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made us strangers

by the young novelists

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  • Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

    Get all 6 the young novelists releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of in city & country, made us strangers, in the year you were born, live at dublin st. church, a small town eulogy, and goodnight, young novelist. , and , .

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1.
palindrome 04:16
PALINDROME typical of you to feel it right in your bones we never collide in a space of our own can't you recognize that your life is a palindrome? pulling at your teeth as your sister insists she's never gonna change with a heart like a fist but it's easy to arrange when fate is a fatalist CH where do we belong? & where did we go wrong? each time that we were drawn on & on & on & onward oh... a summertime alone shouldn't be this hard drab as a fool, aloof as a bard proud in the rain & sensitive as a scar & all my former loves would warn her the end will be as difficult as the start [CH] BR. in your wounded pride your failure to hide how you react i'll come right back you can brace yourself against every consequence & when they fall your back against a wall & all your subtle evidence defeats your own defense & each exception to yourself oh it only seems to help erase the lines that you have drawn on & on & on & onward... typical of you to feel it right in your bones we'll never collide in a space of our own can't you recognize that your life is a palindrome?
2.
SINGER-SONGWRITER i met you on my way to hollywood you asked me to hold on, i said i would FC by virtue of your will i hold on to you still F AmGC the nights are bad & the days are just as good you crawled in through my window after dark your second show had torn you apart you said you had to quit i talked you out of it we slept in late & i had played my part your secrets walk the boards on the stage & curtains drawn, your voice in a rage i know you didn't mean to ruin everything i'm sorry if i got in your way you told me i was your only safe bet & then you told me the truth in a voice filled with regret the critics always state that you were not that great but i swear it was your best performance yet
3.
ALWAYS MAKE THE MISTAKE capo vi intro: G(d) Gsus4 G(b) verse: G C G x2 Em C G C G C G chorus: C Em D G C Em D D7 there's a river i see from my room that calls a young man to his doom & if he hangs his head he's gone too soon oh youth does not make you immune the past is not burdened with proof like the films i recall from my youth & a young man dressed in his father's suit i can make a lie from the hardest truth [chorus] & i always make the mistake oh i always make the mistake you were drawn to the clouds in his eyes lord knows what you saw in mine a promise we could compromise oh love is a foolish prize we could claim a great many things you were the song i needed to sing the truth was you always wore his ring & we were only borrowing [chorus] there's a river i see from my room & i will walk through the pale afternoon & the birds still sing, i recall the tune perhaps i will see you soon... perhaps i will see you soon.
4.
HEAR YOUR VOICE verse: C [C F] C [C G] Am [Am F] C [C F] chorus: F C F C Dm G bridge: (Am F) x3 G G i was outclassed i was staring into the flame you were looking back we must have been feeling the same oh i try & i fail & no one's to blame i hate the face in the mirror & that hasn't changed that hasn't changed [chorus] maybe all i need is to hear your voice maybe all i need is to hear your voice hear your voice, hear your voice the rain was falling hard & steady over our home the storm we've known will it ever leave us alone & half of you can't stay & half won't go the choice you make every day & nobody knows nobody knows [ch] (instr. verse) [br] oh the words that helped decide us & now they just divide us is there nothing that will tide us through the dark oh i've nothing to regret you you're only gone if i forget you but the friction when i met you made the spark [ch]
5.
BROTHERS IN THE GARAGE verse: E E7/G# A Am chorus: D A E E D A E E D A C C G D E E outro: E E A Am don't you recall? your temper in the fall & the lyrics you infer, well your brother won't concur don't you recall? [instr. chorus] stuck behind the cymbals where you draw the line & disappear for hours at a time / you rise & i'll decline for now it seems the ends will justify the means & you don't trust the fact we both belong & i will prove you wrong...oh [chorus] the rivalry's alight & blood is on both sides each song a civil war each wave erodes the shore pent up & analyzed for centuries it's no surprise you've changed the middle eight inciting the debate...oh [ch] the rivalry's alight / & blood is on both sides each song a civil war / each arrow you ignore still up & takes its toll / those fires burning old under the old barrage brothers in the garage [outro]
6.
FOR THE RECORD verse: G6 G x3 Em Em/F# G chorus: Em C G x2 outro: Em C G D for the record this is gonna hurt i shed a tear for you at work surrounded by people i didn't wanna tell oh i hid it well. i wanna risk it but i don't wanna fail launch the boat with the broken sail watch it sink beneath the [chorus] waves...anyways, what is beneath? it'll stay the same just out of reach. come clean with the wisdom of a year you'll find love but you won't find it here just a heart that'll never be enough shy as you are you do not know your worth your tears are the salt on the face of the earth & i'm the only thing you should [ch] change...it's a shame to look into these blue eyes. [outro] for the record you're the last word x2 this old memory you inside me [verse] this is gonna hurt this is gonna hurt (end on [C])
7.
COME BACK TO ME capo III verse: G Am Am G chorus: C G G C G D D post-chorus: Em A Em A Em A C G hide away when we could find a way & finally say the words that measure the need by the way you take my catastrophe you don't have to pray but i have to believe [chorus] she'll come back to me she'll come back to me for sure take the reins, go find yourself again it's your acumen to test the mettle that we've got to spare & what we've got is rare & you don't have to care but i have to believe [chorus] x2 [post-chorus] it's a fool who would start in one chamber of your heart & expect to find his mark in the other three hide away until we find a way you don't have to say but i have to believe... [tacit] [chorus] x4
8.
WHEN YOU ONCE WERE WILD verse: D# F Bb Gm chorus: Dm D# Bb outro: Bb F Bb [Gm F] verse chords: D#: 66504x F: 88706x Bb: x1033x Gm: 3x033x tell me when you once were wild did you keep it in? all that you pretend? the evolution of your trial you keep saving face, oh you can't erase as sad as when you lost your child well we all repent in the face of it tell me when you once were wild was it different? [chorus] i was always shy i can't hold a candle to the one in your eyes they magnify it takes some time 'til you don't recognize & no surprise it's always the blind leading the blind-sided by: tell me when you once were wild tell me how you reconciled the truth that bends around your closest friends your first & your last denial did they feel the same? it's a crying shame you've never walked a lonely mile but it came & went & came back again tell me when you once were wild was it different? [chorus] [outro] tell me when you once were wild...
9.
WHAT LIES AHEAD 6/8 intro/chorus: F C C verse: C E7 Am F pre-chorus: C [G G7] bridge: Dm Bb F A7 patience is spent like a burnt cigarette & the lie you're bound to forget starts out like a friend & it happens again oh who the hell let you in? in the end, what lies ahead? subtle as skin when the end just begins & the line that suckered us in is drawn in the sand it's not like we planned to know just the back of the hand in the end, what lies ahead? [bridge] take one precious inch your voice betrays how hard it truly is to give away the only thing you miss patience is spent like the days since we met wondering how did we get from the line in your heart to the state of the art in breaking the news to our friends in the end...it's what lies ahead
10.
COULDN'T BE ANY WORSE capo III (for L.) verse: F Am Dm Am Bb F C C chorus: Bb Bb F F Bb F C C i'd been awake for hours when i met you by the church you'd recently been hurt your face still wet with tears i pointed to your bruises & said it looks quite bad you smiled but you were sad & days turn into years [chorus] we couldn't be any worse...any worse we could not be any worse for each other i took you back to my place the sun was coming up i bandaged your cuts as you critiqued my art so i was most surprised when you put your lips on mine oh we were eye to eye & heart to heart [ch] instr. [ch]
11.
NAME YOUR PRICE capo II verse: G D Em C Bm Bm C C chorus: C G C (G D) (end w/) C C C G bridge: (C C C G) x3 Em D C C Em D C G there's a slight despair in your voice at the end of the line all the empires carefully built are in decline & if you look back you'll see how the lonely live & the curse that ruined you has always been yours to forgive [chorus] moments that you hide they always collide in time the sacrifice you don't get to name your price your mind's made up & the fire spread to the sky the curious few & the furious who ask why & explanations are calm & reasonable your heart is empty in fact it's never been full [ch] [br] uncover the loss the havoc you cause the face to the name & the line that you cross placing the blame leading me on, stealing a song take it from me [ch] there's a slight despair in your voice at the end of the line all the empires carefully built are in decline
12.
who can say 03:06
WHO CAN SAY verse: G D C G G D Bm C chorus: Em C G G bridge: D D C G x2 D Daug you tasted your wine & you wasted my time oh you made up your mind in a moment well if choice is so free it's imprisoning me you work so hard to be my opponent come down or come clean no one else has been instrumental indeed to my progress well you taught me denial with an elegant smile yes i've lived here a while with this whole mess CH & who can say? who can say? there's words on my tongue & they won't go away who can say? all the sunsets still last in our tangled up past even dawn can't relax all those portraits but sharing in tears it becomes a career & your heart disappears in your fortress [CH] BR keep hanging on for everyone's sake until everyone feels so bent they will break & excuses abound oh it's time to take some time ...take my time oh time is at hand well whatever you've planned it's not gonna land without folding in truth i was worse but i didn't rehearse until naming the curse i've been holding [CH] x2

about

winner of the 2015 canadian folk music award for new/emerging artist of the year, and nominated for vocal group of the year.

this album was recorded in the hot blaze of summer, from july 14th to august 12th, at ill eagle studios in the neighbourhood of leslieville in the city of toronto. we worked our schedule against the summertime minefield of weddings, work, and watersports. as often as not we recorded while eating late lunches and later dinners, and between takes we would call our loved ones to tell them not to wait up.

it means so much to us to have supportive folks in our lives, who allow us the opportunity to do what we love. we would like to take a moment to thank broghan, eileen, eva, kelly, lauren, and simon for their exceptional patience and support; we would like to thank our manager, amie therrien, for being able to get things done despite our decision-making process; and we would like to thank carlin nicholson for shepherding this album into existence with his mad producer skills. thanks as well to jaron freeman-fox, mike o'brien, neil quinn, janine stoll, and steve mcnie for lending their phenomenal talents to this album.

we would also like to thank all the fine folks who came to a show, hosted a house concert, gave us a space to crash while on tour, or bought a beer at a venue that supports live music. it doesn't mean much without you. thank you for listening.

credits

released April 28, 2015

all songs written & arranged by the young novelists

the band:
alex dodd - piano, organ, rhodes
graydon james - acoustic guitar, vocals
john law - acoustic & electric guitar
laura spink - vocals, glockenspiel, percussion
michael paddags - drums, percussion
shawn jurek - bass, vocals

additional awesomeness:
carlin nicholson - organ, glockenspiel, percussion
mike o'brien - acoustic & electric guitar
neil quinn - electric & slide guitar
steve mcnie - accordion

string arrangements by jaron freeman-fox

produced, engineered, & mixed by carlin nicholson at ill eagle studio
mastered by philip shaw bova (philipshawbova.com)
management by amie therrien (balsampiermusic.com)
design by janine stoll (janinestollmedia.com)

we acknowledge the financial support of the government of canada through the department of canadian heritage (canadian music fund) and of canada's private radio broadcasters.

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the young novelists Toronto, Ontario

Exclaim! dubbed their first EP “unpretentious brilliance” and this Toronto-based folk-roots band has won critical acclaim ever since. Stephen Fearing described them as having “tight arrangements, great dynamics, and good songs with beautiful harmonies” and their live shows capture audiences with both barnstorming singalongs and heartbreaking folk ballads. ... more

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