A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness

by Lespectre

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Lespectre's debut album, A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness on 180g vinyl including digital download code.

Let's start at the beginning. January 2018, the balcony of a humble apartment in Florence. Cheap claret, yellowed paperbacks, the assiduous buzz of a tinny bluetooth speaker and Italian cigarette smoke unfurling into the crisp chill of the Tuscan dawn. The nascent songwriting duo that would become the core of Lespectre talked of imitation.

Spool forward 30 months, after countless hours of studio time at Bristol's legendary Coach House, the arrival of three new band members, the discovery of their own sound and the trifling inconvenience of a global pandemic. A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness is something distinct, a debut album that yields its sleepy treasures obliquely, serenely.

It began that brisk night in Italy as an exercise in songwriting for vocalist, guitarist and producer Tom Hackwell and drummer Max Perry, an attempt to reverse engineer a record that nodded to their shared admiration of the contemporary shoegaze and cinematic dream-pop of acts such as Greg Gonzalez's Cigarettes After Sex. They even wrote a list of 17 song titles, quite literally on the back of an Italian fag packet. “During that holiday, a drunken idea was born that we would try to make an album like that first Cigarettes After Sex record, shoegaze with a modern twist,” says Max. “We were joking about going home and writing the definitive modern shoegaze album, an experiment in songwriting.”

Immediately upon touching down in Bristol after their Italian sojourn, the duo began writing, Max's love of authors and philosophers such as Italo Calvino, Jack Kerouac, Clarice Lispector and Soren Kierkegaard informing hazy vignettes where little is certain and interpretation is left to the mind of the listener. “The ambiguity of that is such a nice aspect,” says Tom. “Some of my favourite pieces of art give the viewer space to decide what it's about themselves. Rather than making it a dot to dot drawing, it's nice to let people exercise their own imagination.”

Within a week, they had five songs written and the call went out for new band members – Becky Leach (vocals, keys, violin), Gary Walker (guitar) and Sam Winter-Quick (vocals, bass). The illusionary, somnambulant sound of Lespectre was born, and while there are glimpses of the initial blueprint in chimerical opening track Sleep, While I and the lambent synth resonance of Obliquely Serenely, thoughts of mimicry had been superseded. “Sleep, While I had all that,” says Max. “It's the most derivative of that modern shoegaze sound. The other songs diverged immediately. We decided the backwards engineering was over, this was something else now and instead of making the album we'd talked about, we built off that wide spectrum. That was the starting point.”

The nine tracks that make up A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness were shaped in a series of sessions at the Coach House, where Massive Attack recorded their shadowy masterwork Blue Lines and Tom has helmed numerous records by other Bristol acts. Fans of the sleepy splendour of bands such as Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star, Grizzly Bear, Lanterns On The Lake, The National, The Antlers and Phosphorescent will find much to love across a varied collection that showcases the divergent tastes of the band's five members.

The coruscating, sun-dappled Thirty Fathoms Deep finds the band evoking Arcade Fire and the vast guitar sound of The War On Drugs, diving deep down into Lake Zarathustra with Tom “Out in the deep, finding solace in the eye of a stranger”. Impossible is an irresistible art-pop ear-worm that the band showcased when they played for Michael Eavis in the finals of the Pilton Stage competition in February. It's a tale of a doomed relationship recounted with tongue partly in cheek, through Max’s eyes. He's that rarest of beasts – a songwriting, PhD student drummer with an encyclopedic knowledge of philosophy and an enduring love of Michel Foucault, whose face adorns his arm.

Strange, unsettling and deeply captivating If, On A Winter’s Night is a funky off-kilter dream state that borrows its title from the postmodern novel of the same name by Italian novelist Italo Calvino. Elsewhere, the sad majesty of Obliquely Serenely, Heavily Edited and the title track hint at grander orchestral ambitions, Becky's airy, haunting vocals suggesting greats such as Liz Fraser, Phoebe Bridgers and Sharon Van Etten, and her violin sweeping evocatively through the arrangements.

The album's lead single, Such A Simple Thing, which features Bath's Douglas Joshua on cello, is the clearest manifestation of the band's transformation from songwriting pair to fully fledged five-piece. It builds from unadorned confessional beginnings to a roiling swell of Gary's tremolo-picked guitars, strings and a mesmeric vocal duel. “It's a track that shows off everyone's strengths,” says Tom. “It all came together to form this whole picture of Lespectre that's indicative of the band's sound. It's the one song that every other song on the album takes something from. It's like the well from which the forest drank, this song that fed everything else.”

Two years in the making, the album seemingly complete and ready to be sent to the vinyl pressing plant, there was a twist at the 11th hour. The final track, Thunder, didn't yet exist. Brought to the table by bassist Sam, it was written after the mix had been completed. With Covid lockdown still in place, the Coach House was out of bounds, so most of its parts were tracked remotely, including guest vocals from Gina Leonard and Ryan Rogers of dreamy Bristol synth-pop act Mumble Tide.

“Sam has an incredible ear for melody, better than anyone I've ever known, he's right 98% of the time and is a great lyricist,” says Tom. “He called me at midnight, the night I finished mixing, saying, 'I love the album, but I feel there's one more song in us, let's write it now'. So we did. After a couple of days, we had the rough structure. I recorded the lead vocal the day before we sent it to press.”

The song contains the most personal set of lyrics on A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness, a glimpse through the window into an intimate conversation between a pair of tender, blemished souls. Its final verse appears to offer redemption, but the closing phrase is cut short tantalisingly before it can resolve. It's a fitting place to conclude, leaving the listener to write their own ending. With Lespectre, nothing is concrete.

Includes unlimited streaming of A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Something Dawning, A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness, Obliquely Serenely, Such A Simple Thing, Lost With You, and Atmospheric dream-pop from Bristol. , and , .
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1.	Sleep, While I 04:38	lyrics	buy track
Sleep, While I   The moon is bright out here I see for miles The wicked blackness of the sky  It led me up to this frightening height From here the city seems alive  Fleetingly it’s here with me Clear as day From the night It’s leaving me This wilting dream Hold it tight Sleep while I Crawl back down towards the city sounds It’s much safer back inside The shining lake It’s her embrace  That brings me back to daylight I will stray back home I will stray back home   Fleetingly it’s here with me Clear as day From the night It’s leaving me This wilting dream Hold it tight Sleep while I   This thing’s imperfect of form A strange perspective  A false dawn This thing’s imperfect of form A strange perspective  A false dawn Fleetingly it’s here with me Clear as day From the night It’s leaving me This wilting dream Hold it tight Sleep while I
2.	Impossible 02:55	lyrics	buy track
Impossible It’s impossible to be with you It’s impossible to be with you   You’re more difficult than Wittgenstein And the works of Plato But God help me I just don’t mind I just won’t let go Well I guess I must be difficult too  We’ve all got our shit bits And when I speak, you roll your eyes In the way that you do Cause you’re still here and I’m looking at you While you’re reading Camus I don’t rate him but I sure rate you  And we both love Foucault You’re teaching me to read the skies The constellations Lay on our backs looking through the night Celestial observations It’s impossible to be with you (impossible) It’s impossible to be with you (not feasible)  It’s impossible to be with you (implausible) It’s impossible to be with you (unsolvable) You pick me apart like Kierkegaard  Yeah, I’ve read his journals  And put me back together like Hiedegger Or Erving Goffman Hey when I’m with you that’s my best role I fucking love the playwright  Don’t need my lines cause I’m talking to you  It’s gonna be another good, good night   My propositions serve as elucidations in the following way:  Anyone who understands me eventually recognises them as nonsensical But he’s used them as steps to climb up beyond them He must throw the ladder away   It’s impossible to be with you (impossible) It’s impossible to be with you (not feasible  It’s impossible to be with you (implausible) It’s impossible to be with you (unsolvable)   With you  Shoooouuuutt  With you Shoooouuuttttttt  With you Shooouuuuuutttttt
3.	Obliquely Serenely 04:46	lyrics	buy track
Obliquely Serenely   In the burning room We take out the light And I think about what’s happened here And my luck is your luck There’s something somebody saw There’s something somebody saw  And we will fall to sleep And here is not too far And here we think  Obliquely, serenely Sideways falls through glass (as I fall and you fall too)  The night when somebody asked  It seemed to be that darkness had followed me  A fallow land rests by a dying sea And then somebody asked  And then somebody asked   And we will fall to sleep And here is not too far And here we think  Obliquely, serenely  And we’ve got to come back now And we will fall to sleep And here is not too far And here we think  Obliquely, serenely
4.	Such A Simple Thing 04:56	lyrics	buy track
Such A Simple Thing Oh we don’t talk much Not since you came to me It was all such  All such a simple thing And I watched  I watched as we tore the house down Write me a letter if you can’t find the words today Actually when I think about it There’s always too much to say anyway Bypass the filter and crawl out of the cage There are buildings between us Drowning us in shade Oh we don’t talk much Not since you came to me It was all such  All such a simple thing And I watched  I watched as we tore the house down   Isn’t it funny? Everything happening now At a distance was a very different thing  I used to meet you in the heart of a good idea But now we’re never found in the same hemisphere Oh we don’t talk much Not since you came to me It was all such  All such a simple thing And I watched  I watched as we tore the house down I hurt myself and now I’m hurting you I wandered out and lost all I could lose (Trying to reach) Oh trying to see through the dark (Trying to reach) Oh trying to see through the dark   I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days I want back the days  credits
5.	If, On A Winter's Night 03:25	lyrics	buy track
If, On a Winter’s Night If on a winter’s night a traveller comes You recognise your obligation With every motion you give yourself to the snow There is a purpose This is all beyond the furthest reach of your imagination Take a breath It’s a stolen life That’s all too easy to forget Just remember all you see and touch And all that you feel On this winter’s night you’ve been persuaded By the wind’s whisper through the tree-line You keep on moving forward Now there’s no reason to be lost or turn back around You’re at the shoreline now   Take a breath It’s a stolen life Death won’t ever forget Just remember all you see and touch And all that you feel   And if on a winter’s night a traveller comes (It’ll come back to you)  If on a winter’s night  Now’s the time to think about all the marks you made (it’ll come back ) Keep your thoughts together while the rest falls away Take a breath It’s a stolen life Death won’t ever forget Just remember all you see and touch And all that you feel
6.	Thirty Fathoms Deep 06:13	lyrics	buy track
Thirty Fathoms Deep  Out in the deep Find solace in the eye of a stranger How much of you is like me?  I’d dive inside if it meant I’d see  Do I want these thoughts to be mine alone  Or would they be the same if we all switched places?  This design was never to be   Have we said this enough?  Repeat the words they sound nice  I rest head my head on your back  It helps me anchor tonight I feel the sound of your voice  From your lungs, through your skin  From your lungs Swirling  We’re just wires and sparks and code Where we’re going well need more than those  We’re just wires and sparks and code Where we’re going well need more than those   Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that had broken down Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that had broken down   Here now, we know there’s no keeper  Of a secret undisclosed Now where to go? I think you’ll know A life so vital So vital We’re just wires and sparks and code Where we’re going well need more than those  We’re just wires and sparks and code Where we’re going well need more than those  Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that had broken down Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that were broken down   I’ll keep going Until I’m thirty fathoms deep Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that were broken down Climb down deeper Thirty fathoms deep Into Lake Zaratustra  We were just bodies that were broken down   Cimb down Climb down
7.	Heavily Edited 04:32	lyrics	buy track
Heavily Edited Oh I thought about it too long this time And I’ve excavated I’ve categorised I’m obliterated Just dots and lines Oh and memories of fragments Presuppose a mind  In this nothing I’ve designed Found a new place For the truth to hide Is this everything? I’ve pushed and pulled Gone round dark corners and explored With each step in I push away With each step in I push away In this nothing I’ve designed Found a new place For the truth to hide Oh decimate me Cause it’s all that’s left Oh obliterate me Cause it’s all that’s left Oh decimate me Cause it’s all that’s left Oh obliterate me Cause that’s all that’s left  All my best dreams are made up You won’t see but you can look All my best dreams are made up You won’t see but you can look All my best dreams are made up You won’t see but you can look All my best dreams are made up You won’t see but you can look
8.	A Stray, A Dream, Forgiveness 04:51	lyrics	buy track
A Stray, a Dream, Forgiveness   It doesn’t matter at all It doesn’t matter at all It doesn’t matter at all I’ve seen a thought from a dream I knew it was me It moved with me It held to me And it doesn’t matter at all It took a while but then it stayed with me Can’t think to stop it now A strange forgiveness and with what that means  I care so little, little now I never want to stick and turn  And I guess this is what that is  An unforgiving brilliance Where the danger slipped in Tell me I don’t need to know the sounds  Tell me I don’t need to know the words The melody has changed The melody has changed again  And now we’re all just this side of trouble   It took a while but then it stayed with me Can’t think to stop it now A strange forgiveness and with what that means  I care so little, little now   An act, a thought, a deed An act, a thought, a deed An act, a thought, a deed  An act, a thought, a deed It took a while but then it stayed with me Can’t think to stop it now A strange forgiveness and with what that means  I care so little, little now   A stray, a dream, forgiveness And it’s over A stray, a dream, forgiveness And it’s over A stray, a dream, forgiveness And it’s over A stray, a dream, forgiveness And it’s over A stray, a dream, forgiveness And it’s over
9.	Thunder 03:37	lyrics	buy track
Thunder   You’ve been wild And I think you’re sorry And I feel like a child Can you forgive me? And take me into your place of wonder Take me into your place of wonder So we can  Stop leaving the light on Stop leaving the light on I like the night But right now I’m hopelessly divided by Backwards philosophy Take me into your place of wonder I’ve always been afraid of thunder So we can   Stop leaving the light on Stop leaving the light on Making sense is all I need But sense can never be believed And all you see and all you have Is always good til it turns bad A sentiment to be believed Reveals itself dramatically Take me to your place of wonder I’ve never been afraid of thunder Stop leaving the light on Stop leaving the light on Stop leaving the light on Stop leaving the light on You’ve been wild And I think you’re sorry And I feel like a child Can you forgive me? And take me into your place of wonder  Take me into your place of wonder So we can

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released October 16, 2020

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Lespectre Bristol, UK

Lespectre are an atmospheric dream-pop band from Bristol.

With a coruscating, sun-dappled sound, fans of the sleepy splendour of bands such as Cigarettes After Sex, Phosphorescent and Phoebe Bridgers will find much to love here.

Debut EP Atmospheric Dream-pop From Bristol was recorded at Bristol’s Coach House Studio, where Massive Attack conjured their shadowy masterpiece, Blue Lines. ... more

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