Tend the Flame, by Mike Sempert

Tend the Flame

by Mike Sempert

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Michael Kish If I had to describe this album in a word, I'd say "spiritual." It sounds like Mike is working through some deep stuff here, and sometimes, on tracks like "We Are Enough," finding transcendence. His sound mixes the organic and the electronic, often setting rootsy, twangy guitars over swirling synthesizers. The great songwriting ties it together, as well as Mike's strong, simple and unaffected singing (his voice reminds me a bit of Richard Manual and Dennis Wilson). One of my favorites of 2016. Favorite track: Anything But Me.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
This is a limited vinyl pressing of the album "Tend the Flame"...

You can listen to a teaser for the record here:

soundcloud.com/mikesempert/mike-sempert-tend-the-flame-album-teaser

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1.	Egyptian River 03:17	lyrics	buy track
There’s snow up in the mountains And we’ll be giving it all away And water in the rivers again And we’ll be giving it all away There’s food down in the ground my friend And they’ll be giving it all away We were lost in search of dreams that found us Giving it all away So don’t worry bout the money Cause we’ll be giving it all away I know it may sound strange to you But we’ll be giving it all away And when the pyramids are snow capped peaks We can float on a raft of stone and clay All the gold and treasure buried beneath They’ll be giving it all away
2.	The Weather 03:22	lyrics	buy track
Whatever happens online I feel free Whatever happens online I feel free So if there’s a record of me I don’t mind (yeah yeah) The weather’s changing all the time But I feel free… The weather’s changing oh man Do I feel free? I don’t believe everything that I see On the world wide web (Yeah yeah) So if there’s a record of me I don’t mind (uh huh)
3.	We Are Enough 04:31	lyrics	buy track
The world is on fire these days of rage It’s hard to deny, that we are ablaze When all these technical wonders are not enough And all this stuff we got, it’s not enough Someday we’ll make it right but not today That’s what the future’s for right? Just to delay And if the present moment is not enough Let’s fan the flames tonight, cause I’ve had enough Uh-huh, Uh-huh Something isn’t right but it’s unstoppable We know a better life is still possible When all these technical wonders are not enough All this stuff we got, it’s not enough Someday we’ll make it right Why not today? You know if science could save us It would have done it already And if the present moment could be enough Let’s fan the flames tonight We are enough Uh-huh, Uh-huh
4.	Anything But Me 03:50	lyrics	buy track
Everybody wants to love somebody But nobody knows how to love themselves You gotta love somebody somebody So I’m gonna have to love somebody else Everybody wants to love somebody But I never really knew how to love myself You gotta love somebody somebody So I’m gonna have to love somebody else Now won’t you give me something to look at Just put it in front of me Anything but the moment Anything but me The good life belongs to someone Those other lives I wanna lead Anything but the moment anything but me Someday you’re gonna have to be anyone “Not me” Someday you’re gonna have to be Somebody Somebody You know I’m searching for something to witness You know I’m searching in the screen Anything but the moment anything but me Someday you’re gonna have to be anyone “Not me” Someday you’re gonna have to be Somebody Somebody Everybody wants to love somebody But nobody knows how to love themselves You gotta love somebody somebody So I’m gonna have to love somebody else Everybody wants to love somebody But I never really knew how to love myself You gotta love somebody somebody So I’m gonna have to learn how to love myself
5.	So Foreign 02:54	lyrics	buy track
I’ve lived a life so many times And now that I find myself falling out I heard the sound of old echoes They’re calling me home But it’s so foreign to me now I hit the ground and then I run But I’m followed by the sun It’s so foreign I’m not who you think I am I’m more like a spirit I’m not who you think I am I’m more like a feeling in the air When I am found I move around I live a life out loud And I’m not lonely in this town I’m moving forward Without a doubt With out a doubt I’m moving forward I’m not who you think I am I’m more like a spirit I’m not who you think I am I’m more like a feeling in the air
6.	Distance 04:23	lyrics	buy track
I can’t hear you on the phone tonight Maybe it’s the distance, breaking up the line When I’m not near you I lose the old insight that you give me So I’m on the phone tonight It makes no difference to a satellite But there’s a distance and we’re along for the ride My voice is a traveller My heart is full of wires But there’s a distant light In the corner of the sky Aw yeah I can’t hear you on the phone tonight Maybe its the distance growing ever wide The canyons tumble oceans turn to fire For that distant light In the glory of your eyes Aw yeah
7.	Baby Bird 04:26	lyrics	buy track
I’m running along a ledge I run parallel with the edge And all the while I can’t help but smile I feel just as light as a fledgling Down below is a wilderness I know so well But I’m not afraid of falling down Or maybe I already fell Baby bird I heard you singing I know my luck won’t run out on me Baby bird I heard you singing I know my luck won’t run out on me Hey baby don’t you cry You know that you just hit your stride And I know it must seem wild The perilous ways we get high Baby bird I heard you singing I know my luck won’t run out on me Baby bird I heard you singing I know my luck won’t run out on me We’re running along a ledge We run parallel with the edge All the while I can’t help but smile Sweet little wings made of lightning
8.	Goodbye Polar Bear 03:40	lyrics
High highs Lows lows This might be desirable in a frequency response Or the arc of a story High highs Low lows God only knows I could go easier on me Smoothly now High highs Lows lows Only I’m responsible For this train come roller coaster I am the conducter Our bedsheets spread across two coasts Up north and down low Another polar bear’s ghost You always say bye bye - bicoastal The world said bye bye - bipolar Goodbye polar bear ugh Up high the wind blows The light sleeps The dusk shows The valley down below In the shadow of the mountain High highs Low lows God only knows I could go easier on me Smoothly now Smoothly now High highs Low lows You know I wish it would go smoothly like a sine wave Not jagged like a saw blade I’m run ragged like an ice cap In the flow of dollars and hand claps Melt down to something raw and natural Let me be a resource Let me be the source Bye bye bye coastline The whole world’s bi bi bipolar We wanna be bye bye bicoastal The world said bye bye bye polar Goodbye polar bear
9.	What I Want 02:50	lyrics
Let’s pretend That the world’s not coming to an end Oh Let’s Pretend And let’s bend All the rules but they’ll never break They just bend back again Salt water! From my sink Salt water All I ever think about is water So let’s spend all that money and all that time As if it would never end And darling when the waves come we’ll be fine Whoa let’s pretend Salt water! From my sink Salt water All I ever think about is water And I want what I want False refuge is the one you choose What I want White noise is slowly killing you Well I may be under the influence Of social conditioning What I want what I want Don't you ever tell me What to feel and what not to feel Don't you ever tell me What is real and what isn't real Wouldn’t it be nicer, if someone could decipher What I want, what I want Let’s pretend That the world’s not coming to an end Oh Let’s Pretend and Let’s send all those letters to all our friends and say goodbye again Salt water! From my sink Salt water All I ever think about is water you know that I want what I want False refuge is the one you seem to choose What I want a seldom-broken trance of blues Well I may be under the influence Of social conditioning What I want what I want
10.	Annihilation Bossa 04:22	lyrics
I found consolation in knowing that even after our Annihililation there would still be beauty The light shown through the rubble The dust is moving now And there’s no trouble I found consolation in knowing that even after our Annihililation there would still be love There would still be love Or would there be I wonder If nobody was around to feel it Did we create it? I believe the universe Is a benevolent place I can feel a lonely love When I’m floating in space I read the news today and it made me cry But I still believe the universe Is on our side (Oh!) Yes I take comfort knowing That as long two people remained There could still be love There could still be love I feel a weight being lifted To feel that life goes on without me No burden to carry Yes I take comfort knowing That if a single flower remained There could still be Something growing yeah So please find consolation In knowing that with or without a witness There would still be beauty
11.	Tend the Flame 03:35	lyrics
Baby if you don’t tend the flame The flame dies down Baby if you don’t tend the flame The flame goes out But the burning embers They just need a breath of air All they need is loving care We gotta learn to build Yeah the burning embers They just need your breath So give whatever you’ve got left And tend the flames I can remember the last time I know you remember Cause it’s all we got left, yeah I can remember the last time I know you remember Now baby if you don’t tend the flame The flame dies down Baby if you don’t tend the flame The flame goes out

credits

released November 22, 2016

All songs © Mike Sempert 2016 (War of Vines/ BMI)
Photography by Brian Stevens
Album art by Dara Weinberg

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Mike Sempert Boston, Massachusetts

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