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Water & Light

by Archie the Goldfish

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1.
The castle slips into the sea To the sea The riders call and whirl around Whirl around You take a photograph of me Half of me And laughter is the only sound Only sound Past and future worries simply melting away On a summer's day We lie in lilac summer haze Summer haze I sing a song with made-up words Made-up rhymes We walk the quiet evening ways Evening ways And talk of simple happy times Happy times Past and future worries simply melting away On a summer's day The summer rain on the dark streets The gentle cries in the dark hours The darkened room in the light house The hush of leaves in the light wind The taste of salt on the soft lips The flower's glow on the warm face The smell of sun in the warm air The touch of hair on the hot day The breath of you in the close kiss The breath of you on my closed eyes The breath of you Past and future worries simply melting away Living life and loving life in every way On a summer's day The summer rain on the dark streets The gentle cries in the dark hours The darkened room in the light house The hush of leaves in the light wind The taste of salt on the soft lips The flower's glow on the warm face The smell of sun in the warm air The touch of hair on the hot day The breath of you in the close kiss The cool of you in the hot night The night is still and we still hear The summer rain on the dark streets The gentle cries in the dark hours The darkened room in the light house The hush of leaves in the light wind The taste of salt on the soft lips The flower's glow on the warm face The smell of sun in the warm air The touch of hair on the hot day The breath of you in the close kiss The cool of you in the hot night The breath of you, the breath of you
2.
Setting Out 03:29
I’m setting out to see the sun And leave the cold behind I’ve learned to know when it begins The blowing of the winter wind Too soon the leaves of autumn fall Too late the morning comes To not leave what I’ve left undone I’m setting out to see the sun All at once it’s time I should be leaving Kiss me twice, I’ll kiss you twice again Count to three and watch me go un-grieving For I long to be gone I’m setting out to see the sun... When you’re older I will be beside you We can talk of everything we’ve missed You can show the albums of our growing Picture that, picture this I’m setting out to see the sun...
3.
First Light 04:49
Lay down your head My love, my love Let time run slow Too soon you'll go The first light of the morning Creeps inside This day has come to take you From my side Lay close to me and hold me While you can This night will see you home Alone again Let all our words Be true, be true Kiss me and smile And stay a while The first light of the morning Creeps inside This day has come to take you From my side Lay close to me and hold me While you can This night will see you home Alone again
4.
Hello again, can you hear me talking? Do I disappear Hidden by your fear Covering my pain? I don’t want to just keep walking Far away from here For another year Starting again Don’t look the way that you do This isn’t all about you Please excuse me I don’t really want to say my name You’ll misuse me Look for some way you can pin the blame Deflect the shame I didn’t want to be changing places Far away from home Trapped in monochrome Colour drained away Leaving all the past embraces Splashing in the foam Sun and honeycomb Happy birthdays In human races, we fall And love outpaces us all Please excuse me I don’t really want to say my name You’ll misuse me Look for some way you can pin the blame Deflect the shame
5.
Atlantis 04:39 video
I've been caught by the undertow I've been dragged to a world below Now I'm faced with a liquid view Far away from the shores I knew You saw the storms that have brought me here You never told me so I was always the first to believe and the last to know I have lived in the land above I have breathed in the air of love But I'm bound for another place And I'm sinking without a trace You saw the storms that have brought me here You never told me so I was always the first to believe and the last to know All too soon the tide has turned Washed away, unconcerned All the places I belong Was I ever there? Who can tell where this current leads As the comfort of home recedes Will I come unexpectedly To a city beneath the sea? I saw the storms that have brought me here I chose to look away I was always the last one to plan for a rainy day

about

For the follow-up to our first instrumental EP, we wanted to record songs with words. We found the perfect person for the project: Nadia Basurto, a Catalan singer based in The Hague. Her warm, deep vocals and characterful non-native English pronunciation seemed to perfectly fit the songs, with their mixture of hope, uncertainty, change and displacement.

We had done a remix for Welsh bass player Aidan Thorne’s Duski band earlier in 2021, and he offered to return the favour by playing on a couple of our tracks. (It was a quid pro quo without any quids.) On ‘First Light’ and ‘Atlantis’, Aidan brings the spiritual jazz vibes, with his virtuosic, exciting and responsive double bass playing.

On the keys, we roped in our old friend Kishon Khan, the driving force behind Lokkhi Terra and leading light of a London-based global music community. Kishon’s organic, old-school Fender Rhodes sound and sensitive playing tied the other musical elements together and helped unify the different styles on the EP.

Finally, we think our own horn and guitar/bass playing are pretty good too, and central to the emerging Archie the Goldfish sound. (We particularly enjoyed the call and response passages on ‘Setting Out’ where it felt like old times spent on stage.)

These songs were all written at different times, but we hope that together they resonate with the spirit of the moment. They explore themes of positive and negative change, hope and regret, memory and anticipation, all through the imagery of Water & Light.

'Basurto's vocals soar and float above variously intricate and propulsive (‘On a Summer's Day’) and coolly laidback (‘Setting Out’) rhythm tracks, offering a counterpoint to Flowers's trumpet parts.
Sharp arrangements combine with nicely sculpted melodies to create some engaging, dreamily memorable tunes.'
Robert Shore, Jazzwise

'Meet the stunning Archie the Goldfish project and their latest EP. Jazz. The kind we want to hear everywhere. Yes, that’s right. It’s a breath of fresh air straight through our whole body. We can’t get restless listening to these sounds – and this ensemble that unites multiple nationalities, cultures and countries brings just that: a breeze of happiness to our lives.'
Tomás Rogeiro, Where the Music Meets

'Water & Light is a real treat. The music throughout is indicative of the vast and vibrant styles and genres Bestwick & Flowers have celebrated over their lengthy careers and the EP masterfully pulls together the immeasurable wealth of experience accumulated between the two.'
Imran Mirza, Blue-in-Green Radio

'Water & Light is the fresh seriousness needed for this summer. Fresh, thanks to a catchy jazzy grooving funky spirit, even flirting with drum & bass rhythms, just perfect to give extra colors and relief to all our lazy summer days. Serious, thanks to Nadia Basurto's amazing voice, so sincere and warm-hearted, it really gives depth to the grooving rhythms.'
Paul Medrano, bestofjazz.org

‘Shimmering summer sounds with a superb groove and classy vibes. Sounds awesome!’
Ant Bird, NuJazzSounds

credits

released July 16, 2021

Graeme Flowers - trumpet and flugelhorn
Chris Bestwick - guitar, and bass guitar on tracks 1,2,4
Nadia Basurto - vocals
Kishon Khan - Fender Rhodes
Aidan Thorne - double bass on tracks 3 and 5
Sarah Winton - intro backing vocals on track 2

Produced by Chris Bestwick and Graeme Flowers
Mixed by Chris Bestwick
Mastered by Steve Kitch
Cover art by Alban Low

All words and music by Chris Bestwick
Published by Sentric Music Publishing

Released by Funkiwala Records
Distributed by Kudos

Big thanks to Cottonbro for the wonderful images in the video for Atlantis! www.pexels.com/@cottonbro

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Archie the Goldfish UK

Archie the Goldfish is a multi-country project co-led by guitarist Chris Bestwick and trumpeter Graeme Flowers.

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