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Mike O'Brien

by Mike O'Brien

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1.
I believe I read in a book once Or I’ve come to believe what I lied Not so sure of my shootin, But collapse comes from crumblin And alone surely follows deny Who gots the keys to the un-dress? Who’ll take back the share of the shy? Can we all understand that the click of the can May not weigh in on gain or demise? There’s a book about assholes and aliens The title rhymes with Lieder Hose Hive In it time travel makes life-death-tween-ramble Crescendo decrescendo and rewind No sign of tears at a funeral Merely the chapter’s last line For now I turn a blind eye And wish instead of cry And hope not forget Of my time If we all could agree That we all die out of key In that moment no one better than the other If we could all stand up to what’s wrong Make castaways feel they belong We could all lumber off to heaven in song I’d like to think we’ve all become smarter Maybe a little too wise So the powers that be have outgrown tv Now domain names provide Best keep the dangerous docile To conquer dumb down and divide Little pocket mirrors blink And with each one more link In a chain that makes revolution subside If we all could agree That we all die out of key In that moment no one better than the other If we could all stand up to what’s wrong Make castaways feel they belong We could all lumber off to heaven in song
2.
Cakes 03:40
3.
4.
5.
Business 02:40
6.
7.
Grocery Rag 02:43
8.
Le Prix 02:43
9.
10.
Raincloud 03:20
There’s got to be a rainbow For a little raincloud like me Tween sunny skies and raindrops If you look real hard you can see Lining silver as a fold To some hard lessons And growing old Maybe tomorrow No rainbow will turn us away When fortune runs out Friends come round to say Keep your head down Heads they will nod Lips will purse and some hands will reach out Ain’t it pretty to think how luck can change? Maybe tomorrow Ain’t it pretty to think how luck can change Maybe tomorrow No rainbow will turn us away

about

For this album, Mike collaborated with bass player Andrew Horton and producer Howard Bilerman, whose past collaborations include Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. His wife Michelle Tompkins adds her voice to some of the songs. The album was recorded in just two days at Bilerman’s studio, Hotel2Tango. The result is a country-folk album with ten moving songs, ranging from the intimate to the rather lively. Even though the songs were recorded in only a few takes, their writing process sometimes took years. “Some of these songs only took me a couple of hours to write, but I’ll admit I tend to write a lot of drafts before the final product. Most of these songs took months and even years before I came across their final version.”

Such is the case with “Raincloud”, Mike wrote it in snippets while he and his wife were waiting for their first child. Inspired by early Country music (think Tex Williams) and the universe of classic Disney scores, the song opens slowly with the warm ring of a nylon string guitar. Between the creak of the strings on which O’Brien plays and his voice up-close to the microphone, it’s like the listener is in the room with him.

Mike on “Raincloud”: “I have a soft spot for classic Disney cartoons. I was especially influenced by the Sherman brothers. I taught grade school music for about five years, and we’d sometimes sing their songs in class. I really wanted to write in that style, to keep things simple and at the same time try to express what echoed inside of me.” Like a cartoon or a children’s story concealing important life lessons, Mike can say a lot with very little. His work conveys a simplicity in its imagery that listeners can interpret as they wish. This intimacy within O’Brien’s music flows naturally, in part because of the tangible sincerity of his interpretation. “In writing ‘Raincloud’, I wanted to unearth the hope we can feel in difficult times. When I think about it now, in the beginning, singing it was almost like a prayer for me. The song helped me a bit.” Incidentally, all the released songs come with old family pictures, like the one on the record’s sleeve—a picture of Mike’s grinning grandfather in a rowboat. Mike on the visuals of his album: “The family pictures I used on the sleeve and the singles give me a sense of belonging, of calm and support. It’s cool to think that they are part of the project. I love the picture of my great-aunt gone fishing on a boat—she’s a nun in a small town in Ontario, still going strong. And I’ve always loved the photograph of my grandfather in the rowboat. I remember that smile. I miss him a lot.”

Like “Raincloud,” writing “Le Prix” took years—nearly seven years. In composing his songs, Mike constantly wonders about their meaning, their raison d’être. “Writing songs feels like you’re in a mine: it’s pitch-black, you walk, you dig, you try to find the way.” Mike on “Le Prix”: “I was often being asked what the lyrics meant, and it was always really vague—I didn’t really know for sure. It’s only recently, while I was shoveling my car out after a snowstorm, that I finally understood. I remembered something that happened in my family when I was a kid, and it all made sense. I realized, okay, now whenever I sing this song I’ll think back to that moment.” When we listen to Mike O’Brien’s album, we too feel the time that he takes to build, dissect and play his songs until he finds their meaning. The subject of the songs isn’t as important as feeling their undeniable sincerity. Listeners will feel spoiled and lucky to have access to these songs that each form their own little world. On the album and on stage, Mike personifies them, and between him and the audience an invisible cord is woven: an exchange of quiet strength that is rarely felt, but that will be cherished for a long time.

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released April 17, 2020

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Mike O'Brien Montreal, Québec

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