Lamplighter
by Tommy Ashby
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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album13 track 12" black vinyl version of Tommy Ashby's debut album 'Lamplighter'.
Includes digital pre-order of Lamplighter. You get 7 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.digital album releases March 3, 2023item ships out on or around February 27, 2023Purchasable with gift card£24 GBP or more
You own this
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Digital Album
Streaming + DownloadPre-order of Lamplighter. You get 7 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.Purchasable with gift card
1. |
Running
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2. |
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The moon flowers are just our’s,
Blooming soon,
In the pitch black of the dust track,
Our holy tomb.
My best friend,
Every summer,
we’d pretend,
That we were brothers
Didn’t know it then,
My best friend.
The town creek, waist deep,
Through April showers,
You cried when your gran died,
We talked for hours.
My best friend,
Every summer,
we’d pretend,
That we were brothers
Didn’t know it then,
My best friend.
Skin and bone,
I found out when I left home,
That you and me,
Are branches on the same tree.
Skin and bone,
I found out when I left home,
That you and me,
Are branches on the same tree
(oh to be young again)
My best friend,
Every summer,
we’d pretend,
That we were brothers
Didn’t know it then,
My best friend.
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3. |
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My redemption is slow burning,
With no stop signs and no turning,
When you got someone who believes they’re right,
Would you bring knife to a gun fight,
Your suffering while they’re learning,
When your body is going under,
And there’s something you gotta find,
When your god is out of thunder,
And you’re walking on the wire.
Hold on tight to your heart,
Hold on tight to your heart,
When love goes dark,
Hold on tight to your heart.
Your secrets are worth hiding,
We’re living in a wasteland honey,
when you cover it in money it gets so exciting,
When you know something doesn’t feel quite,
Could you tell a little white lie?
It’s just half a heart, don’t tell me that’s too far,
When your body is going under,
And there’s something you gotta find,
When your god is out of thunder,
And you’re walking on a line.
Hold on tight to your heart,
Hold on tight to your heart,
When love goes dark,
Hold on tight to your heart
Are you so certain?
Of the people you are loving,
Are you always going to trust them?
Is their sanctuary a sin?
Are you so certain?
Hold on tight to your heart,
Hold on tight to your heart,
When love goes dark,
Hold on tight to your heart
Hold on tight to your heart,
Hold on tight to your heart,
When love goes dark,
Hold on tight to your heart
Hold on tight to your heart,
Hold on tight to your heart,
When love goes dark,
Hold on tight to your heart
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4. |
A Beautiful Day
02:51
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Betty Thompson said she was with you,
Good morning, still in your red shoes
Silver lining sits in a gold cloud,
My horizon’s wide as your eyes now.
She’ll come round like the sun in your bedroom,
Patience, be film in a dark room
Take your time, say hi with a haiku
You’re not mine, I just like you.
Oh, it’s a beautiful day,
Oh, such a beautiful day,
First love, wild flowers and a split knee,
Fall fast, in the hope that you catch me,
Leading horses down to the river,
You go first, I’ll always love her.
Oh, it’s a beautiful day,
Oh, such a beautiful day,
Call the boys in,
Call the girls,
Call your friends,
We’re diving for pearls.
Swim the waters,
Simmer down
When you find one,
Pass it round.
Freeze frame, on a glance at midnight,
Keep your eyes on me and hold tight,
Run the rain, through the concrete glistening,
Go against the grain, find out what you’re missing.
Oh, it’s a beautiful day,
Oh, such a beautiful day,
Oh, it’s a beautiful day,
Oh, such a beautiful day,
Oh, it’s a beautiful day,
Oh, such a beautiful day,
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5. |
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I love her eyes, the fisherman’s daughter,
See fireflies and broken water,
Seabirds turning on the quay side,
She stands waiting on the tide.
When I’m running out,
She throws me a lifeline,
When I’m long gone,
She helps me back home,
When I fall in the gaps,
You promise me that,
I belong here,
I belong with you,
I belong here,
I belong,
The lighthouse is our alter
We stand side by side breathing salt air
We make promises to keep,
She all I can see.
When I’m running out,
She throws me a lifeline,
When I’m long gone,
She helps me back home,
When I fell in the gaps,
She promise me that,
I belong here,
I belong with you,
I belong here,
I belong.
When the ocean’s wild,
Salt, sea and stone,
You hold my eyes,
Call me home.
When I’m running out,
She throws me a lifeline,
When I’m long gone,
She helps me back home,
When I fell in the gaps,
She promise me that,
I belong here,
I belong with you,
I belong here,
I belong.
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6. |
Comeback Kid
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7. |
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Count the footsteps,
Count the time,
Before you know it this will all be far behind.
Count the people that you love,
Think of everyone who’s ever picked you up.
Say what you’re scared to say,
It won’t make you less.
The more you can give away,
The more you’ll have left.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
It’s the stone that blunts the knife,
It’s the scars that make a life.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
You’re the ebb and you’re the flow,
Keep walking,
It’s not that far to go.
Count the seconds,
Don’t give in,
Maybe we don’t know but this is where the world begins,
See the small things for what they are,
And keep dancing like the dust between the stars.
Say what you’re scared to say,
It won’t make you less.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
It’s the stone that blunts the knife,
It’s the scars that make a life.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness,
You’re the ebb and you’re the flow,
Keep walking,
It’s not that far to go.
Not that far, far to go,
Not that far, far to go.
It’s not a weakness,
It’s not a weakness.
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8. |
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Counting the days in California,
When all I want is you,
So far past the stage of falling for ya,
I know you feel it too,
Wanna get closer so I can hold ya,
You’re pulling my guard down,
You’d find the gold in a coal mine,
Watching the hours disappearing,
Close the window, leave your shoes,
Breathe in the flowers, London’s sleeping,
The nighttime is ours, the morning too.
Wanna get closer so I can hold ya,
You’re pulling my guard down,
You’d find the gold in a coal mine,
Oh like bottling lightening,
Oh You’re my hiding place,
Wanna get closer so I can hold ya,
You’re pulling my guard down,
You’d find the gold in a coal mine,
Feeling that first flush,
Is making my head rush,
Searching the tree line,
You’d bring me flowers of the alpines.
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9. |
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The stars untied,
In the failing light,
The party fell to two,
And you spun my heels,
Like a Catherine wheel,
Throwing sparks all through the room.
You and I
and a moonless sky
Me a shirt and tie,
You a white dress,
And we’ll dance until,
All the stars fall still,
And the autumn chill,
Leaves us breathless.
The floorboards creak,
beneath our feet,
as we make our way to the bed,
And you’re smiling face,
Holds the world in place,
Then turns it on it’s head.
You and I
and a moonless sky
Me a shirt and tie,
You a white dress,
And we’ll dance until,
All the stars fall still,
And the autumn chill,
Leaves us breathless.
You and I
and a moonless sky
Me a shirt and tie,
You a white dress,
And we’ll dance until,
All the stars fall still,
And the autumn chill,
Leaves us breathless.
You and I
and a moonless sky
Me a shirt and tie,
You a white dress,
And we’ll dance until,
All the stars fall still,
And the autumn chill,
Leaves us breathless.
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10. |
Which Way The Wind Blows
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about
Tommy Ashby is a Scottish musician and prolific writer with a distinct ability for revealing the innate beauty of everyday moments in a unique euphony of ethereal sonics and hushed vocals. Named after a line taken from the great Edinburgh poet Norman MacCaig’s Praise of a Man, Tommy’s stunning debut album ‘Lamplighter’ distills the idea that after someone significant enters your life, the light they pass on will spread and illuminate others. Once that light is lit, it never really goes out.
The album is a sincere and touching meditation on relationships; familial and friendships, the romantic and the unspoken. Capturing snapshots of people, places and moments in time, the work beautifully illustrates the effect that a person can have on your life and reflects on how the important relationships in our lives shape us; “It depicts all the people who were lamplighters in my life”.
After swapping a one-bed flat in London for the big skies, reed beds and sunsets of rural Suffolk, Tommy found himself writing about relationships with family and friends, along with a sense of place and its significance. Recorded in a series of secluded retreats tucked away in the hidden corners of the UK, an affinity for location and nature permeates the record. You can hear the trickle of streams in the woods of the Scottish Borders, birds spinning off the sea-cliffs of Zennor in Cornwall and the misty autumn chill of days spent recording in Suffolk and Pembrokeshire.
Throughout ‘Lamplighter’, Tommy reminisces over many fond childhood memories of wandering wild Scottish woodlands with his parents, his grandma’s enthusiasm for naturalist poetry and folk music or nights spent sneaking into pubs and bars to play the blues with his dad. As the album unfolds the songs muse over these memories. You get a sense that Tommy is trying to come to terms with how these personal connections have changed over the years and how they’ve come to shape him as an individual. Bringing the themes of the record to a poignant and poetic conclusion ‘Which Way The Wind Blows’ finds itself firmly rooted in the now and questions whether we are losing sight of the things that are important to us.
The album is a sincere and touching meditation on relationships; familial and friendships, the romantic and the unspoken. Capturing snapshots of people, places and moments in time, the work beautifully illustrates the effect that a person can have on your life and reflects on how the important relationships in our lives shape us; “It depicts all the people who were lamplighters in my life”.
After swapping a one-bed flat in London for the big skies, reed beds and sunsets of rural Suffolk, Tommy found himself writing about relationships with family and friends, along with a sense of place and its significance. Recorded in a series of secluded retreats tucked away in the hidden corners of the UK, an affinity for location and nature permeates the record. You can hear the trickle of streams in the woods of the Scottish Borders, birds spinning off the sea-cliffs of Zennor in Cornwall and the misty autumn chill of days spent recording in Suffolk and Pembrokeshire.
Throughout ‘Lamplighter’, Tommy reminisces over many fond childhood memories of wandering wild Scottish woodlands with his parents, his grandma’s enthusiasm for naturalist poetry and folk music or nights spent sneaking into pubs and bars to play the blues with his dad. As the album unfolds the songs muse over these memories. You get a sense that Tommy is trying to come to terms with how these personal connections have changed over the years and how they’ve come to shape him as an individual. Bringing the themes of the record to a poignant and poetic conclusion ‘Which Way The Wind Blows’ finds itself firmly rooted in the now and questions whether we are losing sight of the things that are important to us.
credits
releases March 3, 2023
Produced and Mixed: Sam Okell
Mastered: Felix Davis
Produced and Mixed: Sam Okell
Mastered: Felix Davis
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Tommy Ashby London, UK
Tommy Ashby’s background is a rather unusual one for a singer-songwriter. Awarded a PhD in the perception of sound in his early 20s, Tommy manages to blend a technical understanding of the way our brain processes sound with the indisputable pure creative energy of someone who grew up writing and playing music in the wilds of Scotland. ... more
shows
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Feb 18Glasgow, UK
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Feb 20Birmingham, UK
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Feb 21Bristol, UK
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Feb 22Manchester, UK
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Feb 23London, UK
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Feb 25Brighton, UK
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Feb 26Southsea, UK
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Feb 27Cambridge, UK
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Feb 28Nottingham, UK
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Mar 02Sheffield, UK
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Mar 03Leeds, UK
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Mar 04Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
