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Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes: "The Necrophone Sessions"

by Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Very limited, Switzerland only pressing of Digipak CD, with artwork by Mathieu Donner.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes: "The Necrophone Sessions" via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 300 

      20 CHF or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

      9 CHF  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Very limited (only 50 copies for Europe, and 300 in total) 12" golden Vinyl, first release, with artprint, designed by Mathieu Donner

    Includes unlimited streaming of Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes: "The Necrophone Sessions" via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 300  3 remaining

      30 CHF or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 19 Hemlock Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Small Change World, Live @ CCC Festival (May 5th, 2020), Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes: "The Necrophone Sessions", The Ghost Parade, St.Louis (Webcam Version), I can only see the Darkness_DEMO, Medusa EP, By the Grace of Dynamite, and 11 more. , and , .

      65 CHF or more (35% OFF)

     

1.
Search the Shadows It’s OK… Well I’m far too old to tell stories now And even older just to hear them And everyone’s turning silent now I’m gonna try to disappear, and Whatever happens will be penance For all the bad, even the good I knew I wouldn’t get out of that – Noone could… noone could… it’s OK… You can cry me a river You can shed a million tears You can tremble – you can shiver You can summon all your fears You’d always be dead wrong – - dead wrong To search the shadows when I’m gone To search the shadows when I’m gone It’s OK… You’d always be dead wrong – - dead wrong To search the shadows when I’m gone Whatever happens will be penance For all the bad, even the good We were never meant to get out of that – Noone could… noone could…it’s OK… You can cry me a river You can shed a million tears You can tremble – you can shiver You can summon all your fears You’d always be dead wrong – dead wrong To search the shadows when I’m gone To search the shadows when I’m gone -- You can cry me a river You can shed a million tears You can tremble – you can shiver You can summon all your fears You’d always be dead wrong – dead wrong To search the shadows when I’m gone To search the shadows when I’m gone
2.
The Glory of the Soviet Union She said She longed for the glory of the Soviet Union Where brave men and women went into outer space And hoist the flag of communism. She said She longed for the huge parades on the large avenues Where tanks and missiles rolled on the moaning concrete like roaring thunder; And everyone wore the same hats and the same scarves and the same overcoats And everyone was happy. She said She’d experienced hunger but is was alright because everyone felt the same hunger at the same time Because everyone was equal and hunger, like corn, was something everyone shared. (But then, I guess, she’d never seen Khrushchev on TV, eating a really big dinner…) And then she told me she was Jewish And that her whole family had been deported by the Nazis in ‘43 And she had been raped, several times. And her sister had been raped. Only once. But then, they shot her. And she said that she had only survived by escaping and hiding in a hole, in the woods, in January. She said she didn’t feel the cold anymore, since then, except in her soul. She said she longed for the glory of the Soviet Union Where brave men and women fought for their freedom and everyone had the same ideas. Usually nice ones. She said we could have sex, but always in the dark and that she would never, ever speak. She would never enjoy it. She said that we could marry, that she would respect me, but that she would not ever, ever, be able to love me. She would always smell the damp of the snow, the taste of blood in her mouth, the bitter stench of dead bodies undisposed of. And she would hear the rats. And then she said she also, once, hid like a rat. But brave men and women, her people, rescued her when she had already given up. She longed for the glory of the Soviet Union, she said - The glory of the Soviet Union. The glory of the Soviet Union.
3.
Comb the Ashes In the cold light, unforgiving – In the harsh beam of the neon There they huddle Just to say goodbye. Inarticulate, like a mute bell – in the evening Like a dead cell Final stroke and after that – The silence will ever lie. Say goodbye. (repeat) * Your nails turned black - Wait for the furnace The final fire – There! - Comb the Ashes… Your nails turned black - Wait for the furnace The final fire – There! - Comb the Ashes… You can comb me… - comb me… Your nails turned black - Wait for the furnace The final fire – There! - Comb the Ashes… Your nails turned black - Wait for the furnace The final fire – There! - Come the Ashes… * You can comb the ashes, when I’m gone… You can comb the ashes, when I’m gone… You can comb the ashes, when I’m gone… You can comb the ashes, when I’m gone…
4.
Krankenakte 05:42
Krankenakte Ich liebe Dich Hat er gesagt Und mir den Arm gebrochen. Die Polizei hat mich befragt. Ich sag: „Er hat ja nichts verbrochen“. Ich liebe Dich Hat er geschrien Und mir ins Herz geschossen. Meine Augen brachen; er war deswegen Bei weitem nicht verdrossen. Ich liebe Dich Hat er geflüstert Und sprach vom Paradies. Ich liebe Dich Hat er geflüstert Und sprach vom Paradies. Ich liege hier in meinem Grab Weiss nicht mehr, wie ich hiess.
5.
Necrophone 01:30
Necrophone I can hear you breathe - through my machine Whatever secrets lie, whatever stories mean I can hear you breathe - through my machine Will you say the words, will you come clean?
6.
Nowhere 06:18
Nowhere Everyone’s going nowhere It seems so crystal clear It’s the only certainty I’ve got For myself throughout the years Everyone’s going nowhere And going nowhere fast The time for desperate measures’ up This is always gonna last Cos’ I can’t get up - And I can’t get down - But I can get nowhere. All over through the city I see the people run They fly away in panicked flocks To be burnt down by the sun And whatever sense of pity Might invade us when we look We’re the same old dangling crooks, who got Stuck on the butcher’s hook Cos’ I can’t get up - And I can’t get down - But I can get nowhere. Everyone’s going nowhere It seems so crystal clear It’s the only certainty I’ve got For myself throughout the years Everyone’s going nowhere And going nowhere fast It’s time to drink the bitter cup And slowly sink towards the past Cos’ I can’t get up - And I can’t get down - But I can get nowhere. Everyone – Everyone – Everyone – Everyone - And all over through the city I see the people run They fly away in panicked flocks To be burnt down by the sun And whatever sense of pity Will be useless, will be naught We’re the same old bumbling idiots Who scream when we get caught Cos’ I can’t get up - And I can’t get down - But I can get nowhere. Cos’ I can’t get up - And I can’t get down - But I can get nowhere. But I can get nowhere. But I can get nowhere.
7.
Black Friday 13:04
Black Friday I had done I had done my shopping Temporarily content - Ignoring all dissent On a Friday Black Friday. That’s when I saw Suddenly I saw, there All the people looking up from behind their phones Kinda blown. Third world war Third world war is coming Will we find Will we find shelter from the storm? This kinda fear Fear of lives being shattered I kinda fear It will not matter in the end. I have done I have done my prayers, there Thank you God, it’s the week-end. It’s Friday. Black Friday. It’s Friday. * I have done I have done my prayers, there Thank you God, it’s the week-end. * Breathe in - Breathe out Day in - Day out What for? Breathe in - Breathe out Day in - Day out What for? Breathe in - Breathe out Day in - Day out What for?

about

Roman Numeral Records are thrilled to announce the release of The Necrophone Sessions, the third collaborative release from Switzerland’s Hemlock Smith and les Poissons Autistes. While the former is mainly known for his dark folk tendencies as the latter duo are for their experimental approach to ambient, drone, and noise, together the trio unites all of these tonal aesthetics to what can only be characterised as a vivacious and exhilarating, boundary-shattering blend of dark and haunting music for the educated mind. While the frames of neofolk apply to The Necrophone Sessions throughout, you’ll find a plethora of vastly different but seamlessly amalgamating orientations from within its confines, together creating a narrative epic striding beyond its peers.

The intimate folk music of Hemlock Smith got thrown against the massive layers of noise developed by les Poissons Autistes for the first time in 2008, despite the fact that the musicians had only met few times prior. Done entirely via file exchanging, Three Times Dead was written in an almost dream-like state – the absence of external and internal pressure authorized every conceivable level of experimentation. Regularly cited among that year’s best Swiss music, the release was followed by long period of silence, only interrupted by their collaboration with Arnaud Ivan Sponar (Goodbye Ivan) for The Worst, a project which then produced the album Transatlantic Death Songs in 2015. In 2018, as a semi-joke, Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes evoked the possibility of a spontaneous anniversary track to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Three Times Dead. As it happens, what was supposed to be a one-off track then morphed into a set of seven new songs, within mere months. In terms of style, writing and instrumentation, The Necrophone Sessions is the direct heir to their debut album on many levels, but equally evolves and expands even further, exploring territories very rarely brought to life. You’ll find layers upon layers of profoundly eerie timbres and tonalities intertwining with shiver-inducing storytelling, that manages to be genuine yet somehow distant but tangible, all at the same time.

Apart from that, The Necrophone Sessions is a contemporary record, conjuring up images of confinement, political and social crises and the notion of the end of the world as we know it, with its sonical claustrophobia mirroring our times and the present day. Relating to its title, the album also gives a real voice to the dead; In his prime, Thomas Edison tried to master the construction of a device called “Necrophone”, that should have allowed him to chat with the other side of the Styx. And while the apparatus, of course, never worked, the initial quantum idea and the related possibility of a conversation with memories and shadows inspired the creation of this record, as well as the cover, designed by Mathieu Donner. Mixed by Samuel Vaney, a big figure in Swiss metal and electronica (Cortez, Muhd, Fargue, Consor), The Necrophone Sessions is a twilight state album; as dark and gloomy as 2020 was, but modern and timeless to equal measures. As an aural concept, the album is like dwelling in an endless fever dream while pursuing one of the final specks of light known to mankind; Hope.

(Eeli Helin, for Roman Numeral Records)

For customers outside of Switzerland, please be sure to preorder your vinyl here:
www.romannumeralrecords.com
romannumeralrecords.bandcamp.com

credits

released February 26, 2021

Credits :
All songs written by Stéphane Babey, Michael Frei and Philippe Simon.
Lyrics by Michael Frei.
Stéphane Babey: six-string electric cello, electric guitar, bass, no-input guitar effects, laptop.
Michael Frei: vocals, piano, Mellotron, percussion.
Philippe Simon: trumpet, bass, electric guitar, laptop.
Mixed and Mastered by Samuel Vaney at Lead & Sulfur Studio.
Produced by Samuel Vaney, Hemlock Smith & Les Poissons Autistes.
© 2021 Roman Numeral Records (Vinyl) - Hemlock Smith & les Poissons Autistes (CD).

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Hemlock Smith Lausanne, Switzerland

Hemlock Smith come from Lausanne (Switzerland). Since 2002, they’ve released 7 regular albums with intelligent pop, as well as 2 soundtracks for silent film and 2 collaborations with Noise duo Les Poissons Autistes. Fronted by singer-songwriter Michael Frei, Hemlock Smith's distinctive voice is complemented by a talented band seamlessly blending Pop, Folk, Rock and Trip-Hop Sensibilities ... more

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