The House of Bones

by MaJiKer

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about

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ALBUM DESCRIPTION

MaJiKer's new album 'The House of Bones', mainly recorded in Iceland, and was inspired by ghost stories, haunted house movies from the 1940s and Norse mythology.

The album expands MaJiKer's instrumentation beyond the strict template laid down with his 2009 debut album 'Body-Piano-Machine' to include harmonium, viola da gamba, marimba and a 150-year-old Dulcitone, creating a mysterious atmosphere with a sense of tension that runs right through the recording.

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credits

released 31 October 2011
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ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded, produced & mixed by MaJiKer

All instruments & vocals performed by MaJiKer

except: viola da gamba (all tracks) by Liam Byrne
and marimba (on tracks 5, 6 & 10) by Andrew Ker

All songs composed by MaJiKer

Lyrics by Heather O'Malley & MaJiKer
(except 12, lyrics by MaJiKer)

℗ & © 2011 Alche-my

Photos: Raphaël Neal
www.raphaelneal.com


Recording locations:

Greenhouse Studio, Iceland - dulcitone, harmonium, Electone organ, vibraphone, piano, Blu-tack piano & reindeer skin piano

Oxford University - marimba, timpani, bass drum

MaJiKer's studio, Paris - percussive objects, beatbox, backing vocals & viola da gamba

A small wooden house on a mountain in Laugarvatn, Iceland - lead vocals

Outdoor sounds & room noises recorded on location in Iceland & Italy.


I’m very grateful to everyone who supported me throughout the creation of this project.

Special thanks to:

Liam & Andrew for their precious musical contributions,
Ólöf, Valgeir & all at Greenhouse who made these recordings possible,
Raphaël, Dylan & Helga for their creative work on the visuals & artwork.

Finally, I would like to thank Heather who created this project with me & without whom these songs would not have been born.

tags

tags: pop experiemental Paris

license

all rights reserved

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about

"Stubbornly & beautifully on the edges" - David Byrne

"Modern, unusual, unique, abstract & compelling" - Ken Russell, The Times

MaJiKer is an English artist/producer based in Paris & working internationally

Alongside his own projects, he has also produced & arranged for artists including Camille (on two award-winning albums & tours) & has remixed Fever Ray, Ane Brun, Nico Muhly & Jenny Wilson ... more

contact / help

For help with downloads, click here.

For all other inquiries, including help with merch, click here.

shipping and returns

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Track Name: Entrance / Baldur's Dream
In the hour where indigo meets the dawn
I arise in the misty morn
With spirit in my eyes and a soul reborn
From silence

In the realm where precious lies deal death blows
I walk where the rivers flows
With a steel smile, with my strength held close
In silence

Go, gather, guide him through the gates
Am I here alone?
Wake, warning, a wanderer awaits
My heart is carved from stone

In the land where driving snow wastes the plain
I gird my heart against the pain
With a veil of the dusk and the scent of rain
I enter

Drag, drug him, drown him down with doubt
You're unarmed, unknown
Shunt, shred him, strike the stranger out
This house is mine alone

You can’t hurt me, I’m not here
You can’t touch me, no more fear, no more fear
You can't break me, do your worst
It's hatred that you spread yet you are casualty
You can't hurt me

Hurt, hammer, as if he's still there,
Here, pity, his flesh is made of air
Touch, torment, he's no body here
Fear, failing, why has he no fear?
Break, buried, a soul so confused
Worst, wasted, and ripe to be abused with
H U R T

No, Never, No-one locks me in
You're caught here alone
So, be it, Let the games begin
You shall stay, and we shall play within this House of Bones

You can’t hurt me, I’m not here
You can’t touch me, no more fear, no more fear
You can't break me, do your worst
It's hatred that you spread yet you are casualty
You can't hurt me
Track Name: The Struggle
A whisper at my door
But I would not let it in
A voice came, faint from time
A lost ghost, and a faded chime
I wouldn't speak and I would not let it in 

It told of tender age and the passing of pain
Of silent years, the redemption of rain.
And through those tracks of time
I saw the aching lines
A haunted life of mine
 

My hand drew back the bolt
And the darkness tiptoed through
A murmur: “can’t you see?
Reach through the night and speak with me
I’m waiting, and I long to talk to you”
 
It sang of solace, soothing, a balm to ease tears
Of wounds wiped clean and the wisdom of years
And soaked in sound and sign
I saw the dreamless shrine
And healed this life of mine


This is the struggle, this is the strife
I'll cleanse the distress from what's left of this life
I will not falter, I will not fail
I'm under your breath, so that death won't prevail
This is the struggle, this is the strife
I'll cleanse the distress from what's left of this life
Track Name: When Fire Becomes My Name
From my ancestors’ skull
I was born in the eye
In the rip and the wreck
Of the frost frozen sky

But the sun made a crust
Of the stones, boiled the bones
Through the thick molten rock
I emerged from my home


When the night’s full of flame
And when fire becomes my name
I can freeze, as I breathe
And I feel the ice again


And in anger my spirit
Sucked heat from the pyre
With a singed stabbing tongue
And a mind full of fire

As I looked to the heavens
The sky red and raw
How I longed to return
To my soul’s icy core


When the night’s full of flame
And when fire becomes my name
I can freeze, as I breathe
And I feel the ice again


This scratching fur from within
This rage is burning the skin
With bristles under the tongue
And howling heat from these lungs
What curse is buried beneath
These wild insatiable teeth
I'll catch the moon in these jaws
As hands are turning to claws


When the night’s full of flame
And when fire becomes my name
I can freeze, as I breathe
And I feel the ice again


Unbeaten, unbroken
Overlord of fear
Undermine oblivion
Other-throw the tear
Unearth me in moonlight
Over the frontier
I am near, I am near
I am here
Track Name: Never There
I sang to you
and echoed every line
'Cross a land of pine
Praying you would hear

I called out to you
on the river red
Beneath the ocean bed
So you'd appear


Broken breath, together
together, held forever
A stolen life, loved together
Forever, lost forever
Never there, never there


Please stay with me
Lie and make it true
And I'll remember you
When you've disappeared


I searched for you
In forests and caves
In long-forgotten graves
Praying you were near

I wrote songs for you
Every one one of you
But nothing I could do
would bring you here


Broken breath, together
together, held forever
A stolen life, loved together
Forever, hurts forever
Never there, never there


Broken breath, together
together, held forever
A stolen life, loved together
Forever, cursed forever
Never there, never there


Stay here and lay with me
I'm waiting
Track Name: Witchcraft
If only you'd have known where you're going
You never would have lost your way


My tender friend
The moment these words come to an end
You will forget
That ever they were mentioned and yet
I must express them, say them clear
You flicker through my life, I hold you dear
And yet your shifting changes cut me near
 

My subtle muse
The moment I catch your thoughts I lose
I must forget
Your metamorphasizing and yet
I supplement it and try to catch
Your spirits, your charms and not detach
Your wayward wiles in this unequal sparring match
 

My crying shame
The moment I stop playing your game
I must be strong
To prove this damned tradition is wrong
So take to your rafters, wild and free
Stir in your cauldron all that's left of me
Float like a butterfly, you can't sting me.


I have nothing that you need no more
Nothing that you need no more
I don't know what I'm breathing for
If I'm nothing that you need no more

Spin you and you'll change no more
If I spin you then you'll change no more
You'll never find your own front door
If I spin you then you change no more


Your hopes have taken shape in my moonlight
Don't lose them to the light of day 
If only you'd have known where you're going
You never would have lost your way  
Track Name: Only Kill Yourself
Tear down
Me right down
Display my shame in lights
Tie up
You tight up
You've no head for heights

Plagued lives
Poisoned lines
Pour out across your page
Sharp thoughts
Sharpened darts
Flung out across this stage

But what can you say - I can’t say myself?
Watch the cliche  - as it flies off the shelf
When you try to kill me - you only kill yourself

Worlds will explode - should I hold my breath?
Words will corrode - it's fight to the death
If you try to kill me - you only kill yourself

Hit out
Help me out
A scream to scramble fear
Slap back
Watch your back
The endgame is near

Hidden jibes
Misspent lies
A life’s worth of gall
Hurt mail
Hate can’t fail
Can we defy them all?




But what can you say - I can’t say myself?
Watch the cliche  - as it flies off the shelf
When you try to kill me - you only kill yourself

Worlds will explode - should I hold my breath?
Words will corrode - it's fight to the death
If you try to kill me - you only kill yourself


I’m craving explosions
Waiting for the blast
I know that what you say
Is something that won’t last
I’m waiting
Just waiting
I know that this won’t last

But what can you say - I can’t say myself?
Watch the cliche  - as it flies off the shelf
When you try to kill me - you only kill yourself

Worlds will explode - should I hold my breath?
Words will corrode - it's fight to the death
If you try to kill me - you only kill yourself
You only kill yourself
Track Name: Ocean
Be still and weave the waves
Thread them in a tender motion
Reach out and taste the tide
Float upon a deep emotion
This stormy sea must sleep
Together we can calm the ocean

Be still, and wait with me
Until the horizon's woken
Reach out, inhale this breeze
Until the charm is broken
This stormy sea must sleep
Together we can calm the ocean


Your raging fear will stir a storm
A sky of salt is falling
Raise the anchor, and we'll steer
Towards a silent calling

We'll sail inside a single shell
A sanctuary, a shelter
A calm chorale, a coral cave
A buried tomb to lay your grave
Forgive


Memories swirl
A soul submerged
I can't break through
Fight the fear as it's filling my lungs
There's no way up
Just sinking
Crash to catch one breath
Another splash to scratch the surface
The terror
Water deafened death
There's no way back for the captive here
The capsized sees memories float his lifeless boat
There are two firm hands around my throat
And no hope
Beneath the house I'll stir a storm
Whipping up waves to break my fall
And face down
I watch him drown
In this is whirlpool prison where...


Be still and hold your breath
Track Name: Eulogies
I can talk to the dead
I can hear their stories
I find I'm inscribed with the lines of
Whispered eulogies
Buried hands, heavy with time
Buried words, burning in lime
I'm here, I'm hearing history

I call out to the dead
And I sing their harmonies
I turn in the earth at the birth of
Blood-stained symphonies
Smothered sounds, heavy with time
Smothered mouths, burning in lime
No more, no mortality


Sing me your lives,
Sing yourselves free
Stretch out through time
Take your breath from me
Open my eyes and you shall see
I'll give my life so you can be


I awaken the dead
And I live their memories
I'm reviving the lives that have dried
In the wastes of purgatory
Hollow hearts, heavy with time
Hollow souls, burning in lime
My home, my only family


We're calling you from the catacombs
And we're crawling out of the catacombs
Streets are caving into the catacombs
From our graves we'll sing in the catacombs
Walls are crumbling into the catacombs
Floors are tumbling into the catacombs
You've unchained this song from the catacombs
Yet your soul belongs to the catacombs
So awake


I awaken the dead
And I live their memories
I'm reviving the lives that have dried
In the wastes of purgatory
Hollow hearts, heavy with time
Hollow souls, burning in lime
My home, my only family


Sing for our lives
Sing ourselves free
Stretch out through time
Steal your breath softly
Open your eyes so we may see
We'll take your life so we can be
Track Name: Sword and Suffering
Every day this pain invades you
As it cuts, a blade through sleep
Every night your mind is fighting
All the fears that lie so deep

But this pain
It's my pain
Your pain is mine

There's a light that slowly deepens
There's a darkness coming in
Scarce and tender as the sunrise
That will wake the hurt within

But this pain
It's my pain
Your pain is mine


Save us all from sword and suffering
I'm alive to pull you through
Don't deny us, drown the darkness
I will heal and I will comfort you
Comfort you


Soothing smoothing, all that harms you
Make the roughest edges soft
Fevered soul, I'm breathing through you
Sealing wounds to find what’s lost

For this pain
It's my pain
And your pain is mine


Save us all from sword and suffering
I'm alive to pull you through
Don't deny us, drown the darkness
I will heal and I will comfort you
Comfort you


Climb outside this world of violence
Where the dark is candlelit
Let me steal you from this silence
You will feel yourself submit
Track Name: Stockholm Syndrome
The train carried me
Past the boundary of the north
And all my friends stood
In the south
In the east
In the west
And waved goodbye

Each station we passed
Was another thing lost
Each little thing weakening
Worsening
Diminishing
Growing out in chains
Locks and keys
Reaching in
To capture me


I endure entrapment
So we can be free
So we can be free
I close the box
And you change the locks
So we can be free
So we can be free


The van carried me
To an all too empty room
An empty bed and basin
To the left
To the right
Above my head
Nothing but nothing

Each item we touched
Was another thing lost
Each fingertip tightening
Constricting
And smothering
Breathing through my throat
Gags and mutes
Twisting round
To capture me


I endure entrapment
So we can be free
So we can be free
I close the box
And you change the locks
So we can be free
So we can be free

Let me out, let me out, let me out
Let me out, let me, let me out


The plane took me
Past absent space
Where absent clouds
Cut absent place
All around me
In the seat
At my feet
And in my eyes
Absence of everything

So I tried not to think
What would happen next
Then you said,
Freedom is a trick
Liberty is nothing more
Than a pretty word and
The end can never end
If the start never began

The end can never end
If the start never began

And that is how I’ll keep you close
Track Name: Banhusi∂ / End
There stands a nowhere house
Upon a no way street
Where decayed foundations
Heave beneath these feet
I'm inhaled inside
And held by hollow, heavy arms
In a maze of empty chambers
Chanting endless charms

No room for strangers here
Who trespass on these grounds
There's no entry, no escape
It's out of bounds
No-one owns this place
This house can never be possessed
But we've been waiting in these walls
For this unwelcome guest

This flesh has overcome
And passed through every test
No more woeful whispering
Leave and let me rest
Now the game is won
This shifting, shuffling must cease
As a beating heart is muted
Fade away and rest in peace


Hear the soul deluded
As he asks the dead to leave
Shatter his denial
Show him his grave to grieve
Here he'll stay a captive
For this house shall lock him in
He is one of us
And he has always been

Death has stolen life from me
And tricked me into hell
I'll destroy the shelter of
This lifeless shell
Bricks will fall and crumble
I'll rip locks away from gates
Nothing shall remain of
This dark hiding place


Forced into the daylight
Where ill harm is dispossessed
Flee the dawn approaching
With no place to rest
On the plains to roam forever
Helpless and alone
With nothing but a memory of
The House of Bones
Track Name: Dyvecke (Bonus Track)
One house so dark
Yet here's a spark
In the room where children play
One name unknown
Can't play alone
And she will not fade away

The frozen nordic skies
Are streaming from her eyes
And the fir trees all hold their breath
The frosted hills and lakes
Are melting as dawn breaks
And the winter will catch his death

For Dyvecke, they named her Precious Dove
Dyvecke, one heart so full of love
Do we care how people say it?
Once you get it, can't forget, it's

Dyvecke, dead delicate and devious it's
Dyvecke, dealing a do or die dares
Dyvecke, can dive into volcanic caverns
Dyvecke, diva kiddy don't care
Dyvecke, daredevil's little dividend in
Dyvecke, vivid livid dark eyes and
Dyvecke, hates living in divinity but
Dyvecke, her endeavour never dies

Deevecke - yet deep below
Durvecke - under the snow
Darvecke - is a dancing heart of flame
Dayvecke - each day begins
Dievecke - she'll dive right in
Doovecke - do we care what's in a name?

The dancing Northern Lights,
Are burning through the ice
And the glaciers will flow like tears
Beneath the midnight sun,
She's yearning for someone
Who could hold back the ageless years

'Cause Dyvecke, they named her Precious Dove
Dyvecke, one heart so full of love
Play the game, retain her name
She'll die the day her memory fades
So stake a claim inside my brain like

Amina, Amelia
Celine, Soline, Cecilia
Bianka, Béné, Olöf, Hervé
Olusegu, Olalade

Inderpal, Ravinderpal
Rosa-Rebecka, Ruth and Al
Rachel, Raphaël, Stefana
Mel, Shell, Danielle, Steph, Jeff, Ane

Katherine, Caz, Camille, Carey
Marie-Anne, Maryam, Marie, Mary
Ilka, Ezra, Isabelle
Niel, Matt, Stu, Nat, Marielle

Dylan, Dean, Celeste, Veronica,
Sharon, Jean, Esther and Fania
Phillipe, Florence, Fleur, Fabien
Michael, Mio, Mark, Martin

Adrian, Chris, Andy, Liz
Molly, Henry, Raj, Saj, Gris
Rathika, Seb, Sacha, Jim
Rita, Graham, Tasha, Tim

Heather, Emma, Pip, Norbert
Trevor, Grainne, Valgeir, Claire
Erica, Lee, Derek, Ari
Agnes, Audrey, Steve and Harry

Edward, Joël, Theresa, Helgi
Edmond, Noel, Demelza, Hayley
Srinath, Sruli, Goulwen, Gwen
Tomas, Tunde, Björn, Bill, Ben

Mervin, Myrna, Magda, Livia
Talvin, Tara, Thea, Sylvia
Lucy, Lalage, Luke, Sylvain
Kwesi, Queenie, Robyn, Yann

---

Emiliano, Stuart, Sam
Emiliana, Sean and Sham
Sarah, Andrew, Jenny, Bob
Sara, Matthew, Jamie, Rob

Georgie, Greg, Jeremiah,
Sigga-Sunna, Sonia, Maya
Johnny, Jodie, Jay, Jo, Jane
Eli, Elodie, Elaine

Caroline, Pauline, Helène
Claudine, Geraldine, Etienne
Gary, Barry, John, Bryndis
Julia and Jean-Baptiste

Nicolas, Nick, Nicolette
Nico, Nisha, Juliette
Pei-Ling, Henning, Karolina
Guilhem, Guillaume, Tom and Tina

Charmaine, Christophe, China, Chloe
Kirsty, Clement, Katie, Zoe
Becky, Paul, Mattieu, Andrea
Jackie, Jakob, Mina, Mia

Valia, Fiona, Hilde
Vera, Jite, Jill, Mathilde
Dan, Sinan, Max, Azadeh
Julien, Jack, Xavier

Unnur, Lucien, Gisella
Nigel, Richard, Pat, Capella
Kerry Keren Karen Kat
Liam, Lily, Latifat

Arnaud, Marco, Pip, Idriss,
Arthur, Maddie, Beatrice
Valentina, Valpuri
Amity, Aude, Aurelie

Magali, Maz, Malik, Sly
Damian, Diane and Thy
Anne, Yohanna, Hannah, Nana
Anya, Anna, Ariana

Samuel, Toby, Mikko, Fanny
Jorge, Ragga, Helga, Manny
Leslie, Laura, Laurent, Lorne
Ettie, Betty, Deepa, Dawn

----

But Dyvecke, they named her Precious Dove
Dyvecke, one heart so full of love
Do we care that seasons change?
This child will always stay the same
Forever playing endless games
I close the door
But I can''t forget your name