We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Dearly Departed

by Bannerman

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

      name your price

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 6 Bannerman releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of An Unfamiliar Quiet, EP II, Clawhammer, Dearly Departed, The Dusty Dream Hole, and EP I. , and , .

      $12 NZD or more (20% OFF)

     

1.
2.
There’s a howling wind Coming off the oily bay And the rot has settled on skin Of the men who come to toil So Glorious See the rise of columns and swords Bring the fire we’ll crush the Gods In the bloodless eyes we hire To destroy and to inspire Will the echoes die? And here on the banks of freedom We lie where we fall We touch and recoil Like lovers in times of war And when it’s done We’ll recline in the soil We’ll be blind forever more. There’s a howling wind Sweeping out the desert graves All the farmers gather your kin You’ve got hungry souls to save We’ve got lions laws Cross the Rhine and into the claws Every child believes the Lord Will our family’s home be razed? Will the gremlin’s grin be broad? Or will we all be saved? And here on the banks of freedom We lie where we fall We touch and recoil Like lovers in times of war And when it’s over We’ll be drunk We’ll be tired We’ll be old We’ll be tried and hung.
3.
I’m sick and tired of you beating your chest You know best, oh but you know best I want to feed you to the beast in the wall But he won’t come calling, no he won’t come at all no I’m in a box under the coroner’s knife The blades dance freely likes it’s opening night And the only thing keeping him from cutting me up Is that I want you too much. Hey brother with the bleeding heart You said I won’t bit hard, no I won’t bite hard You remind me of a horrible dream With a recurring theme that just occurred to me We’re out walking by the railroad track I go and hack off your head and then I jump on your back And the only thing keeping me from cutting you up Is that I want you too much. I’m sick and tired of you beating your chest We’re going east and west, oh we’re east and west Beneath the belly of the beast in the wall There’s something crawling, something crawled in Breathe through your mouth, it’s a terrible stench Hold the flashlight steady ‘cause I’m starting to wretch And the only thing keeping me from bringing it up Is that I want you too much.
4.
Oh the year that has gone leaves me beaten Like an ill, ageing miner who blinks at the sun And the cold wind has come It seems too early Now the ghosts have all left me but their sound lingers on Offer me something more There is a humming just behind the door How long’s this light been on for? Oh the year that’s begun leaves me empty There’s a dull repetition to all that’s to come And the fact we’re still young Seems a blessing But whenever we mention it, the fact makes us numb Oh the year that’s to come greets me sweetly But its eyes make me nervous There’s death on its tongue And the only thing wrong is that I’m trembling Tell me, how do you face a year with no armour on? Well do you know how far we’ve come? Look, there’s an opening lit by the sun How long’s this light been on for?
5.
Take Time 04:16
Be the man Break the mould Before the hate gets a hold You’re afraid But that’s just what everybody feels From time to time There’s an old wicked wind outside Moaning and calling you Take time for your daughter Make time for your son Come on round whenever you’re lonely Time ain’t nothing but shadows on the run From the sun On you get There’s the door Walk out of the bush down to the shore Oh the sea Man it’s a big old world of possibility Think of all the bodies floating out there Moaning and calling you Some shadows are long and lonely And it’s alright to hide away.
6.
Come ashore You’re too far out Just move your arms about Breathe in It’s just that easy Show me some heart girl If you can, try doing it without me I’d let you drown If I thought that would help you to live There rose a flood Around your house I’ll bring you sand I’ll bring you sun This time All day it rained All night you died I’ll bring the oars I’ll get you out This time Nobody but you is bringing this water Buried in deep wells for twenty odd years Run Don’t look behind You can never come back down here again New land Our clothes lie there Drying in the wind A quiet light Has got you mesmerized You’re a stranger to life child If you can, try moving your arms about.
7.
You’ve got a way of doing things That makes me keep coming back to your door I’m out losing but I come home again and again You’ve got a way of talking That’s kind of confusing but I’m all ears You knock me over but I get up again and again Yeah I get up and I listen again. Walls of brick and mortar I’ll wear the stone down slowly ‘Cause rocks don’t make any friends So let’s not throw them again ‘Cause rocks are just lonely hearts You’ve got a way of living That I can see is the future for me and us And I believe that I’ll start the winning again You’ve got a way of loving That aches and cradles, rages and cries Well it’s an endless ride I lose you but I love you again Yeah I lose you but I love you again. Well we’ve been down before but you’re still my special one.
8.
Machines 04:12
I rented the house Somewhere to play To write on the walls and wile away All for the love Not for the gain But just for myself You stopped at my door Wanting to stay Just to get warm, a couple of days Not for the love Not for the gain But just for yourself We’re like machines And just like machines We’re run to the ground And sorry doesn’t explain We ate by the fire And talked over tea Both of us liars, but happy to be In I was you And in you were me And that seemed to help We’re like machines And just like machines We keep breaking down And sorry doesn’t explain And it doesn’t matter anyway We’re not the young ones to save We’re much too afraid And we like it here today.
9.
I was compelled to trouble your soul in the onrushing grey I was only having some fun Can’t you tell it’s a part that I play very well? If I do say myself (and I do). We’ve been here before When this love was unsure Sometimes I’m hungry And you just look at me like we’re done Do you remember the stones we put in the yard? We’ll you were that hard And I was only having some fun I couldn’t tell at the time I was losing my girl While gaining my mind. You said I was a joke That I couldn’t cope Well I’ve grown hungry I’m gonna take all the good I’ve done and just get going.
10.
Blow out your candles darling, it’s your year All the lovers you have known are here So grab a glass and drink the hard stuff Let the spirits rile your soul On this night our ghosts court trouble in the chill And my crippled past flies out with every swill I’ve been out there kissing strangers And sleeping through my private grief Then I came home And all the secrets killed me Slowly I died alone I’m not a pillar, I’ve got no stability Once a killer grabbed my hand and entered me Please just hold me and stop the bleeding I’ve been meaning to sit and talk You are wilder More than anyone I know And together we are wilder When we just let go.

about

Bannerman features the songwriting of Richard Setford, whose work is diversely affecting, slightly unhinged, fragile and quietly dramatic. The Bannerman world is a place of imagination and cinematic ambition. Think wind swept battlefields, detached murderers, nostalgic lovers, natural disasters and the shadow of time. All these themes and images are at play on his new album Dearly Departed.

The album follows hot on the heels of 2010’s debut, The Dusty Dream Hole, which was nominated for a Tui (best cover art) and a Silver Scroll (She Was A Mountainside), and is in many ways this album’s sequel. Let’s recap - over an intensive three days in 2008, Richie and Ruby Suns drummer Alistair Deverick went into Auckland’s Lab Studios and laid down 26 songs that were originally intended for a double album. It soon became clear that he had bitten off more than he could chew and with time and money against him only 14 tracks were released.

And so now, Bannerman unveils those final songs as the album Dearly Departed. It is at turns, both thrilling and restrained. Be prepared for quiet corners of folk, jaunty alt country, some serious guitar brutality and hope-filled pop torch-songs. The scope of the material is broad and all the better for it. It’s music that lasts.

Overdubbing for the album was tackled at Two Pot Mix Studios in Mt Albert. The process took 8 days, split between two hurried bursts of concentrated creativity in February and June, with Richie putting down everything except horns and strings. Then it was back to The Lab in September for mixing and mastering with 2011 Tui award winner Olly Harmer. The concept of a sequel is further strengthened by Angela Keoghan’s beautiful illustrations, which grace the cover once again.

credits

released October 31, 2011

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bannerman Berlin, Germany

Bannerman was the first solo project of Richie Setford and featured musicians from New Zealand and Berlin including Alaister Deverick, Oliver Emmitt, Cass Basil, Flip Grater, Cole Goodley, Finn and Tam Scholes, Siobhanne Thompson, Hollie Fullbrook, Ben Anderson, Erez Frank and Magnus Bang-Olsen.

In 2012 Angela Keoghan's 'Dearly Departed' artwork won the NZ Music Award for best cover art.
... more

contact / help

Contact Bannerman

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Bannerman, you may also like: