MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS BRINGS YOU 'ANOTHER WORLD'
Miranda Lee Richards "ANOTHER WORLD"
Los Angeles' singer-songwriter musician MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS has released the song "Another World" taken from her new album EXISTENTIAL BEAST, which is out today, Friday June 16 on Invisible Hands Music. The 12-minute epic track explores two contrasting viewpoints in reality about the world that exists now and an inspiring one that could exist one day.
MIRANDA describes the creation of the song, "'Another World' started out as a Shirley Collins-inspired A Capella Medieval protest song (why not?), but transformed into something even more: it took many, many weeks to craft, both lyrically and in orchestrating this nearly twelve-minute piece." MIRANDA adds, "In the post-election climate, reading and listening to the news everyday produced new depressing verses, but not wanting to feel hopeless I decided to get to the heart of the matter and tackle American politics and history, environmental and racial issues, feminism, economics, global warming, animal rights, imperialism, big Pharma and corporate take-over, terrorism, and healthcare, all through the eyes of California whose anthropomorphized character in the song is our beloved mother, lover, daughter, sister and like-minded friend."
Following are the lyrics for MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS' new song "Another World."
~~~
"ANOTHER WORLD" -
MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS
I'm afraid of my shadow
Radioactive oceans
And rainbows that swirl in the tide
But I'm not afraid to speak of the darkness
For it must be brought to light
I'm afraid of beginnings
Things yet to happen
Afraid of the great divide
But I'm not afraid to speak of the darkness
For it has been brought to light
Well I see Another World
Where we eat flowers for dinner
And we drink the water from the spring
California don't throw yourself to the sea
You were never unwanted
Our beautiful country
Conceived by our fathers
In God we can no longer trust
Defending the values of an old republic
A crisis of consciousness
Robber barons and plunderers
Who take no prisoners
The jest is now upon us
We bow our heads; by fools we are led
Apathy's consequence
But I see Another World
Where our words we will honor
And we drink the water from the spring
Knowing our hearts want the same thing
Power is for the hungry
Whose nobility we would sanction
It's a reign of terror
Taking over
May it come to rest in peace
Playing a game of follow the leader
Back and forth between the extremes
And now the lions will stalk us
And there will be bad blood
Where the endangered meet the sleeping
In a predator-less world we are the hunted
Slowly awakening
Well I see Another World
Where we invite the enemy for dinner
And we learn to draw new boundaries
Exploring new territories
California don't throw yourself to the sea
You were part of a bigger picture
So Heaven help us
Not a passive Devil's promise
Inspire us as we mourn
For the angels cannot do our work for us
Nor mend the fabric that is torn
Now we're back to making livings
Raising children in pollution
Who are allergic to the sun
Preaching to converted
On empty street corners
For they know not what they've done
Well I see another world
Where we would march together
Our voices ringing in the street
The Stars and Stripes of unity
California don't throw yourself to the sea
The ballot was cast in your favor
Now the cats silence songbirds
Pigs eat the last curd
As we tend our creatures with hooves
Who will become beasts of the wood
Where oh where are the last of the wolves?
As we honor the elders
Animal spirits and masters
By filling pipelines with sand
Diverting our wells with their tears of mourning
This land is not your land
Well I see Another World
Where only animals kill one another
And we drink the water from the spring
Forgiving ourselves and our history
Guilt is but a poor man's apology
And you were never forgotten
Our grain so inspired
Given to us by Gaia
Now hath been tampered in seed
The fields that are dowsed and drowned in poison
We consume so helplessly
And the coal miner's daughters
Who don't see a future
Would bring their ponies to the light
But I'm not afraid to speak of the darkness
For there is no wrong or right
But I see Another World
Where we honor the gifts of our Mother
Those colorful quilts and energies
Knowing there's a silver lining
California don't throw yourself to the sea
You were always beloved
And now the artists would suffer
While they sing for their supper
Traveling down a pirate's stream
Taking us back to the Dark Ages
The highest bid afarthing
I'm afraid of perversion
Damning of the feminine
And mining treasures of white
But I'm not afraid to speak of the darkness
For it has been brought to light
Well I see Another World
Where we eat flowers for dinner
And we drink the water from the spring
Elevating our hearts and our bodies
California don't throw yourself to the sea
You were never unwanted
~~~
Below are more critical soundbites for MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS' new album EXISTENTIAL BEAST and the song "Another World":
"'Another World', a lavishly orchestrated 12-minute outpouring contrasting the American dream with post-election reality, provides the mind-bending climax."
--Bud Scoppa, UNCUT (8/10 album review, August 2017)
"...the ethereal, string-laden and aptly- titled 'Another World'. It is epic in length (over 12 minutes) and in breadth with its uplifting call to contribute to solutions."
--Harriet Watkins, THE DAILY COUNTRY (5/1/17)
"Country music heard through psychedelic headphones..."
--Danny McCloskey, THE ALTERNATE ROOT (3/31/17)
"On her fourth album, Existential Beast, Richards enchants with a distinctive blend of spacey, harmony-laden pop ('Back to the Source') and intimate folk balladry ('Autumn Sun'). But she also trips out amid the swirling psychedelic guitars and jazzy dynamic shifts of the hard-rocking epic 'Golden Gate.'"
--James Moreland, LA WEEKLY (May 23, 2017)
"If you're a fan of songs like 'Tam Lin' by Fairport Convention, then you'll love Miranda Lee Richards' 'Another World' a 12-minute politically driven epic from her new album 'Existential Beast'.
--John Diliberto, ECHOES, (6/15/17)
"San Francisco native Richards is renowned for the uncanny authenticity of her throwback sound. But on Existential Beast, her fourth LP, this second-gen bohemian ingeniously employs recreations of baroque folk and psychedelia to bring context to the songs that intimate striking parallels between the political upheavals of 1968 and 2017. The intricate 'Golden Gate', with its radical tonal and tempo shifts, comes off like Love's Forever Changes with Judy Collins signing lead, while the blistering 'On The Outside Of Heaven' charges along like a modern-day 'All Along The Watchtower'. 'Another World' a lavishly orchestrated 12-minute outpouring contrasting the American dream with post-election reality, provides a mind-bending climax."
--Bud Scoppa, UNCUT (8/10 full album review, August 2017)
"Take one listen to chamber-folk singer-songwriter Miranda Lee Richards's
wistful, winsome fourth solo album, Existential Beast, and some of her influences are evident: classic English folk troubadours like Nike Drake, Pentangle, Fairport Convention, and protest singer Shirley Collins; cosmic psych collective the Brian Jonestown Massacre, with whom Richards has performed off and on since the late '90s; Buffalo Springfield and other '60s California country-rockers; and dreamy alterna-poppers Mazzy Star."
--Lyndsey Parker, YAHOO (6/13/17)
"Richards brings her substantive, poetic lyrics together with a psychedelic, folk-tinged country sound (reminiscent of Los Angeles-based, early 1970s band Spirit) to deliver a powerful look at today's post-election political climate....think of Richards' latest as a fairy tale for adults. 'Ashes And Seeds' serves as a thoughtful reminder that history is constantly repeating and that conflict is essential to positive change. The smooth sounds of pedal steel highlight Richards' laid back, fluid vocals. 'Lucid I Would Dream' evokes the dream-like state with the effective use of strings and Mellotron while lyrically imagining that with clarity, fears would diminish. Existential Beast closes, as it begins, with hope in the ethereal, string-laden and aptly- titled 'Another World'. It is epic in length (over 12 minutes) and in breadth with its uplifting call to contribute to solutions. There is much to discover in the beauty of the vocals, the poetry in the lyrics and the uniqueness of the production found in Existential Beast."
--Harriet Watkins, THE DAILY COUNTRY (album review, 5/1/17)
"warm and precise, ethereal..."
--Kevin Bronson, BUZZBANDS.LA (3/31/17)
"Richards' latest, 'Existential Beast,' offers a beguiling hybrid of the dulcet sounds she dubs 'dusty country' and 'fairy folk.' It's also an overtly political album (there's even an 11-minute protest song) that embodies its times."
--Susan Moll, STOMP AND STAMMER (3/31/17)
"Musically the album draws from several '70s sources--Laurel Canyon country-rock royalty ('Ashes And Seeds'), Joe Boyd's Witchseason productions for Island Records ('Autumn Sun', 'Oh Raven'), through to the spoken word sections of David Axelrod's Earth Rot (the end section of 'Lucid I Dream'). Subtle use of echo throughout the album adds to the continuity of sound and aids its woozy intoxicating power. The album's tour de force is saved till the end. Clocking in at 12 minutes, 'Another World' is the most overtly political song, calling out those in power and offering a vision of how things could be. Clever stuff."
--Duncan Fletcher, SHINDIG! MAGAZINE
(four-out-of-four star album review, U.K., MAY 2017)
"It ends in epic form with the near twelve-minute traditional folk ballad styled 'Another World', adorned with acoustic guitar and subtle strings, its lyrics fully encapsulating the album's political concerns about a divided world as its gently flows to its string section play-out. Lovely stuff."
--Mike Davies,FOLKING.COM (U.K. 6/15/17)
"...spellbinding 12-minute magnum opus."
--PLUNGER (U.K. 6/15/17)
About MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS:
Born in San Francisco after the summer of love and before the dawn of disco, MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS grew up in an artistic and bohemian environment that has informed her adult life and work. After graduating from San Francisco School Of The Arts, she began to pursue a musical career. She met Kirk Hammett from Metallica who taught her to play Mazzy Star songs on guitar. Her early demos reached Anton Newcombe and she joined his band, the Brian Jonestown Massacre. MIRANDA then signed to Virgin Records and released her debut album The Herethereafter, a mix of folk, psychedelia, country and indie pop and found fans worldwide. The critically acclaimed follow-up album Light Of X--the title of which comes from a dream about harnessing beams of light to travel in time--followed in 2009 via Nettwerk Records. In 2016, MIRANDA unveiled Echoes Of The Dreamtime on Invisible Hands Music, which received rave reviews across in the U.K. and U.S., as well as national airplay with MOJO giving the album 4 stars and hailing the first single, "The sublime 'First Light Of Winter' is the moment it all comes together, Richards transcending her influences and, no longer constrained, arriving at psychedelia's higher plane" (1/2016). Her new album EXISTENTIAL BEAST follows a busy year for MIRANDA which included U.S. and European tours and creating songs for the new Viceland series "Jungletown." EXISTENTIAL BEAST is a political album, examining the current issues of our time, with the intent of tackling tough and taboo subjects in a poetic and heartfelt manner. The title is also a mash-up of terms, referencing the existential crisis that has risen. Beautifully constructed with her signature 1970s-influenced, country-tinged psychedelia, EXISTENTIAL BEAST was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dandy Warhols) and will be released June 16 on Invisible Hands Music . EXISTENTIAL BEAST marks yet another confident and inspiring piece of work from MIRANDA. Expect MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS--known for her enchanting live shows--to perform the new album in venues across the U.K. and the U.S. throughout the year (current tour dates listed below).
Catch MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS on tour in the following cities
DATE CITY VENUE
6/17 Bergen, Norway BergenFest(w/Ellie Goulding)
6/23 London, U.K. Thousand Island (acoustic trio)
6/25 Northampton, U.K. The Lamplighter (acoustic trio)
6/28 Birmingham, U.K. Ort Café (acoustic trio)
6/30 Sheffield, U.K. Regather (acoustic trio)
7/15 San Francisco, CA Brick & Mortar (Full band)
7/16 Sacramento, CA Blue Lamp (Full band)
7/18 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern (Full band)
7/19 Portland, OR Doug Fir (Full band)
7/23 Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place (Full band)
8/19 Brecon, U.K. Green Man Festival (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/21 Brighton, U.K. Prince Albert (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/23 London, U.K. Moth Club (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/25 Glasgow, U.K. Mono (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/26 York, U.K. The Crescent (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/27 Manchester, U.K. The Castle (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/29 Oslo, Norway Café Mono (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
8/31 Malmö, Sweden Folk A Rock (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
9/1 Göteborg, Sweden Pustervik (Full band w/Gospelbeach)
9/2 Stockholm, Sweden Sthlm Americana at Mosebacke & Södra Teatern
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