SOFT EYES, by John Duncan

SOFT EYES

by John Duncan

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1.	The Rabid Position 05:56	lyrics	buy track
the rabid position pushed forward, carelessly irritably they lose the ugliest advantage driving the stress careens down the tear that others complete gracefully omnipresent discomfort draws suspiciously the poisonous demon drinks everyone everyone everyone the mighty race posing accidentally posing posing posing
2.	Say No 02:00	lyrics	buy track
wildly oppose the big picture wildly oppose the big picture resistance the old experiment permission sacrifices the intention the lazy future you like to think is yours
3.	The Decrepit Decision 03:31	lyrics	buy track
brightly everybody refreshes upon the decrepit decision tall ability arranges others run inquisitively they suffer seething guilt someone covers the record reluctantly yours poisonous mouth ignites a stolen independence the rabid guilt shrieking shamelessly beautiful verdict flies beyond the malice courageously the quick thought selects another closes greedily opposite the angel the dizzy nightmare creeps whispering do better do better do better
4.	Arid 02:04	lyrics	buy track
black flies madly under the vacant law a timeless tornado sings following the fire across the wicked dunes always unexpected
5.	Homecoming 05:16	lyrics	buy track
buried under the ugliest world that others refuse to recognize hoping to be extracted he outstretches from the stifling exquisite cave he outstretches from the stifling exquisite cave standing everyone watches inquisitively under a blood red moon under a blood red moon
6.	Foreplay 03:56	lyrics	buy track
someone sings along the frail partner the rare doubt conducts friendly body sleeps brightly up the comparison the prickly target runs as your voices fight and swear she celebrates
7.	Frenzy 04:40	info	buy track
8.	Soft Eyes 03:32	lyrics	buy track
the ageing poison plays in the heart the vast grows tightly, cautiously jungle upsets life across the storm within the rain the information
9.	Resolve 02:53	lyrics	buy track
most settle underneath the gigantic focus the scary position decomposes smoothly
10.	Reminiscence 02:06	lyrics	buy track
the faded hatred slides through your shadows with a slow, lazy guilt someone always finds with an unthinking comment then tensely the venomous knife creates the medicine that nothing, nothing dispels
11.	The Beautiful Attempt 03:22	lyrics	buy track
the timeless finding tells nobody raises toward the illuminated eye whoever forgives warmly, gracefully will see beyond the outcome

about

In pursuit of the haunted muse that’s informed Duncan’s boundary-pushing work since the late ‘70s, and which has lit up the iDEAL catalogue over the past half decade, ’Soft Eyes’ renders Duncan’s oblique reading of the psychic zeitgeist in subtly contrasting sides of furtively rhythm-driven and richly atmospheric songcraft. In keeping with his reputation as a sort of avant garde shaman or psychopomp, there’s something unfathomably timeless and ineffably eternal about his work on ’Soft Eyes’, which follows the course of his modern classics such as the songbook of wizened covers ‘Bitter Earth’ (2016), and last year’s ‘Red Sky’ 2CD, without feeling like he’s retreading old ground, and still sounding vitally unusual.

The record’s first half centers on Duncan’s thoughts on social energy and failure, from crowds to tribal gatherings, in a low-key but extraordinary style. Chamber wind meets a metallic pulse somewhere between dembow and Yemeni folk to underline his achingly hoarse vocals on ‘The Rabid Position’, while the lurking vox of ’Say No’ smartly reaffirms his counter-cultural cache, and the queered ambience of ‘Homecoming’ sees him slip into a sort of curdled tribal reverie.

From there it moves to a starker, more intimate half light, with songs stripped to a spectral quintessence between the petal-fall keys and prickly sax of ‘Foreplay’, a face freezing, ASMR-triggering beauty titled ‘Frenzy’ (featuring synth and mixing from Eiko Ishibashi), and an unmissable, abyss-hovering vision ‘Resolve’, pooling into the miasmic folk strings and stygian glyde of ‘The Beautiful Attempt.’

credits

released September 9, 2023

All lyrics by John Duncan.
Mixed by John Duncan at Pieve del Pino, Bologna except The Rabid Position, recorded and mixed at Short Straw Studio, Bologna and Frenzy mixed at Eiko Ishibashi's studio, Japan.
Mastering by Ivan FU Pjevcevic at Short Straw Studio, Bologna.
Cover painting 'Self-Portrait of a Cripple' by Gary Jo Gardenhire.

LP designed by Philip Marshall, London for iDEAL lp release iDEAL210.
Available from iDEAL Recordings
distributed by Boomkat.com

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John Duncan Bologna, Italy

johnduncan.org

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