Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky

Guest Directors

Released by Topsy Records

October 21st, 2022

5 tracks

22:40

Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky

Another Round

0:00

4:16

Another Round

Guest Directors

An empty cup, the echoing sound Never filling up, let’s go another round Drink and drown, a sea on your shirt Til you’re beaten down, a hurt for the hurt Soothe your head, before you get sick All day in bed, she’s just another fix On overdrive, you’ll run out of heart The last man alive, a shot in the dark Songbird, fly as high as you can Backwards, before things got out of hand Survivors will call you a broken man If they tell your story first Now you stay inside, to block out the sun And try to hide, since it’s too late to run Ignored the call, regret won’t stop when you fall Songbird, fly as high as you can Backwards, before things got out of hand Survivors will call you a broken man If they tell your story first

4:16

In The Cellar

Guest Directors

It’s in the cellar Decades passing like a dream You’re nowhere Scared to peek behind the screen It’s down there You watch the shadows cast But you're fading fast It’s in the cellar Such strange travels in the night You’re nowhere Shadows chained by second sight They’re down there And now you’re on a roll Spinning out of control You watch the shadows fall Soaked in alcohol In the cellar

4:45

Shipwreck

Guest Directors

I can’t believe the words they speak It always seems so dark A smile could say it’s all ok But I can’t have it all I’m lost at sea come rescue me Cause I can’t see the shore Drifting on the currents of the sea and sky The stars imply You don’t know where you’re bound Banking on the surface tension to get by No alibi It’s time to head to ground Before you drown No turning back got off the track I’m spinning back and forth I’m lost at sea come rescue me Cause I can’t see the shore Sailing On x 4 Looking to the sky Looking for a sign

5:36

Hidden Silos

Guest Directors

4:17

Words Disappear

Guest Directors

3:46

Guest Directors return to dynamic, full-band form after a couple of experimental, home-recorded releases during the lockdown era. For "Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky", the quartet selected five songs that would best benefit from producer Jack Endino's (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney) extensive experience with loud rock bands. The result is a heavier sound still characterized by a strong sense of melody and a dreamy, shoegaze undercurrent throughout. Dual vocals are amped-up on this release, alongside ample layers of guitar candy that are sure to keep your headphones happy.

Opener “Another Round (An Echo)” is a full-band reimagining of “Another Round,” which was first home-recorded for the "Connected Heavens" EP [Topsy-009, 2021]. Inspired by a recent Seattle musician’s autobiography, the song maintains the vocal vulnerability of the original recording while detonating the power of four people recording live and loud.

Spooky and heavy in turns, “In the Cellar” dips into the darkness of the human psyche, while the music juxtaposes a haunting groove against angular noise, matched by the alternating vocals of the band’s singer/guitarists, Julie D. and Gary Thorstensen.

 The propulsive “Shipwreck” again showcases the dual vocalist approach amidst the tense fury of sonic momentum. “Hidden Silos” explodes like a Roman candle thick in a pool of brooding psych where wah pedals abound. The EP closes with the quirky rocker “Words Disappear” - one of the band’s oldest songs that had never seemed to fit with previous recording sets. Given Endino’s rock bonafides, the decision to finally record the banger was a no-brainer.

"Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky" reveals the assertively intricate branches Guest Directors have added to the trunk that began growing with their debut, "These Beautiful Things", in 2016. A trunk that, like so many others in recent years, twisted in cleverly resourceful ways to weather the times - emerging in full bloom after a summer of sun and anticipation of the rain that awaits.

Credits

All songs written and performed by Guest Directors:

Julie D

Charles Russo

Gary Thorstensen

Rian Turner

Except "Words Disappear", written by:

Julie D

Steve Melle

Gary Thorstensen

Rian Turner

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jack Endino at Soundhouse, Seattle

Thank you:

Topsy Records, Obscure Colors, These People Here, The Drolls, Denny, Jessie, Linda, Robin, Thunder Road Guitars, Jeff at The Bass Shop, Mike and Mike's Guitar Bar, Chris and Will at West Coast Drum Shop, Golden Phi Amplification, Tremolo:Seattle, Jack Endino, Black Nite Crash, STAG, Central Saloon, LoFi Performance Gallery, The Doghouse, DKFM, and you.