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about
Patrick Watson is thrilled to announce Better in the Shade, his seventh full-length studio album, set for digital release on April 22 via Secret City Records worldwide.
This new recording appears after a prolific last couple of years - despite the worldwide pandemic - where Patrick released multiple songs (A Mermaid in Lisbon, Que reste-t'il de nos amours, Lost with You) following-up his previous award-winning album, Wave, released in 2019. More recently, Patrick played in London, UK at the Barbican with the BBC Orchestra and will be headlining Le Poisson Rouge in New York on March 31. More concert dates will be announced soon.
In Patrick’s words, the new album “is about negotiating a world where you don’t know what’s real anymore”. “I really spent a lot of time reading to improve my lyrics for this record”, he says. “I was very inspired by Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, The Waves by Virginia Woolf and Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin. The lyrics are a collection of little thoughts that were pacing in my head. We worked hard on rebuilding the tones of our arrangements and we brought a bigger electronic component to the music” he continues. “With the addition of modular synths, we were able to find a warmer and more touching approach to the electronics, that feel as acoustic as the rest of the instruments and move like liquid. Basically, I went back to school for the last two years to be able to bring something new ha-ha. Andrew Barr from the Barr Brothers joined us on drums for this record, it’s a pleasure to play music with such a great musician”.
We were so lucky to have Elisabeth Perrault bring us such amazing artwork for this record. She’s a young, talented artist and I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future.
The news is accompanied by the first single “Height of the Feeling”, which Patrick reveals “is about using intimacy as a compass when you feel out of your skin”. As he describes, “I sometimes just have trouble without affection to ground me. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, it just is. I was lucky to be able to co-write this with Ariel Engle from La Force. She’s so much fun to work with. We just did loads of improv takes on one mic and giggled together the whole time”.
lyrics
-- Lyrics --
Is there a loneliness leaking inside of all of your thinking
As your breath hit the ceiling
The words lose all of their meaning
While your heart’s on fire
You got your eyes closed
You stay cold
‘Cause you’re a little scared of the height of the feeling
You don’t want to know?
Ariel: Love the way that you’re faking
Patrick: Love the way that you’re faking
Did I give it away when my hands were shaking
What makes you so sure?
And then she answers
I just need your touch so I know I’m here
Is there a loneliness leaking?
Just need your touch so I know I’m here
I’m here
Just need your touch so I know I’m here
I’m here
Just need your touch so I know I’m here
It’s in the way you’re walking
It’s in the way you leave me shapes on my pillow that only I can see
It’s in the way we lean on each other so we don’t fall
What makes you so sure?
Everyone else is a stranger
Here is my body
Real is what I’m feeling
And I feel
I feel a little bit crazy
Feel a little bit crazy
It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
You’re just a little bit crazy
It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
I just need your touch so I know I’m here
credits
released March 29, 2022
Patrick Watson – Piano, Modular
Mikhail Stein – Bass
Ariel Engle – Vocals
Andrew Barr – Drums
Recorded and mixed at Studio 105 in Montreal QC by Patrick Watson
Mixed by Patrick Watson and Montana Martin-Iles
Mastered by Brock McFarlane at CPS Mastering in Vancouver, BC
Produced by Patrick Watson
Written by Patrick Watson and Ariel Engle
Composed by Patrick Watson, Andrew Barr and Mikhail Stein
Published by Secret City Publishing Inc.
2022 Watsonia Productions Inc. under exclusive license to Secret City Records Inc.
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