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Almost Lifelike

by Shadowplay

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This sophomore album pushes the band into musical maturity. Post-hardcore, prog-rock, post-rock, instrumentals with vocals that take influence from 70's and 90's rock/grunge. Here there is time in noise.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Almost Lifelike via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Zack Likes Trains 05:42
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Zach Likes Trains Verse A train at night Within our sight To whisk us both away You grasped my hand And understand There’s nothing left for us to say Wasting time You had to chime “Hey aren’t you glad You’re leaving here with me?” But where will I be led? I guess I shouldn’t care Verse Check the sign And watch the time Or we could miss the ride The thrill of loss Is worth the cost Of casting everything aside Take the step Or feel regret “It's finally here We have to leave right now” But then the moment's gone And I don't even care Verse The sky was black When you came back But I could see your face Your face was old Your stare was cold Your life was written in your gaze Times that passed And times that last They're in your eyes And I could see them all But was I one of them? Why would I want to be?
2.
Amira 04:30
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Amira She gapes at everything she sees But her focus is like the wind She talks to herself But she comes to a good place in the end It’s all a little broken But broken things are beautiful She’ll clear her throat as if to speak But then she only smiles She says ‘how wonderful to be here together Despite the long time and distant miles’ It’s all a little broken Chorus If this is a lie I wouldn’t have it any other way I’m addicted ‘Cause broken things are beautiful If this is a lie I wouldn’t have it any other way I’m addicted ‘Cause broken things are beautiful If she’s feeling right, she’ll say the words Tell you what you want to hear Tell you of your future But the words are never very clear It’s all a little broken But broken things are beautiful One day I found her sitting in the grass With her leather notebook and pens While she drew a mandala She told me how it all began It’s all a little broken But broken things are beautiful If this is a lie I wouldn’t have it any other way I’m addicted ‘Cause broken things are beautiful If this is a lie I wouldn’t have it any other way I’m addicted ‘Cause broken things are beautiful If this is a lie I’m addicted
3.
I'm Kanye West 06:14
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4.
Basement (Full of Spiders) 04:30
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Basement Verse They’re generating fear And we’re losing ourselves Snatched up by confusion While their profits are made It’s laid out in front of us But we’re looking away An illusion they’ve created And we become more and more depraved Pre Chorus We know we’re the ones at fault For the innocent people displaced Realization does not give us pardon For avoiding to see through these people’s eyes Chorus They say they protect us By monitoring us all Searching for one in a billion Headlines revoked and redacted Censorship conflates fear with inaction Bridge In 1988, the Reagan administration provided aid to terrorists in Angola, which led to 1.5 million deaths In 1990, the Central American wars were culminated by the murder of six Jesuit priests by US-trained Salvadoran terrorists The US government terrorized the people of Cuba for over 30 years in an attempt to bring about an uprising that would lead to a US invasion. End Verse Victims’ voices covered in darkness Lust of power, not without consequence Actor’s actions never absolved Never tried, never convicted When the world cannot police our leaders We have to take responsibility Time to establish the precedents So the people are the final judge and jury Chorus Our democracy’s metastasized Accountable for an unstable world It’s time to be their recourse No regrets and no remorse
5.
It's Time 04:34
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It’s Time My fingers, they play on My lord my mind is gone No more do I think I can wait for you My head now it is gone I think it was the gun No more do my racing thoughts betray me The bullets fill the holes Where my thoughts could roam And now my thoughts are filled with empty shells Chorus Dreaming’s a waste for fools I don’t have time to waste today No more, no more, nor more All things I’ve said and done, I’ve got no more to say I’m sinking deeper now In thoughts that pull me down And soon I wont be able to breathe the air Well please forgive me love I hear the call above We’ll be together again when it is time Chorus Dreaming’s a waste for fools I don’t have time to waste today No more, no more, nor more All things I’ve said and done, I’ve got no more to say Well please forgive me love I hear the call above We’ll be together again when it is time
6.
All That We Hear 05:16
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All That We Hear These things we’ve learned Like the fronds of ferns Start to wilt in the autumn On these cave walls We begin to scrawl The story of our genesis I sought something to put pictures in my mind So I wouldn’t think in words any longer All that we hear Resounds from very near Against a cloud of chaos As the fire burns this night We dance within a twilight Just as we’ve practiced Maybe when the air is thicker than today And the mornings come a little earlier There will be time to understand ourselves fully These things we’ve earned We so quickly burn And rejoice thereafter All we’ve become Pulls within our lungs Sets our chests to flutter How can I make life feel like the natural procession of true existence And not just the figment of the creator’s imagination
7.
Empty Skeleton 04:16
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8.
She's Doing Well 04:43
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She’s Doing Well We found each other within this common place
A moment I found I’ll never replace All I ask for is one sincere gift for her Life, mankind, and all that the world can bestow. Now I am assured, she’s doing well Barriers brought down, she’s doing well The wounds are all healed, she’s doing well This is true I know, she is doing well Offer transparency to those I care for Transcend plagued eyes of lust so compassion can endure Two eyes filled with passion simplicity withholds its scope. All I ask for is one sincere gift for her Life, mankind, and all that the world can bestow. Now I am assured, she’s doing well Barriers brought down, she’s doing well The wounds are all healed, she’s doing well This is true I know, she’s doing well I can’t confine these thoughts any more I feel closer than ever before What I am caused the pain or duress It’s worth it all for your happiness Whatever may be always I will know Intrinsic nature ambitions inspired Memories and thoughts shall remain and grow Your insight I will forever admire For she’s doing well This is true I know
9.
Spectre 05:30
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Spectre I’m not just a face I’m not just a pill bottle Though it may save my grace Give comfort and coddle You, you beautiful spectre Where are the actions to mark your words You, you beautiful spectre Where are the beliefs to bind your bones Chorus I used to judge every little thing Because the world upset me I used to count every rat and cage, Malingering endlessly I am the spectre, an apparition, a ghost A thousand people and a thousand minds I host A thousand lives and thousand deaths I’ll boast A spirit of this time, I’ll encroach Chorus I used to judge every little thing Because the world upset me I used to count every rat and cage, Malingering endlessly The many faces of me Changing random and free My cognitive killing spree
10.
Nobody Knows, But You Might 05:28
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about

Shadowplay's second album "Almost Lifelike" is unlike anything the band has ever done before. In their early years the group was very clearly influenced by the sounds of classic rock and grunge music from the 70's and 90's. This time around, the horizon of influence is far more vast. The bands most recent release of original material before "Almost Lifelike" was the 2013 single "Sandy Eyes" and it was the first time they were connected with producer Ted Richardson. "Sandy Eyes", named after the Hurricane that brought devastation to the group's home state the year prior, was certainly an improvement in their production quality; however, it was still very clearly a song in the classic rock vein. The band was smart to choose to work with Richardson again for their next album. What's different about "Almost Lifelike" is apparent almost immediately on the album's first song: "Zach Likes Trains". For one thing, it's the very first song the band has recorded that wasn't written by guitarist Dan Holden or multi-instrumentalist John Sellers. Edward Flynn kicks off the record with yet subtly guitar arpeggio very much in the veins of post-rock bands like Maserati or Mogwai, and when lead singer Andrew Corkery begins to sing he's more subtle than ever before. The ambiance slowly builds to a sudden dynamic shift, and as soon newly requited drummer Jamile Wiggins hits the snare Shadowplay sounds like an entirely new animal in comparison to their early work. On "Almost Lifelike" the songs are brooding, and Ted Richardson does a wonderful job of keeping the band's intricacies compressed and cohesive when they need to be, and he's also not afraid to let the crescendo's really explode when the material demands it. Lead single "Empty Skeleton" sounds like if Rage Against the Machine and Phantogram had a baby. "All That We Hear" is both smooth jazz and the inner turmoil of Slint. On their new album the band describes Kanye West through metaphors not too dissimilar to Shakespeare's Macbeth all above a cacophony and beat only heard on Battles songs. Shadowplay makes peace with lovers both past and current and demands our governments be held accountable for their actions. For all it's weirdness, Richardson keeps this work strangely cohesive, and it truly is unlike any other album out there. If the bands early releases were Pablo Honey, this is the Bends en route to O.K. Computer. Each songwriter is present here in full form and beginning to blossom. After hearing this record, we can only hope the next one comes out sooner rather than later.

credits

released June 24, 2016

Shadowplay is Corkery, Flynn, Sellers, Wiggins

Andrew Corkery
Lead Vocals on all tracks, Lyrics on tracks 4 and 8

Dan Holden
Composer: tracks 3, 7, and 10, Lyrics: tracks 3,7, and 10, Guitar: all tracks, Lead Guitar: tracks 3, 5, and 7, Acoustic Guitar on tracks 6,
Bass & Piano on track 3, Vocals: Tracks 3, 7, and 10

Eddie Flynn
Composer: tracks 1, 2, 4, and 8, Lyrics on tracks 1 and 4,
Guitar: tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10, Lead Guitar on track 1, Bass: 2, 5, 6, and 9, Vocals on track 6

Jamile Wiggins
Drums on all tracks

John Sellers
Composer: tracks 2, 5, 6, and 9, Lyrics: tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9, Guitar
tracks 2, 5, 6 and 9, Lead Guitar on track 6. Lead Guitar on track 6, Bass on tracks 1, 4, 7, 8 and 10, Vocals on tracks 2, 5, 9, and 10, Glockenspiel on track 2, Aux percussion on tracks 2 and 9

Ted Richardson
Tambourine on track 2

ALMOST LIFELIKE produced by Ted Richardson and SHADOWPLAY

Mixed and Mastered by Ted Richardson

Album Art Designed by Dan Holden, Photography by Max Pulcini, model is Ryan Hoover, interior organization and graphic design by Crisanne Glasser, band photo by Reji Berrouet

www.shadowplay.band

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Shadowplay Mount Laurel, New Jersey

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