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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Old-school beauty - "Those Old Demons" is the first Kirsty / Hobopop Collective album to be pressed to 12" for the highest quality and most organic listening experience and the best of all possible ways to look at Alex T Frazer's original album artwork.

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    "Those Old Demons" on CD in a beautiful full card gatefold package featuring original artwork by Alex T Frazer.

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 9 Kirsty McGee releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Diamond Days EP, Those Old Demons, Sandman [Single], Contraband, No. 5, The Kansas Sessions, Hobopop E.P., Live Downloads, and 1 more. , and , .

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1.
What can you do when you’re all unknown When you’re lost and you’re weary and you feel all alone You’ve been wandering so long that you’re all skin and bone You took the wrong path, baby, now you can’t come home How do you care when your caring is through When you’ve run yourself ragged when you’ve cried yourself blue When you just keep on running but you don’t know where to I took the wrong path, baby, I can’t come home to you What do you do? What do you say? When you don’t know why you’re running, you’re just running away And day follows night sure as night follows day You just keep on running keep your fears at bay Who do you trust when your trust has been broken? To speak your truth when a lie has been spoken To hold somebody when your heart’s been harmed How do you hold somebody in your arms? How can I be now that I’m all alone How can I taste that sweetness now your sweetness is gone? I lost so much I’ve got nothing to lose But you’re running on empty when you’re running with the blues What do you do? What do you say? When you don’t know why you’re running, you’re just running away And day follows night as sure as night follows day You just keep on running keep your fears at bay
2.
Salt 02:48
You put a lot of trust in that man But his kisses barely grazed your broken heart And his hot hands strayed before you gave them leave I guess I could have told you that part You came off lightly, no lasting damage done Next time I guess you’re going to listen to my advice If I told you once, I told you twice There ain’t enough salt to melt that ice He’s a cold man, he’s cold up to the level And he does his level best to seem less so And he’s fooled so many people so don’t take it to heart It isn’t really such a body blow He’s a cold man, he’s cold up to the brim But it’s those crystal eyes that make him seem so nice Don’t let him fool you, no, don’t be taken in There ain’t enough salt to melt that ice
3.
To The Dogs 02:49
To learn, To learn to swallow your fear Slide ever onwards out of here To slide, to slide Like it or not To cut through the ties and blindly fly To fly, to fly To rustle your wings To feel the world crumble yet blindly to sing To sing, to sing, Always something more to say And you say it's over but it isn't over How can it be over when everything's gone to the dogs? The dogs, The dogs are baying tonight Out in the pale moon's slippery light and the stars, the stars are still shining brightly in just the same way that they shine nightly The night, this night that swallows the day Swallows the swallows and nightingales sing a song, A song from a silvery tongue To fight, to stay when you know that you're wrong And you say it's over How can it be over? No, it isn't over when everything's gone to the dogs Everything's gone to the dogs
4.
A Plague 04:38
Well if love for you is conquest I can see you’ve reached your peak Seems like they only taught you curses when they taught you how to speak And all your angels are departed with a burning in their eyes And oh lord, I’m glad that I’m gone Seems like an ill wind blew you where the ill winds tend to blow It picked you up and it threw you like you were a seed to throw And like a seed you burrow down; like a seed you grow And oh lord, I’m glad that I’m gone And you walk so tall As though no one here could ever see you fall Like you know more than we do… A plague on all the houses and a plague upon the trees A plague on all the birds that fly and a plague upon the bees You are a plague upon the surface of the earth your shadow frames And oh lord, I’m glad that I’m gone I’m gonna take the evil in you I’m gonna roll it in a ball I’m gonna pitch a perfect arc and I’ll watch that evil fall But I won’t take you down into my heart like I took you once before Cos oh lord, I’m glad that I’m gone And you walk so tall As though no one here could ever see you fall Like you know more than we do…
5.
It’s a family trait Like the colour of my skin Like pale blue eyes Coming round again And a family like ours Keeps to its own There’s no love as gentle As the lover you know I know you find it hard to understand How the lover’s touch comes from the brother’s hand But we’ve grown up closer, closer than most do And I won’t break with my tradition for a man like you I know you don’t talk about these things And how it’s all done in white and with those Diamond wedding rings But I love someone that I already know And if you don’t like what you’re seeing you can pack your bags and go And I’ve told you my heart And you know it’s a part Of all my sleeping and my waking up My lover’s heart my lover’s touch His hands are like mine And he holds me so tightly He holds me as I sleep And then he wakes me Oh so lightly
6.
Collect up your demons and bring them to me All your fears in the darkness that you won’t let me see and the guttering wick and the stuttering word and the muttering low and the simply unheard Collect up your demons that shine in the light and we’ll catch them like feathers and we’ll bind them up tight and with fire and with water with blood and with dirt we will bind them together so they no longer hurt Cos those old demons they’ll always get you they’ll always get you they’ll always get you Those old demons they’ll come and they’ll get you if you don’t chase those demons if you don’t chase those demons Don’t give them an inch or they’ll run with a mile They will tear out your eyes with a wink and a smile Cos those demons are crafty and those demons they learn Got to bury them deeply till they shudder and they burn In a mile of fresh earth beneath rolling white clouds Keep the stars in the heavens and the fires underground You’re blindsided and blinded at your perfect parade If you’re seeking perfection, it’s always home-made And those old demons they’ll always get you they’ll always get you they’ll always get you Those old demons they’ll come and they’ll get you if you don’t chase those demons if you don’t chase those demons if you don’t chase those demons (away)
7.
Pray 04:19
If you pray to me, you’d better pray out loud Don’t pray to me desperate, Don’t pray to me proud Don’t pray to me lost, you will always be found You’ve gotta crawl down upon your knees on the stony ground Don’t pray to me weak if your spirit is strong Don’t stand up with the righteous when you know you’ve done wrong Don’t stand there as if defeated, not making a sound You’ve gotta crawl down upon your knees on the stony ground And that ground’s gonna hurt like you’ve never hurt before There’ll be blood on your shoes when you walk to my door But don’t pray to me clean, just pray that I’m home Cos I’m here for you, sinners, But I won’t be for long So if you’re running to me, you better crawl on your hands You better crawl on your belly or I won’t understand You’re a powerful man, But I’m bigger than you You’ve gotta fall down upon your knees and crawl on through And that ground’s gonna hurt like you ain’t ever hurt before There’ll be blood on your shoes when you walk to my door But don’t pray to me clean, just pray that I’m home Sing on out to me, sinners Cos I won’t be for long…
8.
Magnolia 03:47
Love, you play a dangerous game to come so close and then to shy away Close enough for me to blame but never close enough to stay And love, you are a wanton thing You want to take more than you bring But I am wise, too wise to play Too wise to be all that I say Oh, Magnolia blossom sweet You’re what I crave, you’re what I need But you know and everybody knows How sweetness comes and sweetness goes Love, your light so pure and clear It shines on me, it knows I’m here I try to hide, I shy away You come so close, but you never stay So sweet, so sure, so tenderly You lay your gentle hands on me My skin like feathers, asking why this bird is grounded, cannot fly Away, magnolia blossom bold You’re what I need - to have, to hold But you know and everybody knows How sweetness comes and sweetness goes And oh, magnolia blossom brave Your flower so brief, a single day I dream of stars, so bold and bright that bloom forever, day and night But you know and everybody knows How sweetness comes but not how sweetness goes
9.
Love’s great lie Makes you want to lay down and die Breaks all the rules until the broken rules apply Salts your tears every time you cry Love’s great lie Leaves you wondering why Oh how many knots must a broken heart untie to undo it? (I wish I knew it) Every spark Every tender beat Every minor fluctuation of your lonesome body heat Every pit pat of a heart as it loses a beat but all I know is love All I know is love All I know is... Love, love, love, love.... Love’s sweet shame: making the wild one tame Breaking the rules but then you’ll always take the blame You’ll be the loser when you play Love’s great game: why do we insist on playing? Love plays dirty and you really can’t undo it You try playing fair but then you always rue it... Love, love, love... Love’s great lie: you think you won the battle but I I have determined not to fall again Never will I become so small again In love’s great pain: why would a lover ever love again? How many knots can a broken heart untie to undo it? - I wish I knew it But all I know is love All I know is love All I know is love All I know is... Love, love, love, love Love’s great lie
10.
Sweet Talk 03:17
Well your eyes are as bright as brass pennies and your voice is as clear as a bell I watched you sweet talk your way into heaven Let's see you sweet talk your way out of hell And you sing in a very fine alto You whisper like settling flames You can make fellas do what you want to and then make them do it again Well you swing your way on out of trouble and you swing every time to success I've never seen you deal with a failure never seen you clear up a mess When all the lights go on on your little parade of only the bright and the good You'll be there doing just what you want to do instead of doing what you should So get on that train if you're gonna ride Don't stand there so dumb on the track There's a thousand fireworks just doing their thing and you know you ain’t ever coming back All of the demons are waiting in welcome They'll line up by the track and they'll wait To wave your good majesty homeward to a new and magnificent state All of the angels are anxious to see your bright face like a star from the bottom of a well I watched you sweet talk your way into heaven c'mon and sweet talk your way out of hell Well I'd like to say I’d led an exemplary life but there's folk here that might disagree I've been standing for years in the roots and the weeds while you swing from the top of the tree But there is something to be said for being grounded though you never become well-known When you've planted your feet at the bottom when you fall you don't break any bones So get on the train if you're gonna ride Don't stand there so dumb on the track There's a thousand fireworks just doing their thing and you know you ain’t ever coming back All of the angels are anxious to see your bright face like a star from the bottom of a well I watched you sweet talk your way into heaven c'mon and sweet talk your way out of hell I watched you sweet talk your way into heaven c'mon...
11.
Survival 04:18
I’m a survivor I’ve lived through things to tell a tale or two That’s why the tales I tell They always sound so true At the bottom of the river in a burned-out boat There’s a smile and it used to be mine But they burned all the bridges that I crossed over Sipping the blood that used to be wine You need me You won’t admit it I can teach you a thing or two When you cease learning You start teaching What I could share with you At the top of a tree where it spins in the breezes There’s a heart in the branches and it’s mine I learned all about branches from the forest in me Slipping the rope and shedding the line And at the corner of Salvation by the burnt-out bridge There’s a wishbone buried in a jar And when they start to whisper of their wishes and their dreams You can run but you never get far Oh won’t you make me a dreamer of innocent dreams I want to dream again Nowadays nobody is what they seem And who saves the innocent when There’s a chain and it only turns backwards And you smile when I ask you is it true That they burned all the bridges that I crossed over And the only thing that’s left for me is you Survival Tell me it don’t matter when the hangman is fiddling with the noose When you’re running in your shoes and going ‘pitter patter’ To the sound of the rain on a corrugated roof Survival
12.
When you walked in here I thought you were someone I once knew Someone I knew well a long time ago And when I spoke, I did speak out of turn There are some things that we learn And there are others we just know And I just knew that you were gonna need me You were gonna need me – so here I am And I will wait. I will wait until you’re ready I will wait until you’re ready I’m your main man When you blew in here like a storm in April You scattered my thoughts to these four winds And I am ready to see and to be the one you’re needing I will be the seedling that will grow upon the stone And I just knew that you were gonna need me You were gonna need me – so here I am And I will wait. I will wait until you’re ready I will wait until you’re ready I’m your main man Don’t be scared, don’t be scared while the wind is blowing There is no way of knowing what he carries in his hands Don’t be scared, don’t be scared: there’s a heart and it’s beating Like a bullet while you’re sleeping I’m your main man

credits

released October 27, 2014

Kirsty McGee – Vox, Guitar, Flute, Bass Flute, Saw
Clive Mellor – Harmonica
Howard Jacobs – Drums, Percussion, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Waterphone, Berimbau, Whistling
Nick Blacka – Double Bass
James Steel – Electric Guitar
Biff Roxby – Tenor Trombone, Bass Trombone, Flugelhorn, Tuba, Humming
Barkley McKay – Piano
Marc Ribot – Electric Guitar, Banjo, Ukulele

Produced by Kirsty McGee, Howard Jacobs and Barkley McKay
Recorded and Mixed by Barkley McKay at Valley Wood Studio
Additional recording by Nick Foots, Ryan Kelly & Biff Roxby
Mastered by Russ Hepworth-Sawyer at MOTTOsound

All songs by Kirsty McGee
All songs published by Kirsty McGee | Big Oak Songs
All content © 2014 Kirsty McGee | Big Oak Songs
All rights reserved

Special thanks to:

The wonderful, diverse and inspiring community of musicians that make up The Hobopop Collective – especially Nick, Howard, Biff, Clive, Barkley and James

Marc Ribot, Mary Ho, Nick Foots, Wytse Sterk, Ellen and Jessie at Fox, JD Foster, Ryan Kelly, Danny Boyle, Christian Coulson, Mike Gillespie, Rick Smith, Mark Roberts, Shellshock, Touch Tones Music, Russ at Mottosound, Barkley, Katherine and Georgia at Valley Wood Studio, Mat Martin, Lou Armer and everyone else who’s been responsible for bringing you this nestful of gorgeous demons.

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Kirsty McGee Manchester

A wandering maverick and spellbinding live performer with a voice that has been described as having the texture of smoke & velvet, McGee defies categorisation, to make 'hobopop' –“music of no fixed genre”. Her continuously evolving musical personality is proof that a freedom from artistic restraints can sometimes produce a unique, enthralling and original voice with a rare honesty. ... more

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