what about this shame? We don't care about that, they said, that's not why you came. The city of the mind became a house then a room then it emptied out and became a tomb A progression that won't go anyplace An obsession that leads to a loss of faith The night all spent (oh the violation) Then the day's lament (and annihilation) They cycle's fatal force (rescued rebuilt and) finally ran it's course (preserved) straight to this divorce Sometimes I want so badly to taste you again, taste that little bit of oblivion. No need to exaggerate the wreckage it made The wounds might heal but the scar won't fade The night all spent... (I got to know it fairly well)
3.
Beatrice 04:52
I don't know how I can move, I can move this thing forward. Here is so far from the cool hand of relief. A dark wood of winter trees with no sense of its borders You can't see my hand, you won't feel my grief. I'll be left holding the bag, one end of the phone, a string with no balloon, when I look to find you gone. Hold onto yourself, you're gonna need, you're gonna need it. Leave the other stuff by the riverbank and slip inside. The call from the crowd well you don't, you don't really need it. The river's dark, the river's wide. And I'm here holding the bag... Wild and rough, why have you left the trail? You're nearer than you were--I'm left here to fail. I am Beatrice, I am the bold survivor. I the hand and you the glove. I am the boat and you are the diver. As love moves me, I speak because of love. And I'm left holding the bag... You're gone
4.
The Yield 03:34
I don't sound so out of key though it's been awhile since you thought of me That's ok, I don't take it personally I've been working on the farm I use my back, I use my arms I think this crop will turn out beautifully But I keep one eye on the city lights And I see you there in your heels and tights and your top-hats Almost ruefully There's a wind that blows through now and then That says I may never see you again I lean on my hoe almost desperately But I'll be here through the winter snow And I'll be here when the garden grows again But I don't want anyone to know I didn't give you all I had No one should have treated you so badly Then like a dream you disappear I think, I can't even see you from here I go in and sleep deeply
5.
A Marriage 05:10
Block out the noise, bring home the war-- nobody knows us. Protect the heart--this is an art-- from the heat and commotion Welcome inside the hush of a church the walls of a fortress. If you lose faith--when you lose faith-- they just might hold us. This is a marriage: get down from your carriage, drop all your baggage, you are home. My dark is your light, we can't both be right but we can outrun our injury. Flashes of joy, dead zones of comfort-- don't be alarmed: without chaos there can still be mystery. The pull of the thread, the feeling of dread-- your escape is not a destiny. For when you come back--if you come back-- Well, this house is no guarantee. This is a marriage... When this one whispers in your ear: fall silent, take off out of there. It's just confusion in the glare. Come in, come in, come in. The boat on the shore, the boat on the horizon. If you won't receive the wave at your door you will become an island. So many years, so much at stake-- surely you can make it? I haven't changed--well, maybe I have, and you just couldn't take it. If you slow down, you can find peace here. If you seek peace, you can make peace here, 'cause This is a marriage.
6.
I was a song and dance man, fine with no plan, those were the days. Rain on the windshield, dry stalks in dead fields, the crowd from the stage. Don't weight it down, I hear you say. You were a song and dance man back in the day. Virtuosos and vandals, no you can't hold a candle to the band on a tear. Oh, the glow of admiration, a pit-stop at a gas station, yeah we got out of there. Don't second guess it, you were second to none. You put your head down, You got the job done. Now I think in terms of what's lost and what's won. I thought ecstatic visions would be more fun. Oh, it's dense and it's raw and it's credible, but it isn't for me. It doesn't feel at all like a safe place to be. I like the way it sounds not the way it is, the set of the scene. I like the way it looks, the chorus and the hook, I don't care what you mean. I hear you say take it easy, take it slow I taught you everything, all that I know You're just a song and dance man, oh.
7.
8.
Fatal Fire 05:57
Oh, Abelard, you really broke my heart You were all that desire could be Oh, Abelard, you really rode me hard Turned and you set me free Amid stone cold glances I prayed to a god with calloused hands As if he were the only worthy opponent to desires demands Oh, Heloise, get up off your knees You must know, I'm a blowhard and windy Oh, Heloise, were you too blind to see The fear in my piety? One look at you And desire's war would ever be won To be Spartan and ardent are the only virtues Where I come from Oh, Abelard, you're a tired bard Sing me a new song Oh, Abelard, how could it not be hard To make a heaven where we belong? I beg you to think what you owe me Give ear to my plea? Our sorrows divided are lightened Think once of me? Stop stop stop stop talking Heloise Get up off your knees It's true dear, I gave you no comfort No solace or peace at all I took off in flight and in silence To be far away from your call I searched an asylum to lock and secure me from love I promised myself I'd forget you, but you're all I think of I'm no longer in need of it, Won't die, I won't bleed for it If cruelty's the means by which You will take leave of this, please: Douse your heart's fatal fire Leave me to my unrest (Oh, fly me, fly me, fly me, far as pole to pole. Rise alps between us, let whole oceans roll. Come not, write not, think not once of me Nor share in one pang of all that I once felt for thee)** **from Alexander Pole, Eloisa to Abelard
9.
Hunter 04:12
So upsetting I was shaking So tired of the way you make it all up Breezing in with your "who me?" eyes To move the pieces of my life But I'm not your kid, I'm not your wife The fever pitch, the vicious fighting The dissembling, the gas-lighting You can move on to something new What is of consequence to you? The path keeps falling from your view The hunt is up ahead I see you standing on that stair Your school-girl tie, your long, blonde hair You set your sights on me, from there I was of your making The truth of it hurts so I don't speak it I hate how pliable, how meek I am Me the ball and you the tether Me the vane and you the weather I think we wrote this myth together For a hunter, you're not that good a listener The deer hears danger everywhere But oh, Diana, you bring me down without a sound You are not cruel, I am persuaded Despite your game and how you played it A subtle frenzy I intuit A desperate need in how you view it Can't I just bless and leave you to it? But it doesn't work that way It doesn't end, it's never over It's of no use to run for cover But you're not my teacher, you're not my lover You're not my teacher, not my lover I see you standing on that stair...
10.
Passenger 05:14
It's a long car ride on the passenger side With the late winter sun warm on your face You don't know quite when you'll arrive But you'll know when you feel its grace Everything has come to the beginning The body still, the mind still spinning The dance confounded by the dancer The question hidden by the answer I know just how you feel it's like--, it's like--, it's like-- Don't fret, I'll take the wheel I'll drive, I'll ride beside you It's a long white road with the radio low It's a tough time, but for now it feels alright Time stretched out, for now it moves slow The horizon is still in sight The seas back up against the oceans And all at rest and all in motion All meaning spent, the words all spoken My love a wilderness unbroken I don't know how you feel It's not like, it's not like, it's not like Don't fret, I'll take the wheel I'll drive I'll ride I'll drive alright I'll drive I'll ride beside you.
11.
That Is All 04:25

about

The bed tracks of this album were recorded quickly with Tony Scherr at his studio in the three weeks leading up to an unnerving throat surgery in October of 2015. The eventual finished album came together gradually over the following year, with the participation of many wonderful musicians and friends, including Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Norah Jones and Chris Brown. The title, "Middle Voice" comes from a grammatical term (!), wherein the subject of a sentence is both the actor and the acted-upon, both agent and patient; it is meant to reflect the middle part of life--its equivocations, its ambivalence, its modest epiphanies.

credits

released November 20, 2017

Produced by Tony Scherr at Tony's house, NYC
Mixed by Tony Scherr with Teddy Kumpel at Ted's house, NYC
Horns recorded by Scotty Hard, assisted by Connor Schultze, at Duro of Brooklyn
Mastered by Gene Paul at G&J Audio
Photo by Angelica Zollo, cover graphics by Melissa Braxton for 212box

1 Two Minds
2 This Divorce
3 Beatrice
4 The Yield
5 A Marriage
6 Song & Dance
7 You're a Big Girl Now
8 Fatal Fire
9 Hunter
10 Passenger
11 That Is All

Kate Fenner vocals and guitar (2, 3, 9)
Tony Scherr bass and guitar, loops
Kenny Wolleson drums (1, 2, 6, 7), vibraphone (4, 5, 6)
Shawn Pelton drums (3, 9)
Chris Brown organ (1, 9)
Bill Frisell electric guitar and loop (4)
Teddy Kumpel ambient guitar (3, 10)
Norah Jones piano (3, 7, 10)
Jason Moran piano (8)
Mauro Refosco percussion (3)
Mino Cinelu percussion (5)
Steven Bernstein horn arrangements, flugel horn, alto horn (2, 8)
Briggan Krauss baritone saxophone (2)
Brian Drye trombone (2, 8)
Rob Jost french horn (4, 5)

All songs by Kate Fenner c SOCAN/ASCAP and Echo Songs except
"You're a Big Girl Now", Bob Dylan© 1974 by Ram's Horn Music
"That Is All" George Harrison c 1973 Harrisongs Ltd
Coda in "Fatal Fire" from Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard"

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Kate Fenner New York, New York

contact / help

Contact Kate Fenner

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Kate Fenner, you may also like: