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BMX Bandits In Space

by BMX BANDITS

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  • LP (Clear Vinyl - Numbered Limited Edition of 500 copies)
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1.
In Space 03:34
I've been drifting in space for so long Endlessly singing the same song It's time to go home It's time to go home again Where there's love there's hope And where there's hope there is you It's time to start to live It's time to start to live again
2.
There's no need to worry, you're going to be alright That is what they told me, but still I find I cry Cry for all the empty hours I could have spent with you Cry for a lost dream I thought could come true I thought I was going to be a better me With you by my side, but I can't even be What I was before, no matter how I try And even after all these years Sometimes I find I cry I know it's dumb And I have tried But still I miss you I really miss you
3.
Charlie asked me if I would go and see his friend from far away Meet for tea in the afternoon, then go and see B & S play When I arrived you were there. I thought please let this be her Then you smiled, my heart lit up. I forgot about all my hurt I felt alive again, found my smile again Will I see you again My beautiful friend You had never seen snow before, you made it magical for me Then you showed me your drawings as we warmed up drinking tea I was alive again, I could smile again (I'll be your girl) I want to see you again My beautiful friend
4.
I was so frightened alone in the dark Then you lit my way, you were the spark Look at you, look at you I was so glad when you took my hand I was also scared, please understand Look at you, look at you Look at you, look at me Come here my dear and stand next to me Look in the mirror and tell me what you see Love love love Well now things are better, now things are good I've found my someone and that someone is you Look at me, look at me Look at me, look at you Come here my dear close and face me Look into my eyes and tell me what you see Love love love Look at you, look at me
5.
It's a feeling I get inside of me when I try to be strong and unafraid I'm free wheeling you get the best of me and the rest of me I just want to tell you straight We're like the morning sun, we've only just begun We're lovers on the run, we've only just begun And you know that I'm right in front of you Always wanted to do something with my life I will treasure the times I've been around Always trying to sound great And I'll try to tell you now We're like the morning sun, we've only just begun We're lovers on the run, we've only just begun All these things I say I believe we've got today No need to run and hide, our love is coming home to stay Sun
6.
You'll never get to Heaven if you break my heart is an underrated song But pay attention to Hal and Burt's advice and I know you won't go wrong Being mean and cruel's a sin and if you lie you won't get in Sitting comfortably, then let's begin Listen to some music and the wisdom deep within It could change your life, so let our song begin God only knows what I'd be without you, Brian and Tony know how I feel They helped me figure out what I was thinking and in song they made it real And if you ever need a friend just play that song once again It is the one on which you can depend Listen to some music and the wisdom deep within A song could change your life and be a real good friend All night long you can play it again and again It'll never let you down, quit on you or coldly walk away
7.
She makes shoes and draws in elegant lines with her left hand Looks so good, why I wouldn’t want her is hard to understand Another girl, so young, beautiful and alive but she won’t do Couldn’t find anything wrong with her except she’s not you Well that’s very sweet of you honey but it’s just no good I think you’re truly kind and cute and very funny but I can’t be with you Open up your eyes and mind, you should be out there dating Instead of spending all of your time waiting for me I’m not wasting time when just seeing you smile thrills me Oh I’ve an open mind but can’t find anyone who affects me so Well maybe someday there will be someone who excites me like you do And you know I really think I am lucky that I have found you Open up your eyes and mind you should be out there dating Instead of spending all of your life waiting for me She makes shoes and draws in elegant lines with her left hand
8.
And It's You 03:42
And if I live to 103 I know you’ll still be a big part of me Whether you’re near or whether apart I’m pretty sure you’ll stay in my heart No one could change what I think of you, I couldn’t forget you if I wanted to I hope you never lose your affection for me and continue to forgive my stupidity Well it’s you, it’s me, it’s a complicated story like the best ones can be And it’s you, it’s me, we’re no longer lovers but we’re still family You were so young when you entered my life and were still young when I made you my wife We were maybe naive, we thought we’d give it a try It didn’t work out but our love didn’t die Love ebbs, love flows from now on
9.
I believed in you, I didn’t know you were so cruel You misbehaved and the things you said You disappointed me You said we’d have a life, you said you didn’t love your wife I thought it was true and you disappointed me I thought that you were strong, it turns out that I was wrong You threw away our chance of a great romance You disappointed me
10.
Just got the realisation that this whole situation Is fucked up this time It’s getting so frustrating. Why are we sitting round waiting Just wasting time I can’t stop loving you but I can’t stop hating you Talking on and on Don’t make things better, no better Listen when I say why don’t you leave me alone Oh honey leave me alone Fucked up this time Hope you find the one you wish for Hope you find a little ray of hope, it sure wasn’t me I don’t want someone to fight with I want someone to share my life with in all honesty I can’t stop loving you but I can’t stop hating you The sound of your own voice Don’t make things better, no better Listen when I say why don’t you leave me alone Oh honey leave me alone Fucked up this time
11.
Fireworks 03:14
Girl you’re a weirdo, you’re the strangest creature I know and that’s why we go Together like a flower and honey bee Girl you’re peculiar, you’re my curiosity and that’s why it’s good When we’re together you and me But even though I love you so you make me feel funny Like there are loads of fireworks exploding in my tummy, honey Girl you’re a weirdo, you’re the strangest lady I know and that’s why we go Together like thunder and lightning But girl you’re frightening, you are really quite intense and I’m still working out If we even make sense But even though I love you so you make me feel funny Like there is loads of stuff going on inside my head, my heart and tummy Girl you’re a weirdo, you’re the strangest creature I know and that’s why we go Together like a flower and a honey bee Oh but you’re frightening you are really quite intense and that’ s why I know You and me make sense
12.
I believe in beauty and where it leads me I will go You must believe in something Because if there’s really nothing Then there is no hope It won’t take much persuasion, no need to understand But if love is what we’re feeling come on little darling take my hand All around the world tonight searching for something We’re searching for something All around the world tonight there’s got to be something Got to be something I’m not one to argue but I know that sometimes lovers they can be so cruel So please excuse my caution I’m so afraid of falling off my pedestal Let me try some persuading, we don’t need to understand If love is what we’re feeling come on little darling take my hand
13.
Give me that smile I need to see Before I can ask you to come dance with me Let me feel confident that you will join me Tonight in this waltz of love And while we dance look in my eyes See if there’s something that you might like Moving so close to me you’re bound to see This could be a waltz of love Now close your eyes and maybe you’ll see An older you dancing with an old me Our friends and family will all smile to see Us dancing our waltz of love So smile that smile that need to see And let’s start in our waltz of love
14.
If I’m near you I want to touch you But there’s a veil between our skin If you’re calling a subtle warning You sing to me from deep within But like the sun I shine before the dawn Wrapped up in hope I grope like everyone A simple thought before all our words are gone The unforgiven It’s a new day and it’s a good day You’ve got to read between the lines Falling down some and crawling back some The world is yours but it was mine Some try to fight, it’s hard on bended knees With one hand tied it’s better to deceive Yourself and I like everyone will be the unforgiven Rolling around the heavens And galaxies spin silently in space Without a thought for this whole human race So ease your tears they’ve got no bitter taste The unforgiven Rolling round the heavens Please forgive me so I can go home
15.
Instrumental

about

FORMATS: LP [Clear Vinyl] [Numbered Limited Edition of 500 copies] / CD Digipak / Digital Album

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► Watch the official video-clip of "Beautiful Friend": bit.ly/2F5zosF
► Watch the official video-clip of "Listen To Some Music": bit.ly/2IEzsk2
► Watch the official video-clip of "All Around The World": bit.ly/2MGuJDS
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BMX BANDITS are putting out a new album on Elefant Records, this time a full-length with totally new material. The sixteenth release from Duglas T Stewart’s group comes surrounded by lots of big news. The first big news is that this new album includes the return of two of BMX BANDITS’ original members, neither of whom have worked with the group since its beginnings, sometime around 1985. Jim McCulloch (SNOWGOOSE, THE SOUP DRAGONS) is not only back in the line-up but also participated intensely in the song-writing process for many of the tracks, and Sean Dickson (THE SOUP DRAGONS) wrote the album’s opening and closing tracks. Second, another regular collaborator who has returned to the fold is the grandiose and ubiquitous Norman Blake (TEENAGE FANCLUB), who plays several instruments and coproduces the captivating “Still”. Finally, what we have here is a kind of space-pop-opera - one of the most magnificent works of art from one of the most charismatic characters in the history of indie pop.

“BMX Bandits in Space” tells the story of a man travelling through time and space in search of forgiveness and a way back home. Throughout the trip there are small flashes – some are memories and some are figments of his imagination. “Every song, every flash of music is like a piece of a puzzle that helps our hero discover how he wound up lost and wandering infinitely around in space, and what his particular idea of love was.”

After that overture, “Still” tells us about the vehicle that will take us through the story, a fragile and broken-down space ship, which moves between space-like choruses and toy-like arpeggios that were made with the collaboration of Japan’s PLECTRUM. “The protagonist remembers how his friends used to tell him that everything was going to be alright, but now he’s not so sure”, Stewart himself explains. “Beautiful Friend” begins with a bit of northern-soul only to wrap up with a touch of synthesizers (along the lines of a more danceable PAPAS FRITAS) that give the song the necessary spark for remembering an exotic woman who visits our astronaut in Scotland, the attempt at a new beginning that quickly vanishes like a puff of smoke. Was it all just a dream?

“Look at You, Look at Me”, with the collaboration of Argentina’s CINEPLEXX, and its fifties echoes, tells the story of a girl who appears in a dream, lost and scared. “He dreams that they both find love. And the end of this dream is a fairytale in the style of Jacques Demy”. That’s where “Like the Morning Sun” comes in, a pop delicacy with a sixties structure and echoes of lounge and soul. “Listen to Some Music” reminds us of music’s ability to comfort us with the perfect pop song. The song has an amazing melody, sunshine-pop voices, and a collection of colorful wind arrangements.

“Elegant Love” reinterprets “Elegant Lines” (an old song from BMX BANDITS themselves, and another collaboration with CINEPLEXX) with synth-pop to create a solid, wonderful song that gives a new style-counterpoint, which is their trademark. This sets the scene for “And It’s You”, which tells a story, amidst acoustic embraces and a sassy Casiotone, of a love that has ended but has left so many wonderful and unforgettable moments, not to mention a delicious new chorus. “You Disappointed Me” has our astronaut, the same as in “Fucked Up”, remembering friendships that have failed because of distrust and betrayals, and it brings us the most dramatic and theatrical moment of the album. These are surprising pieces with incredible arrangements and a great visual capacity, showing off the funky groove of “Fucked Up”. But “Fireworks” (written by the very young Carla Easton, whom we will be hearing more about soon) gets its optimistic tone back, with fifties-styled melodies and arrangements, as if Perry Como were sailing around in search of the deserted island where THE SHIRELLES were stranded.

“All Around The World” is the essence of the album, starting with that wonderful line, “I believe in beauty, and where ever it leads me, that’s where I’ll go.” As if ABBA and THE BEATLES let Bacharach direct them, Duglas explains the idiosyncrasies of love and the endless search in the face of the hope that there’s something to search for. “While We’re Dancing” paints a picture of a couple falling in love to a waltz beat, in a church hall, before the man goes off to fight in WWII. The protagonist himself sees the same scene, many years later, with the same couple, much older now, surrounded by friends, in the same church hall. Tom Waits would have wanted to this song to be in his early repertoire, with that beautiful, velvety violin…

Finally, “The Unforgiven”, another piece with great theatrical power, somewhere between Henry Mancini and F.M. Corndog, tells the story how in the final moment, when it seemed like the trip was never going to end, “an angel baths our hero in the light of love and forgiveness, bringing his journey to a sudden close, and he finds himself in green, hilly pastures, on his way back home, where love is probably waiting for him to bring him back to life.” Can you imagine what the musical representation of this angel is? We aren’t saying a word, considering that this one of a kind work of art requires thousands of listens, starting with that first hurried and bewildered listen when the unique melodies, the elegance, and the arrangements all captivate you right away, to those last listens when you scrutinize every single sentence about the protagonist and every sound has a key role in the story, like supporting actors with indescribable importance.

An amazing album topped off with an incredible album cover by Duprez, who is able to bring a vintage design style together with a space theme (as he already did for Elefant’s complication, “Space Escapade”), and who even knows how to bring colorful pop spirit to a lonely, star-filled outer space background. This is probably Duglas T. Stewart’s best piece of work yet, which, when talking about one of pop music’s most important contemporary icons and the experience he brings with him, is saying quite a lot. What is definitely clear is that we are talking about a special, wonderful album that we at Elefant Records are proud to share with the whole world. Enjoy!

credits

released October 29, 2012

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