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Smoke & Ghosts

by Albis

/
1.
i got your letter just a couple days ago there's no reply 'cause honestly i just don't know the complications hang like smoke that's in the air can't exhale what you loved and expect it to wait there it was dark i was alone you can't have a part of my home i burned up myself 'til you would not recognize the shell you left when you just ran away that night rebuilt the shields and now i want to be ok there's no room for you in this house i've built today it was dark i was alone you can't have a part of my home it was dark i was alone you can't have a part of my home and so just go with what you know and just stay out of my home
2.
64/65 02:46
no i don't believe in angels but i do believe in ghosts and i do not have a past life but this one that i don't know 'cause it really all seems so new 'cause every day you're just not there i believe in what is left here which is all too much to bear there's a ringing loud in my ears that surrounds all that i do try to hear you late at night time, piercing tone is what comes through and don't forget the broken heart i will carry forever more here's the sound of complete failure, of love that's thrown on the floor my guitar only gets me so far it don't lead me any closer to my home so i'll start on my way to a new heart though the damage has been done i hope i don't stay on the run no i don't believe in angels but i do believe in ghosts and i do not have a past life but this one that i don't know 'cause it really all seems so new 'cause every day you're just not there i believe in what is left here which is all too much to bear and don't forget the broken heart i will carry forever more here's the sound of complete failure, of love that's thrown on the floor
3.
it's always snow reminds me of this time i've had on my own with brief distractions in the night but they're all gone vanished right into the storm that surrounds me buries the pieces of what will never be you would know 'cause you stayed so near for oh so long how this goes when i'm left by myself out in the cold frozen here it's been winter in my mind for all these years a mental jail i have escape plans but they always seem to fail would you come in for a drink or two tonight stay close and warm, and make our wrongs all right we'll watch the smoke just hanging in the air and it's so late, would you like to sleep here? please don't go this was our house, this was our home it's what we know we could die here together when we grow old
4.
Listening 04:10
i was listening for you were you listening for me trying to perfect my words and i chose them carefully you were so perfect in my eyes i bet i left more to desire later i got right into you and lived there for many years now i'm at a loss for words and that's not the only thing that's lost in our war so many dead on both sides who takes the blame? and over time we became one and in more time we fell apart i'm still learning how to walk around with a broken heart maybe it's the same for you maybe you know what i'm going through it's not something i would wish even on my enemies you know we all deserve the best but that's just not what we all get my ear to the ground all the time i'm not sure of anything i hear now i'm at a loss for words and that's not the only thing that's lost in our war so many dead on both sides i'll take the blame
5.
Big Day 04:18
i threw my keys in the river like you did with my heart i hope you're not so offended but now that we've been torn apart i couldn't bear to see you on the stage with those lights where all those fans just adore you like i used to do every night i threw my keys in the river like you did with my heart i know it's all so dramatic but it's been so from the start i hope that you had a good night i hope your show went well i had a good time playing but seeing you would've felt like hell woah oh 4x and all that time that we spent i don't think was a waste i'm sorry i'm leaving i gotta find my brand new place 'cause every time i see after i feel so down and although i miss you self-preservation means you won't see me around i threw my keys in the river like you did with my heart i hope you're not so offended but now that we've been torn apart i couldn't bear to see you on the stage with those lights where all those fans just adore you like i used to do every night woah oh 4x cold water frozen gorge breathy air sing despair 2x
6.
Lost Time 02:47
hand over all my days that i gave to you back when i thought you'd keep them safe in a secret hiding place you can't return time as of now so you owe me a machine that'll harvest up all the hours you genius in black, you genius on the attack sometimes i feel it move but still no one thinks that i speak the truth but time is in front of my eyes it brushes right past me and steals what's left inside we're all almost gone we're all about to die hand over all my days that i gave to you back when i thought you'd keep them safe
7.
The Wolves 02:56
i'll keep the wolves out of your home raise us a wall of heavy stones i know this many not be the best way to move forward with what's left of my heart that's bruised and broken up but i try to not give a fuck so i will seem ok and yours is worn and ripped apart i see the pattern of your scars they twist and turn away we medicate late in the night burning away all of our lives destroying all that is within and i consider it a win if i do not feel fucking sad if i'm unable to get mad 'cause i will seem ok but you make me question all i know and maybe lies do equal hope we're scared but don't turn away the wolves still run right past your home you hear them all night all alone but i'll keep a watch right by your side so you can sleep all through the night and dream of folks you used to hold the midwest will not seem as cold and i hope you'll be ok 'cause you found something in my heart i thought i lost deep in the dark now i won't turn away and i hope you'll do the same
8.
Madrid 03:19
Don't look away I've got some things to say This baggage is not light And it's heavier at night Takes all my strength inside to let go Why do I carry all this pain? Left behind what I thought I needed Still iit all just weighs the same You were up all night And left me wondering why I was deep in a dream That starred no one but me I hoped you would be in there Maybe I should go be alone But I don't really want to leave You are everything I don't know Maybe that's just what I need I hoped you would be in there But I can sense the end in the air It always ends My broken heart is still full of love And I have oh so much to give I still don't know what is wrong with me I'm still spinning circles in this ring I'm still spinning circles in this ring I'm still spinning circles in this ring
9.
Scatter 03:09
i saw the light go out and all her people scattered 'round they became hostages and they've stayed ever since my first thought was to run then decided it could not be done so i stayed to save all that i could not quite erase that day she felt the push and pull and you know that i felt it too we weren't quite right but this was disguised almost every night i kept the light turned on in my heart i felt i was not wrong but she made other plans and the light went out and she slipped through my hands and the permanence of everything just ceased and time is once again just another disease it weighs on me so great holds me captive locked inside a cage that tick-tocks every night like a bomb about to take away my life and the permanence of everything will cease and time is once again just another disease yeah the permanence of everything will cease and time is once again just another disease i saw the light go out and all her people scattered 'round we became hostages and we have stayed here ever since
10.
Me & You 04:05
the sun had its day off it rested on her clouds she's heavier than air i couldn't even the weight out got pushed away but cannot tell how strong intent, they say, is everything / not everything, right? discovered all the signs and read in-between the lines and when i chose to ask she delayed me with a lie so torn inside it's concern versus safety not black or white, i'm in the grey and it's so dark out the sun may rise again it takes it day by day the lessons to be learned may just save us, maybe they won't save us
11.
there's so much riding on what was said i've made a list that you all have read there's no debating what i now need you've cut me open and now i bleed my heart right out, it might be too much for you right now, i am sure that i'm the anomaly, shields are down unlike everyone i meet and still she's writing, for all to see her blood is staining this tragedy i wore so proudly across my face but now i'm trying so hard to erase it from the page, i let it consume me back in the day, 'cause pain is something that defines us all, and it just matters if we scale that wall i felt a feeling come over me i sensed a dread deep in my heart that was real but i figured that this just couldn't wait and so i called her up to see what she'd say that was our mistake, that was our mistake everything we touch will break that was our mistake, that was our mistake everything we touch will break

credits

released June 14, 2015

All songs written by Oscar Albis Rodriguez and arranged by the band.

Produced by Oscar Albis Rodriguez.
Recorded by Dave Snyder at Guilford Sound (Guilford, VT), April 2013. Assisted by Matt Hall.
Additional recording by Oscar at Russell Street Recording & The Hostel (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) between May 2013 and June 2014.
Mixed by Drew Thornton in Brooklyn and on the road between November 2013 and January 2015.
Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering (Chicago, IL) January/February 2015.
Artwork layout by Allison Weiss / Werewolf Girlfriend. Photo by Oscar.

Oscar Albis Rodriguez - vocals, guitars, additional keyboards and percussion
Dave Sherman - piano, organ, wurlitzer, rhodes, synth
Mike Chiavaro - bass
Gunnar Olsen - drums and percussion

Dave Snyder - percussion

Thanks so much to my band and Drew, Brendan Coon, Jordan Melkin, Geoff Kraly, Liam Hurley, and to you for listening and supporting me and my music.

Special thanks to Dave Snyder!

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Albis Brooklyn, New York

Songs, mine and others'. Studio rat: producer, engineer, session musician at Studio G, Russell Street Recording, and Track Tribe Music. Tour dude, pro and DIY. Vegan. Guardian of cats and a couple kids. Proud partner of Rikki Will. DIY Punk at heart. Rocknroll Lifer. ... more

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