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Ascendant

by Mark Northfield

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    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.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Download of 9-track album in file format of your choice.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £2.50 GBP  or more

     

1.
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
2.
Resistance 06:35
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
3.
The Calm 05:39
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Weight 05:40
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
7.
Zero 06:54
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
8.
Our Father 04:34
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
9.
Luco 06:17
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...

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 March 18, 2008

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about

Mark Northfield Reading, UK

Pianist and singer/songwriter from Berkshire, England. Also founder member of piano trio Cherry Mint Koala. Mark makes eclectic, melodic and slightly melancholic pop/rock, with prominent classical and theatrical influences. Often collaborates with other vocalists drawn from a variety of genres. Somewhat unpigeonholeable. ... more

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