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‘The Journey’ - The Octopus Division

  ‘The Journey’ - The Octopus Division In ‘The Journey,’ a sonic mosaic unfolds that—permeated by neon-soaked synth pads and a melody that feels like memory—is less a song than a spiritual compass. The time that relentlessly pursues us, according to ‘Time keeps chasing us every day’, is not portrayed as an enemy, but as a constant touchstone that we face with our heads held high: ‘ We won't let the rain wash us away’ . Photography, here metaphorically as a key to the past, opens doors to moments that seem long gone but live on within us. The chorus – a kind of collective mantra – describes not just a journey, but an intertwining of stories that support each other. The garden in which hopes take root becomes a symbol of what must be nurtured in order to flourish. And when ‘ our songs have lost a note or two ’, it is not a flaw, but proof of lived depth. A song that is not meant to be heard, but to be lived through – like a familiar glance at an old photo album by candlelight. b...
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The Artist: Deborah Crooks - "Twin Lakes (EP)"

 

Die in Kalifornien lebende Songwriterin Deborah Crooks dachte, sie würde 2020 damit verbringen, zu touren und Songs aus ihrem hoch gelobten Album, The Department of the West, live zu spielen. Stattdessen schloss sich Crooks dem Rest der Welt an, um Pläne zu stornieren. Zu Hause in Alameda, Kalifornien, untergebracht mit ihrem Bay Station Band-Mitbegründer Kwame Copeland, gaben die beiden Musiker wöchentliche Konzerte auf der Veranda für ihre Gemeinde und stellten eine rockorientierte EP mit neuen Bay Station-Songs fertig. Nebenher beobachtete sie das Geschehen und hielt es fest. Über den Winter nahm sie das neue Material zu Hause auf, entstanden ist Twin Lakes, eine aus drei Liedern bestehende Kollektion die den Zeitgeist anspricht und gleichzeitig die Hoffnung auf die Zukunft festhält.


Crooks penned “New Roots” which reckons with newly revealed historical truths while imagining a society built on peace and justice, as part of the FAR-West-invented Now See Hear Project developed by Phil Ward. The project pairs songwriters with a piece of anonymous artwork (in this case artist Jennifer Flack) to use as a springboard for writing. “The painting, the Black Lives Matter movement and what I was personally unpacking all fed into the song,” notes Crooks.

An underlying theme of reconciliation, and the obstacles to mending relationships, underpins every song on the release, including “Twin Lakes.”  The spare song about an experience of being estranged from a family member finds Crooks pondering how two people can have very different views about the same experience.

In a related vein, Crooks wrote “We’re All in this Together” early in the pandemic as communities were adjusting to safe-social-distancing and other measures put in place to stave off the spread of Covid-19. The sentiment both sums up Crooks’s view of the current landscape and serves as a call for a better world: “This is our chance to make it better/ call a friend, help your neighbor/ speak out when you see wrong/cause everyone belongs.”


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