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Gravity and Grace

by Respire

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    "Gravity and Grace is a work of obliterating intensity, and soul-rending emotional delivery that is carefully adorned with contemplative passages of purposeful silence, triumphant horn motifs, and bellowing guitars with plodding titanic percussion. A cathartic, existentialist masterpiece."
    - Brian Roesler, Treble
    .

    "Respire’s name is apt in describing their music style. It breathes like a living creature, clinging to life and hope amid isolation and despair. Their composition is suspenseful, visceral and enormous in scale. The band have carefully refined their sound and cultivated all of these ingredients to create their latest work."
    - Jason Royle, Echoes and Dust
    ... more
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1.
2.
Ascent 06:46
Lift this flesh up to serve secret desires. The sky above and earth below, our home with the ashes Of past laments, things left unsaid. A lonesome breeze, the day I left. Your lips on mine, the bitter taste Of a yearning heart that’s lost the strength to love. With regrets weighing down, I sink to the bottom of despair. All alone, slowly dying, there’s a lack within. Born of God, forsaken virtue, this divine flesh. Can you feel all that’s left? This sprawling distance. This sprawling distance. The silence of isolation. All alone, slowly dying, there’s a lack within my heart. Born of God, forsaken virtue, this divine flesh is rotting. Was I thrown into being all broken or did I do this to myself? In desperation I cry out, please let this life end. If I had to chose, I would want nothing to do with me. If I had to chose, I would want nothing do with this. Lover, can you feel your brittle bones break with the weight of words we once said in silence? Darling, if all the lonely stars in the sky fell I would still feel your warmth till the end. My God, if you have made me in your image, then what makes you despise yourself so? To be honest, I feel like every breath I take would be better off as my last. And how many more years of this must I bear? How many more times will I numb myself? To feel through just another day. I can’t go on. Will I die to find The true meaning of your smile? Will the heavens open up And show me the light of redemption? Or will the never-ending dark Be my only salvation? Will I see your face again Before my final breath? When will I see your face again?
3.
Though our death may bring final calm upon this veil to shroud our eyes, life’s light lingers like a lover’s kiss untwined. And as the shadows beckon, through the dark vines we fall farther than we’ve ever known. After all this, we know it to be true, we are at the valley of death.
4.
Waltz 03:10
Through the crowd we gently fall, Faces like caricatures of broken dreams, of broken hearts. This desperate longing rises within me, its hands tight around my neck. Around my neck. It’s just that I falter often. It’s not resolve, but escape I’m after. And the way that this is drowning. That this is giving up On everything I’ve worked so hard to keep. So hard to keep. These lights, the way they illuminate the gentle valleys of your figure as you stagger across the room. In the slow motion picture of our final waltz you look like the specter I saw by my deathbed. Grab my hand, let’s sleep forever. The air feels thin. The weightlessness astounds me. My worries evanesce with the coming of the tide. It swallows up all of this hate, And I feel euphoric enough to fade. To fade away. Away. Away. Away. From the edge of the cliff, I’ll look back at my wasted life And laugh as I jump.
5.
6.
The absurdity around us, we bow to fallen gods. Forgotten by ourselves, we fade away. Annihilation at bay, asks us, do we fly or fall. Being unto death, Thanatos tell us the secret. “There is only one truth, we all die alone. There is only one lie, this has all meant nothing” Repent for your sins, wash away human nature for a purified soul. Follow us blindly through the illuminated hall, only to find this, the shadows of your fears. Fall from grace. Fall from the bethel. Free yourselves from their deception. As dread crushes your soul do you realize, “As soon as man comes to life he is at once old enough to die.”
7.
Three winters past I went to see the sun crash beyond the waters and into the void. I drove all night though the storm to be alone with my thoughts in the presence of our long lost distant God who’s turned his back on us. We’re all falling without understanding the gravity of our collected failures and all our broken promises. With poison in my veins I thought of past regrets and all the times I could never make you happy. Just one more hit to tear me away from your tears. I can’t bare this, I’m sorry. My reflection stares back at me from the cold black water, and in my eyes, the light’s long gone. The once calm sea began to boil with all the things I left unsaid. My weak hands tremble at the thought of all the times I failed myself. I feel the ground shake with my weight, I feel the water rushing through my lungs. Through my heart I can feel the resounding sound of self defeat. Waves, take me now and wash me away to a shore where I can find eternal rest.
8.
Blood red skies and crashing waves, we’re drawn by currents beneath the storm of temporality. I realize now that all of this is fleeting. My eyes are open to the eternal recurrence of the same. These waves have been here long before I was born and will continue through the endless edge of time. Nothing comes from nothing. Everything is and will be. I will live eternal in the waves of the black waters. And when you come for a swim I will embrace your salty skin. I will embrace your salty skin. Forever and always.
9.

credits

released April 22, 2016

All songs written and performed by Respire:

Travis Dupuis - Drums, Vocals
Egin Kongoli - Guitar, Vocals, Glockenspiel
Rohan Lilauwala - Guitar, Vocals, Glockenspiel
Ben Oliver - Bass, Vocals
Emmett O'Reilly - Trumpet, Piano
Darren Scarfo - Guitar, Vocals

Extended Family:

Stefan Ho - Viola
Thomas Moffett - Trumpet
Julian Nalli - Saxophone
Tokyo Speirs - Piano, Cello, Glockenspiel, Music Box

Lyrics by Egin Kongoli
Cover Photo by Amanda Elledge
Art Direction by Egin Kongoli

Recorded by Paul Mack @ Coach House Sound, Soybomb HQ, and the Heisey family home in July, August, September, October, and November 2015.

Produced by Paul Mack

Mastered by Adam Goodwin
Released on vinyl by Zegema Beach Records (Canada), Ozona Records (USA), Dingleberry Records (Germany), and Narshardaa Records (Germany). Released on tape on Parking Lot Records (USA).

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Respire Toronto, Ontario

orchestral post-everything collective

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