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There Is So Much Here

by Glen Phillips

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Packaged in a single sleeve jacket with printed inner sleeve including lyrics. Includes download card.

    Includes unlimited streaming of There Is So Much Here via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      $26.98 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Packaged in a 4-panel eco-wallet with 16pg booklet including lyrics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of There Is So Much Here via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $16.98 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
Stone Throat 03:50
It was the longest winter And then the shortest spring We need an endless summer I want to spread my wings I want the wild and the wayward You seek the subtle and quiet Maybe I’m too damn selfish Maybe you’re too damn nice A stone throat can’t sing A wooden heart won’t beat I’m trying to find the balance Between the sacred and the street A stone throat can’t sing A wooden heart won’t beat I’m gonna meet you in the middle Between the wanting and the need I’m gonna fly to the mountains Where I can wet my beak In the clear cool waters Of Texas Creek I want to take you with me I want you by my side Feeling everything at once And having nothing to hide A stone throat can’t sing A wooden heart won’t beat I’m trying to find the balance Between the sacred and the street A stone throat can’t sing A wooden heart won’t beat I’m gonna meet you in the middle Between the wanting and the need A stone throat can’t sing A wooden heart won’t beat A stone throat can’t sing I’m sick of letting you down A wooden heart won’t beat You’re tired of letting me go A stone throat can’t sing We’re trying to find the balance A wooden heart won’t beat
2.
I Was a Riot 03:54
We twist and turn We ebb and flow We change our shape More than we know We fix our gaze And rest assured That what has passed Will come once more Like when I was a riot of color and light I was the song on your lips in the night When dreams were deferred, your mind wouldn’t rest The weight of the world sat hard on your chest When you were the view at the top of the climb You were the breath and the pausing of time You were the peace I had wondered if I Could ever deserve or ever would find When I was a riot and you were the peace I see your heart Your shadow, too I trust your word I trust in you And slow but sure And with your help Maybe I’ve come To trust myself Like when I was a riot of color and light I was the song on your lips in the night When your dreams were deferred and your mind wouldn’t rest And the weight of the world sat hard on your chest When you were the view at the top of the climb You were the breath and the pausing of time You were the peace I had wondered if I Could ever deserve or ever would find When I was a riot and you were the peace I was a riot and you were the peace I was a riot and you were I was a riot and you were the peace I was a riot and you were the peace I was a riot and you were the peace I was a riot and you were the peace
3.
So, this is what it’s like now Without the constant leaving To sit and sense the seasons To be here merely being The sound of drinking water The turning of the leaves The movement of the moon The spaces in between The long year The slow days There is so much here I had never seen Your head upon my shoulder And slipping into sleep To drift within my thoughts And listen to you breathe Coffee in the bedroom The swaying of the pine The freedom from the weighing And the measuring of time The long year The slow days There is so much here I have never seen The long year The slow days There is so much here I have never seen There is so much here I have never seen
4.
Big Changes 03:43
Is it already done, already over? It’s just a matter of when? It’s too many mouths and too many borders Too many monkeys in the bed Just doing what monkeys do But we’ve been making Big changes Burning down the house, feed the fire like it doesn’t matter Big changes Wondering where it ends, where we’ll shelter from the heavy weather Big changes Won’t run out of love, won’t run out of wonder I sure won’t run out of tears Though I can feel the pull, it’s trying to drag me under I won’t give in to my fear I’ll make my stand right here But we’ve been making Big changes Burning down the house, feed the fire like it doesn’t matter Big changes Wondering where it ends, where we’ll shelter from the heavy weather Big changes Right about now might be good for us to take a little break Big changes Burning down the house, feed the fire like it doesn’t matter Big changes Wondering where it ends, where we’ll shelter from the heavy weather Big changes Big changes Big changes Burning down the house, feed the fire like it doesn’t matter Big changes Wondering where it ends, where we’ll shelter from the heavy weather
5.
The bluest eye, the strongest chin The straightest tie, the ones who win Who never fail to land the deal Who never compromise, who never yield Who pay the man and tip the help And never question their deepest selves Their right to own, their right to claim Their greater value, the family name The bluest eye, the softest touch The merest glance might be too much Don’t question how this world turns Just take your piece and watch it burn And set your waste upon the fire Drown every doubt, quench each desire Your right to own, to dominate To take at will until there’s nothing left to take The bluest eye won’t shed a tear Just stares ahead, no doubt or fear God bless us all and may we thrive Each one who breathes, each one alive What will remain, what will survive How will it feed that bluest eye Just gouge it out and rend it blind No more to see, that bluest eye
6.
Brand new blue Same old scene One more day One less dream The time just slips away Could be sun Could be rain Go outside Nothing’s changed My words don’t do it justice Has everything been said Bed by nine Wake by five Four white walls For one small life The little things that matter The dull edge of the knife Maybe something’s waiting In the next room Maybe something’s changing But probably not soon Probably not soon Brand new blue One more round Stand and sway On shifting ground I’ll see you when it’s over If we’re both still around Maybe something’s waiting In the next room Maybe something’s changing Maybe something’s waiting In the next room Maybe something’s changing But probably not soon Probably not soon
7.
Wake your better angels from their dreaming Let them walk the path that they’ve been seeking The center of the circle The moment of your making The living in the layers The giving and the taking Gather up your courage, find your wisdom Scatter all your seeds and tend your vision The turning of the planet The shifting of the seasons The loving and the leaving We’ll never know the reason Tomorrow Is too late You can feel it in your bones That everything is changing, changing All there is now And now is over even as it happens The center of the circle The moment of your making The living in the layers The giving and the taking Tomorrow Is too late You can feel it in your bones That everything is changing, changing Wake your better angels from their dreaming Let them walk the path that they’ve been seeking
8.
A skeleton for school An apple for the teacher A feast fit for a fool An adolescent creature Consumed with how it seems And lost within the hunger for belonging Sleep my child, the world is ever wanting A sedentary life The packages are piling I wonder what’s outside And if the sun is shining I’ve taken all I can To fill the empty space inside my soul Will I sleep tonight or just spin in the unknown Call me over, break some bread Play a song to wake the dead And when I leave to go to bed You’ll blow your brains right out your head A wreck we learn to love A requiem for lovers I’ll miss you now you’re gone There truly is no other The future and the past Conspire to keep me far from where I am The days go by so fast, and we’re just doing the best we can The days go by so fast, and we’re just doing the best we can
9.
It doesn’t make a difference It doesn’t change a thing The air in your lungs The taste on your tongue How pretty you sing You are the exception That verifies the rule The ebb and the flow The devil we know The flaw in the jewel The fine lines The lost time The heavy atmosphere The past tense The cast nets But a new day is here You found me in the desert As dry as stale toast Awaiting the night The end of the light My heart in my throat The other birds of prey Were circling ‘round For the blood and the bone The sticks and the stones The thorn in the crown The fine lines The lost time The heavy atmosphere The past tense The cast nets But a new day is here A new day is here A new day is here The fine lines The lost time The heavy atmosphere The past tense The cast nets But a new day is here A new day is here A new day is here A new day is here A new day is here
10.
Let in anarchy, let in change Dive through darkness, forget your name Don’t spoil the ending, it’s why we came The details differ but the plot’s the same Tiny currents and tightening knots What we wanted and what we’ve got You see the promise where I sense the loss You count your blessings while I tally costs Baby, I feel crazy I’m tired of being this way Maybe I’m just lazy It takes courage to face the day Can you wait for me To learn to be ok with being ok Let go certainty, lose control Trust the moment and feel the flow My fear keeps telling me it won’t let go But my heart is beating so sure and slow Be my valentine just this day Come tomorrow you can choose again You can trust my love it won’t bend or break But I know there’s only so much that your heart can take Baby, I feel crazy I’m tired of being this way Maybe I’m just lazy It takes courage to face the day Can you wait for me To learn to be ok with being ok
11.
You can call it magic, you can make believe Or just find the beauty in the things you see In a rosy sunset or a blooming flower In the subtle shifting of a single hour In the eyes that catch yours from across the hall There is no way to perceive it all You can call the moondust anything you like Still it floats and glows here in the searing light As it eats the seals around your vacuum packs And corrodes the workings of your capsule’s hatch To leave you stranded there upon that lesser globe There is no way for you to get back home You can bow to science if it serves your need To pretend you understand a single thing As the song of God is strummed on Planck-length strings And the angels drumming with their beating wings To the song that was the birth of everything There is no way There is no way There is no way to resist You must join and sing

about

Toad the Wet Sprocket front man Glen Phillips dives into the joys and sorrows of everyday life with help from Dave Depper (Death Cab For Cutie), Ji Tanzer (Blue Cranes) and John Morgan Askew.

“I’ve seldom allowed myself to stay in one place for very long,” Glen Phillips says, explaining the genesis of his new album, There Is So Much Here. “I was lucky during the COVID lockdown to move in with my girlfriend, now fianceé, and to stay home for the longest stretch I’ve had since the birth of my daughter, 20 years ago. After a life of travel and seeking out peak experiences, I began to appreciate the subtle beauty of sitting still.”

The 11 tracks on Phillips’ new album are informed by the time that the pandemic shut down allowed for reflection, moving between quiet love songs and rockers that consider the multi-faceted meanings hidden in our everyday lives. “Stone Throat” is a jazzy, midtempo rocker that looks at a couple in a new relationship, trying to find the balance between desire and responsibility, or as Phillips sings, “trying to find the balance, between the sacred and the street.” There’s a hint of new wave ska in the rhythm of “I Was a Riot,” a song that casts a compassionate eye on the end of a relationship.

The COVID lockdown inspired “The Sound of Drinking,” is an appreciation of the familiar things in life, like drinking a glass of water on your back porch. Phillips plays soft acoustic guitar and sighs a lyric of gratitude for simple pleasures. “Call The Moondust” is the most metaphysical song in the set. There’s a hint of secular gospel in Depper’s piano, and the ambient effects that suggest the vastness of the cosmos. Phillips delivers an emotional performance over a tense arrangement that hints at the wonders of the universe. “The beauty of life is in its mystery,” Phillips states. “If we think we have an answer, we’re deluding ourselves.”

While Phillips’ critically-acclaimed 2018 release, Swallowed by the New, was about grief, the new album is a post-divorce outing with Phillips’ writing from a place of hope and optimism. He explains: “I was writing love songs again, focusing on gratitude, beauty and staying present. Happiness is about allowing what is, to be what it is. I used to view the everyday happenings around me as a distraction. I was suddenly hopeful again, knowing you can never know what the outcome of any action, or inaction, is going to be, but doing it anyway. There’s no pure happy ending—the world is a mess, the future is uncertain—but I find found truth in the poet Mary Oliver’s words: ‘Attention is the beginning of devotion.’ I was suddenly in a state of being that wasn’t about my loss. I woke up and things felt doable again. This is an album about showing up for what is and letting it be enough.”

Glen Phillips has been making music for over two decades, with a career that began as the 14-year-old frontman for Toad the Wet Sprocket. Since then, he’s accumulated an esteemed body of work comprising eight albums with Toad (which collectively have sold close to 4 million units) and three as a solo artist. Writing about his solo work ABC News said: “Songwriting-wise, Phillips continues to come off like an American answer to Crowded House’s Neil Finn. Both men are masters at delivering dense, seemingly effortlessly-crafted songs rich with context and depth.”

credits

released November 4, 2022

All songs by Glen Phillips, Published by Umami Music (ASCAP),
administered by Compass Rights Administration (ASCAP)

All titles from THE GAME led by Matt The Electrician in the spirit of Bob Schneider
Tracking session recorded by John Askew at Bocce Studio in Vancouver WA
Overdubs and editing by Glen Phillips at Alta Mesa in Santa Barbara CA
Mixed by Matt Coles at Compass Sound Studio, Nashville TN
Mastered by Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park, Takoma Park MD
Priceless wisdom, additional editing by Mikal Blue
Photography by Josh Daubin
Cover art and imagery by TAKI
Package layout and design by Robert Hakalski at Visual Machinery: www.vmdigital.com

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