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To The Islands (2018) - Album

by The Magic Lantern

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited edition CD, offset lithograph printed on unique recycled paper Arigato paks all the way from Portland OR's Stumptown Printers with litho fold-out poster/lyrics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of To The Islands (2018) - Album via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 200 

      £12 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

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

      £7 GBP  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 12 The Magic Lantern releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of No One's Fault (2022) - Single, A Reckoning Bell (2021) - Album, Blades of Grass (2021) - Single, Bound for Glory (2021) - Single, My Soul Is A Strange Country (2020) - EP, The Life That I Have (2020) - EP, To The Islands (2018) - Album, Holding Hands (2017) - Single, and 4 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      £40.30 GBP or more (35% OFF)

     

  • The Magic Lantern - To The Islands (Limited Edition Vinyl)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition 12" vinyl, screen printed on textured vellum milkweed card with die cuts on front/back. 2-colour offset lithographic inner sleeve on Context Birch. Records pressed on black virgin vinyl and the whole thing finished and put together by me. Edition of 200.

    Includes unlimited streaming of To The Islands (2018) - Album via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
I’m searching For my true love And I know she’s there Just carry on, just carry on I promise I’ll find you And it won’t be long Just hold on, just hold on So i’m trying To be a better man But the work goes, Yes the work goes on Yes the work goes on One day when all this is washed away Some will remain Full of hope in the pouring rain And I’ll see you there With wet shoes and wet hair And when the last day is done... We’ll make it Somehow You know we will We’ll be holding hands We’ll be holding hands We’ll be holding hands
2.
Albatross 04:19
Albatross Skims over the waves Alone with the rain and the wind That she commands Sailors say Don’t be afraid On fate’s fragile wing We’ll ride out this storm [Storm] Blown off course Foam flecked and cold Home is an old children’s song We sing ourselves to sleep Lighthouse knows All journeys end With hope’s hand reaching out To still each beating breast
3.
Can't escape the news And tragedies every day And desperate people Being washed away Oh brother what should we do? Oh brother what should we do? Oh brother what should we do now? Wherever I look around Seems everyone’s worked it out Ashamed I still don’t know What it’s all about Oh father I’m so confused Oh father I’m so confused Oh father I’m so confused now For the gap between what is and what could be Is as fragile as the beating of a butterfly’s wing Between the world and me Between the world and what you see Between the world and me Between the world and what you see We want all the love But not commit too much But beware that cautious hearts Can grow cold to touch So lover where should we go? So lover where should we go? So lover where should we go now? For the gap between what is and what could be Is as fragile as the beating of a butterfly’s wing So grab someone and roll and roll and roll and roll and Roll and roll and roll and roll and roll and roll and roll and Roll about Between the world and me Between the world and what you see Between the world and me Between the world and what you see
4.
With fear and trembling Of our hopes unending We wind our weary way home Like scattered leaves That settle where we’re blown The good old stories Are all death and glory But worry’s what will get us in the end Just endless rounds Of hows and whys and whens But regret’s a drug babe It holds you down And shakes you ‘till your lips are blue Our search for purpose Is one long reflective surface Scratched from where We’ve tried to change the view Like an oak tree on its side And an acorn where it blew *Teerere mudzimu dzoka Haaaa hoyiye Mudzimu dzoka Kwaziwai changamire Haaaa hoyiye Kwaziwai changamire [Listen spirit come back. Haaa hoyiye Spirit come back, Greetings Lord] *Shona lyrics borrowed with permission from my friend Fidelis Mherembi from his song ‘Mudzimu Dzoka' - Spirit come back
5.
Lydia 04:07
Oh Lydia Don’t believe the hype There’s nothing you can find ‘round here And you might have to turn around And start all over again ‘Cos at least then you’ll be headed Where the sun can warm your skin And then you’ll know I meant it well Lydia But promises of green and gold Will turn to turtle shell And fall like autumn rain from your eyes And in the pools that form around Your tired and angry feet There’ll be scattered lights reflecting All the dreams you just can’t carry anymore So let them go, go, go Lydia Then just go home Then just go home But sure as what is been is done You’ll sing your own song A warning’s just a challenge to carry on And maybe you’ll outsmart us all And see your name in lights But though every door looks the same Only one can lead you back the way you came Don’t lose your way, Lydia Then please come home Then please come home One day please come home One day please come home.
6.
There’s no denying we live far apart But they’re funny old things Oh the head and the heart And you can hear Chance whistling That you’ll never, ever know If you never, ever start I wanna run home and hold you tight I wanna run home and tell you that It’s going to be alright I wanna dance with you baby And turn off all the lights You have the Tyne And I have the Thames A long silver thread With two separate ends We whisper Down the line But with shells to our ears We hear the sea Every time But with shells to our ears We hear the sea Every time But sometimes Wanting’s not enough And all that gleams In time will rust When there’s salt in the air and our eyes Like tangled chimes The wind unwinds us And we ring out alone
7.
Two Bells 04:21
It won’t be easy Won’t be easy at all, Ma You’ve a twilight journey Down from on the hill, Ma The voice says don’t forget me Don’t let me forget me We’ve come this far Why can’t we sit beside the sea Just as we are There’s one bell ringing Warning songs Fog frays the edges Of what’s been and gone Is it worse to lose Or be lost, Pa? And can you find your way back home Now the moon’s clouded over? He says don’t be scared son, No don't be scared son, I’m still here And though the night is dark It’s your mother’s voice I hear We’re like two bells ringing Hands entwined One leads the way now One follows behind We’re like two bells ringing Hands entwined One leads the way now One follows behind
8.
Masks 04:52
It’s not that easy All that effort To keep those muscles moving When you’re black and blue inside Though you do so well to hide it So still and silent The day breaks violently Colour creeping in the corners Driving shadows from the floor Like driftwood on the shore line But sometimes I see Your mask slipping down Don’t be scared No don’t be scared Because you’re beautiful But you’re hurting bad There’s nothing to be done But let time run and run A beginning entails it’s end And what’s broken we’ll mend You’re broken Broken Broken down Come on let’s lie down And I’ll stroke your hair And tell you it’s going to be Alright in the end Believe me Believe me But it’s not that easy All that effort To keep those muscles moving When you’re black and blue inside Though you do, So well To hide it.
9.
Darling Day 05:26
Come on darling, Darling day Come on darling, Darling day I lie wide awake In the wine-dark lake Of the night And cold waves of worry and guilt Come in gangs I can’t fight Come on birds Come on birds Come on birds sing Come on birds sing Come on Come and stay Come on darling, Darling day Come on darling, Darling day The worry lines worn With each black-opal dawn’s Slow embrace A sea cliff that holds back our fears ‘Till the moon shows her face Grey goose Grey goose Grey goose Come on, Come and stay Come day, darling
10.
Re: Her 02:06
11.
Oh Lydia Don’t believe the hype There’s nothing you can find ‘round here And you might have to turn around And start all over again ‘Cos at least then you’ll be headed Where the sun can warm your skin And then you’ll know I meant it well Lydia But promises of green and gold Will turn to turtle shell And fall like autumn rain from your eyes And in the pools that form around Your tired and angry feet There’ll be scattered lights reflecting All the dreams you just can’t carry anymore So let them go, go, go Lydia Then just go home Then just go home But sure as what is been is done You’ll sing your own song A warning’s just a challenge to carry on And maybe you’ll outsmart us all And see your name in lights But though every door looks the same Only one can lead you back the way you came Don’t lose your way, Lydia Then please come home Then please come home One day please come home One day please come home.
12.
Albatross Skims over the waves Alone with the rain and the wind That she commands Sailors say Don’t be afraid On fate’s fragile wing We’ll ride out this storm Storm, storm Blown off course Foam flecked and cold Home is an old children’s song We sing ourselves to sleep Lighthouse knows All journey’s end With hope’s hand reaching out To still each beating breast

about

The act of remembering and its challenges, has defined much about this album and me in the making of it. With profound personal and political implications, it is a wonder that the process itself remains such a mystery. For what and how we remember helps define the limits of our aspirations and shapes our understanding of, and expectations for, a world in which they might be realised.

The point where memory, hope and expectation meet therefore, is a fertile, febrile place. Like a delta, it is rich with the accumulated narratives and shared histories we lay down over time, year upon ever flowing year. It is here we sink our roots; here we sow our seeds.

But just as when looking in on Schrödingerʼs poor cat, the act of observation itself affects the outcome. The present tense recollection of the past is always biased by our current selves, the demands of the present and whatever colour glasses we happen to be wearing. In that sense we live in the moment, perhaps unwittingly, more than we give ourselves credit for.

This is important because although we cannot, as Einstein pointed out, ‘get around the assumption of realityʼ, we know our memories are fallible. However they get corrupted, challenged or lost, the effect is like trying to walk in a straight line on a rolling ship; the sudden destabilising of certainties can quickly spiral into an unravelling of the whole kit and caboodle - all hope and expectation reduced to the intensity of the moment. For who are we if not what we were? And what is left if we no longer know?

Memories, however imperfect, sent me back to my childhood home to Australia after many years away, where I began writing these songs - memories of who I thought I was and what made me who I am. Taking them for granted, I set off on a wild goose chase. And as the saying goes, assumption will make an ass out of you and me, and so it did. But it started me thinking about all of this and how fresh and fragile we are.

The making of this album has traced the journey I have taken over the last three years, through places geographic and emotional, in ways I couldn’t have imagined - as intensely beautiful as challenging. I’ve lent on friends and family and had to hold them up. And while I feel less certain about everything, I’m more at ease knowing how little I know:

That a delta owes its fertility to the floods that wash away much of what was. As the waters recede, what remains is the promise of a new beginning, but one which entails its end.

All love and thanks to Fred Thomas, Zac Gvirtzman, Chris Hyson, Dave Hamblett, Alex Killpartrick, Chris Sheehan, Adam Greves and Adam Lawson for their dedication and support in helping to make this record happen; and in particular to thank Rhia Parker, for reminding me to look up at the moon.

This album is dedicated, with love and admiration, to my father.

- Jamie Doe, Autumn 2018

credits

released November 2, 2018

All songs written by Jamie Doe
Performed by Jamie Doe, Zac Gvirtzman, Dave Hamblett, Chris Hyson and Fred Thomas.
Additional horns on 'Holding Hands' by Dave Shulman and Mick Foster
Strings on 'Masks' by Peter Thomas, Phil Granell and Sergio Serra

Produced by Fred Thomas and Jamie Doe
Recorded by Alex Killpartrick with additional recording by Fred Thomas
Mixed by Alex Killpartrick
Mastered by Mandy Parnell
Artwork by Raimund Wong

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The Magic Lantern London, UK

The Magic Lantern is the musical moniker of singer-songwriter Jamie Doe

His fourth album 'A Reckoning Bell' written and recorded while helping to care for his father with Alzheimers disease, see's The Magic Lantern exploring what loss can teach us about love and how love's small acts give a life meaning.

His new album is due for release in October.
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