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Days of Retreat

by Babbling April

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited run of Days of Retreat on compact disc, featuring a full color gatefold package in matte finish. Front and inner artwork by Nancy Jane Epling and back cover photo by Mike Kim.

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  • Days of Retreat CD, Holy Gold/On Breath EPs 12" Vinyl, and a Babbling April sticker and pin.
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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Days of Retreat, Country House, Holy Gold EP, Ceremony (New Order Cover), and On Breath EP. , and , .

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1.
Just yesterday was a new decade But now that tape runs faded and blurry All the afternoons we wasted in a hurry And somehow it seems no one has aged We now throw the worst kinds of parties And it feels like they go on and go on and go on for days The decorative lights have grown dim The riveting talks have grown thin And your charming smile seems more now like a shit eating grin But still I am here feeling older than my age The past is the past, goodbye to all that The chemistry has changed We all throw the worst kinds of parties And it feels like they go on and go on and go on for days
2.
Well I woke up in a city with clear blue skies and wide boulevards and green trees And lots of clean polished people wearing suits carrying yoga mats off to buy artisanal pastry And I'm wondering wearing the hid all the junkies And I'm wondering wear they hid all the drunks And I'm looking for an all night diner That serves up some hash and eggs for a buck Sometimes I need a city to spit in The kind of place I really can live in Sometimes I need a city to spit in, but I can't spit in this city Well theres no red lights down in the district And no brown paper bags on the stoop And all the bars on this street are shilling small batch crap to overdressed upward professional youths And I'm wondering where the stashed all the bodies And I'm wondering where they hid all the porn And I'm waiting for a man with a dime store watch who shows up about a quarter to four Sometimes I need a city to spit in Where the liquors poured at 6am and All the makeups running down to your chin and I can't spit in this city Sometimes I need a city to spit in With the gutters that I can sit in sin in With the rats digging down in the bins and I can't spit in this city
3.
Russet Witch 06:38
Oh russet witch Kick up your heels Olive arms spinning round I'm not convinced youre real Oh russet witch No married life Sucking sweetness from the hour No nine to five Oh russet witch Teach me some more Kick the drinks off the table top Knock the chandelier to the floor Oh russet witch Tempt me some more Your laugh rings like a dare An open door Oh russet witch Always the wicked girl All the catholics kneel and pray Now you're loose in the world Oh russet witch Toppled mess of hair Sitting at the foot of the bed Like a kama put you there Oh russet witch You play tricks with your eyes Fill me up like a paper cup Crumpled and tossed aside Oh russet witch Lets carry on Throw one back for the bourgioisie Til the break of dawn Oh russet witch Slip out at night Linger in a glass of gin To forget the stuff of life Oh russet witch Who was i to resist A world well wasted A life now eclipsed
4.
5.
6.
Narcissism 03:55
Wait Can’t find the words I should say To make you think that I wanted to stay Yeah, your feelings aren’t safe And now I’ll step away from that crowd So much for friends who are never around Yeah, we’ll make it somehow I’m stripping myself of this veil of narcissism And I’m pulling myself out of this social chasm (Who do you really love?) I need to find a way back to the people I love Need to leave behind the toxic souls and rise above them (Who do you really love?) Here We’re fighting time flowing fast And I keep thinking maybe this feeling won’t last Left you in the past And every night I tell myself it’s getting better This bout of solitude won’t stick around forever Walk out the door, close the lid on our life together Well I’ve been at this long enough that I think I’d know There ain’t no perfect bodies and there ain’t no perfect souls
7.
I’ve been thinking I should go out west Get the hell out of Baltimore I’ve been thinking the time has come Would she even care if I were to go Would things ever change if I stayed I’ve been thinking the time has come Oh girl can’t make up my mind again I think I should just get in the car I’ve been hanging out on the city limits Just holding down the stools in this bar Well you know just where you are When you’re sitting on top of the world But I’m sitting in a bar in Baltimore Trying to forget about another girl These days of retreat Hold the phone lines in our hands These days of retreat Never knowing where we’ll land These days of retreat 64 and overcast These days of retreat Electric souls are built to last There’s a choir of drunk drivers Out on Highway 10 tonight And we’ll be flying ever higher Under west coast city lights
8.
Sitting with you on the couch after we Both had such long days at work and were Watching some jerk off TV show Eating dinner at the coffee table and Not looking forward to tomorrow Counting up the hours of sleep we might get tonight When the commercial comes on and the decibels knock us both right out of our thoughts, and were Fumbling for the mute button Must be lost in a couch cushion And I'm sitting on an airplane Not to anyplace I chose Just trying to quiet my mind, but still Wondering if I'll have the time to iron my clothes Fumbling for the mute button On tomorrow On today Fumbling for the mute button On the future On the past

about

Washington DC-based group Babbling April cut punchy, smart and engaging indie rock.

Dave New (31), Vivienne Machi (30), and Ben Melrod (29) are known to fluctuate from quiet to loud, trade vocals, and make seamless transitions from dream-pop shimmer to the sleaziest sides of garage rock. And yet, not unlike their foremost influence Yo La Tengo, they always manage to sound distinctly like themselves.

Babbling April have created a bit of a mystique around the city, indulging their punk ethos in a town full of workaholics focused on lofty career ambitions. With tall-boys on their amps and a sea of pedals at their feet, they refined their live show and band chemistry in DC’s vibrant house show scene. The group released two acclaimed EP’s in 2015 and in 2018, and supported buzzy bands like Fujiya & Miyagi and Diane Coffee.

Their newest LP, Days of Retreat, features Babbling April’s signature scuzzy garage rock and boy/girl vocal interaction, but the songs are more pensive this time around, dominated by themes of disconnection and despondence. Lead single “Worst Kinds of Parties” is about that moment when you realize your life now is distinctly different from how it was, but feel powerless to change it. Babbling April self-produced and directed the video for the song. “City To Spit In” offers a nuanced take on gentrification, while other tracks continue to explore the trappings of the work-centric lifestyle that’s become the new normal.

“This album feels particularly relevant to U.S. millennials who have grown up through one national tragedy after another, graduated into a global recession, and now face a global pandemic,” Machi reflects. “We are finding that what we value may not be the same as generations past.”

Days of Retreat will be released in full on June 5th.

The music video for Worst Kinds of Parties can be viewed at :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkgKrwRE2Xs&feature=youtu.be

credits

released June 5, 2020

Dave New - Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Bass
Vivienne Machi - Vocals, Guitar
Ben Medina - Bass
Ben Melrod - Drums

Also featuring Laurel Halsey (of Bal Boheme) playing keys on track 7 and Liza Gill playing cello on track 3

Produced by Dave New
Engineered by Dave New and Ben Melrod
Mixed by David New and Ben Melrod
Mastered by Carl Saff

Tracks 2, 4, 5, and 8 written by Dave New
Tracks 1 and 6 written by Vivienne Machi and Dave New
Track 3 written by Dave New and Ben Medina
Track 7 written by Phil Bisker, Vivienne Machi, and Dave New

Artwork by Nancy Jane Epling

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Babbling April Washington, D.C.

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