Ascendant

by Mark Northfield

/
00:00
00:00

  • Digital Album

    Download of 9-track album in file format of your choice.

    Buy Now  ₤2.50 GBP  or more

  • Compact Disc

    Comes in standard jewel case inside an outer slipcase showing the beautiful cover art (from a painting by Tamara Dubnycnyj) minus wording. The inlay contains full lyrics and other relevant info.

    Also includes immediate download of 9-track mp3 album.

    Buy Now  ₤5 GBP or more

    ships out within 2 days
1.
06:02
lyrics
download
2.
06:35
lyrics
download
3.
05:39
lyrics
download
4.
04:09
lyrics
download
5.
06:41
lyrics
download
6.
05:40
lyrics
download
7.
06:54
lyrics
download
8.
04:34
lyrics
download
9.
06:17
lyrics
download

about

'Ever wondered what a Sondheim musical from his darker years would sound like if it was recorded by an indie pianist and some buds? Well, wait no longer!' SPUTNIK MUSIC (FEATURED IN STAFF REVIEWER ADAM DOWNER'S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2008 AND TOP 100 OF THE DECADE.)

'Northfield takes art-pop Chamber music to a new level.' WILDY'S WORLD

'Like a Tim Burton movie for the ears - quirky, detailed, immaculately produced...' BLUESBUNNY

'...deserves its place in the same pantheon as Aqualung, Antony and the Johnsons, Damien Rice or anything by Andy Partridge.' MUSICZEITGEIST

credits

released 18 March 2008

tags

tags: alternative broadway classical dark dreamy genre busting melancholic melodramatic piano pop rock strings unusual weird Bracknell

license

all rights reserved

feeds

feeds for this album, this artist

about

MARK NORTHFIELD is a pianist and singer/songwriter from Berkshire, England. He makes eclectic arty pop/rock with a prominent classical influence, frequently collaborating with vocalists drawn from a variety of genres. He also likes creating innovative videos for his music. Wilfully unpigeonholable. ... more

contact / help

For help with downloads, click here.

For all other inquiries, including help with merch, click here.

shipping and returns

Track Name: Waiting For Green
WAITING FOR GREEN

three chinese women on bikes
at the traffic lights
waiting for green
a guy with the cutest jacket you ever did see
leans toward me all conspiracy
he says
they're showing photographs of a child from the blast
and whose it was was not made known

fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god I loved you
don't you know me

oh the horror he says
as the lights remain red
I used to ride the cutest bike you never did see
freedom he says
freedom
in winter speeding carelessly
escaping with bruises
it's passed and gone except that I'm left

fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god I loved you
don't you know me

then he shows me his leg
it was broken
such a long time ago
oh it was so long ago
they said can you feel the pain
he says can you see
I say we only see what we want to feel
we all have our own pain to deal with

fingers thumbs and toes
sensory overload
all rebounds like
god
I loved you
don't
you know me

my two friends
they said don't be dismayed at him
he doesn't understand women
Track Name: Resistance
RESISTANCE

here in the night
stark neon naked
humble low-rise indefinite sea
you mean the world to me
the shimmer of air in between walls
can looks be measured in unsaid words
you mean the world divides

and if we break the law of gravity
will that make you love me or subtly incline
I put one foot in front of the other

here be sharks
a non-stop fearway
cats eyes strung out until we all freeze
you mean the world to me
the inexact science of longing and loss
dreams weighed and numbered
tagged and filed
you mean the world divides

and if we break the law of gravity
will that make you love me or subtly incline
I put one foot in front of the other

come deliverance come
come denial come
come acceptance
come sweet silent sleep

come deliverance come
come denial come
come acceptance
come sweet silent sleep
Track Name: The Calm
THE CALM

the calm intake of breath
the warmth of hand and head
the form future perfect
the bird shot through with light
the gasp as speed divides by height
the hairs upon your neck glisten with sweat
a less restrained intake of breath

it comes

the point of no return
the scent as rain hits earth
the yen as creed sutured
the space tween teeth and tongue
the ease with which a life is crushed
the pull transpires to push desire aside
aware of how the point derives

it comes
Track Name: Sleeping Beauty
SLEEPING BEAUTY

centuries fly past the window
writing out contracts we rarely fulfill
it's always the small print that steals the show
but what should I know
saving moments to savour
melodies and paper
security feigned
you don't have to be mad to think that you ain't
but maybe it helps

beauty
came round one tuesday
for flapjacks and frisbee
I was too tired
he looked sad
promised to come back
but I fell asleep for an hundred years

I dreamt of tesco being in government
the smile on a penguin as the water rose
we think it's strawberry said the hippos
but what would they know

oh what a lovely oil crash
oh shit - we trusted our genius
then it got all apocalyptic
but suddenly one prick had me bolt upright
I couldn't think striiight
nor speak RP
and beauty
was nowhere to be seen
what kind of fairytale was this
someone was clearly taking

centuries
they flew past the window
trumpeting progress
we had to applaud
but look at the small print
those acts of god
you know
he never pays up
Track Name: Decidedly Dumb
DECIDEDLY DUMB

she's a liar
and full of good intentions
it's hard to know where to start
when a part of you dies
yet to the casual eye still appears to be alive
what do you say
words are scarce and sulky little bulldogs
cowering in between the negatives in the drawer
beneath the blu-tak
beneath the sellotape
decidedly scared
couldn't we make a run
make fools out of everyone
and never let on
how the trick was played

in the evening
butterflies come creeping
it's hard to know where to go to dispose of them
I'm sure I wasn't this cruel once
but somewhere along the way
I learned how not to care
it was for my own good
I shut up when I had to
it's funny how we come to exercise this restraint
in the face of uncertainty
the face of adversity
decidedly calm
why grandma
what big troubles you have
all the better for making you pay my dear

what's the point of being half in love
still it's hard to know where to stop
repetitive actions
inevitable weathering systems
take the strain
ready to tug
slide in the mud
bully for us
that fistful of butterfly dust
scattered from a palm raised in supplication and hope
but then I let go
I let go and lost
decidedly dumb
with what I felt for you
what I felt I ought to
it's hard to know what to write
when the pen only does alternate letters
I look like I shiver
I miss you

ah yeah

she's a liar
and full of good intentions
it's hard to know where to start
Track Name: Weight
WEIGHT

stand up and let me see you
hands raised steady adagio
eyes closed inanimate
I shoot this film

a string of past convictions
held in complete silence
I gave you up so we could be alone

for someone would always come to take you away
no matter how set upon the path we thought we were
I am hanging falling breaking
between one word
one word and the next
one word and the next

we hope to see the future
we aim to catch it off guard
we search for proof as if proof could be found
within a skeletal code
within skin cells once shed
within the blood we were bound to deny

someone will always come to take you away
no matter how set upon the path you thought you were
I am hanging falling breaking
between one word
one word and the next
one word and the next
Track Name: Zero
ZERO

let's go down to the river
watch the stars all flicker on
throw our secrets into the water
let em be carried away
time will do what it always does
it'll run through yer fingers
measure life in years but remember
zero doesn't exist

now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide

let's go down to the river
see the sky fade from azure
silhouettes on the dim horizon
the power of the unseen guiding human endeavour
our senses to exchange vows
water murmurs the earth's agreement
zero runs in between

now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide

falling leaves dance about us
distant trains make future plans
your hands speak of an innocent heart
your eyes another man
a soft breeze chinese whispers
we have been here all our lives
getting drunk on the revelation
love is seeing stars

now is almost
now is always
now is gone
now is nearly
now is surely
now is not
now is high-time
now is high-tide

almost
always
gone
nearly
surely
not
high-time
high-tide
here

now is here
now is here
now is here
now is here
now is here
Track Name: Our Father
OUR FATHER

how wide the river that flows before us
it insinuates words we struggle to read
we shoulder the ache and hope for release
shoulder the hope and ache to belong

attempting to stand still centre stream
how sweetly naive to want to hold hands
swept off our feet we all but drowned
mesmerised by the refraction of love

our father
our father
who art thou

life lying deep someplace within
the undeniable ecstasy of breath
we haul ourselves back to respective sides
all the stronger and none the wiser

our father
our father
our father
who art thou
Track Name: Luco
LUCO

come down to the sea love
come down to the sea
what stories of clouds could keep you thus from me
here there is life in abundance
here there is air complex and sweet
I insist most graciously

how come you're up there love
how come you're up there
I speak as I find
I couldn't find you anywhere
your voice conducts through this vastness
your ghostless space absence defined
I request your descent

come now to the sky love
come now to the sky
what law are you bound to observe thus resigned
here one can sight news from afar
here one can sense earth's curvature
I insist most humbly

come down to the sea love / come now to the sky love
come down to the sea / come now to the sky
what stories of clouds could / what law are you bound to
keep you thus from me / observe thus resigned
here there is life in abundance / here one can sight news from afar
here there is air complex and sweet / here one can sense earth's curvature
I request your descent / I request your ascent

mmmm...