We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Fabulist

by Ana Silvera

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      £10 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    6 panel CD with original photos and illustrations by Alice Williamson (matt-coated); 12 panel poster booklet with lyrics.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Fabulist via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days

      £12 GBP

     

1.
Halos 03:23 video
The birds are coming back Like the circus does each year These swallows -The birds are coming back Like the circus does each year These swallows - Etching their lines in this picture Waves above corn rows Tides above furrows still frozen Compass-drawn arrows Circles drawn gold in the water Halos I came up early like twilight Porous with sorrow And the sun pulled its roots from the winter Leaving us all alone - Suddenly wide-eyed and fearless I held your hand by the road Watching the mist in the trees, like halos And like these birds, my thoughts returning Tombs in the last glow Years passed, since you were turned in the grass Beneath the weightless snow... I’ll pluck the down from your pillow Light you a cigarette Watching the smoke making rings Like halos Etching their lines in this picture Waves above corn rows Tides above furrows still frozen Compass-drawn arrows Circles drawn gold in the water Halos I came up early like twilight Porous with sorrow And the sun pulled its roots from the winter Leaving us all alone - Suddenly wide-eyed and fearless I held your hand by the road Watching the mist in the trees, like halos And like these birds, my thoughts returning Tombs in the last glow Years passed since you were turned in the grass Beneath the weightless snow... I’ll pluck the down from your pillow, Light you a cigarette Watching the smoke making rings Like halos
2.
Sink or Swim 03:39
After the dawning I rose up that morning To find myself orphaned again A 5am ring and a voice whispering That it happened so fast in the end After the tears, when I washed myself clean And looked at the girl in the mirror She was staring at me like she always had been But this time she said: “Sink here or swim now - Swim for your life ‘Cos a storm’s coming in And you’ve got to be brave for your brother” I held him close But the current was stronger Than all of our love put together The sky had opened, the vessel it cracked As we walked in weary procession And the ties that had tethered me, weathered me snapped I went spinning in every direction If grief was a season, then the season was spring With its fits and its absolutions And when we first met in that Manhattan whirl I was high-wire dancing with demons If you were the sun Then I was the moon And when our paths crossed it was darkness If you were the dancer Than I was the tune And I danced us to keep me from sadness If you were the compass Then I was the pin I was spinning in circles, spinning in circles Spinning in circles, spinning in circles…
3.
You said an early frost Or sudden sun Can wilt the leaves or Turn the bud Like a hidden fault On an iced-up lake It’s the smallest things That can make it break… We built this house In love and haste Stoked the fire And filled the grate We painted this house In blue and gold Closed the blinds And shut out the world It was cool and quiet It was blessed hush I lent into the calm And the calm was your touch We sowed the garden With laurel and rose And one small tree By the quarry road And said one day On this porch we’d sit In the shadow of an oak Grown tall as a ship We kept this house In toil and trust Burnished the beams And blew out the dust With our china plates And our crystal bowls Our light-up globe To show us the world But the world kept knocking Kept calling for me I hid in the shadow Of that small oak tree From the search and the wonder And the wild in me From the longing and laughter And the call to be free You kissed me softly On the head And brought me tea And toast in bed Spring was creeping In through the cracks Promising green And turning new tracks I smiled and said It’ll be alright But the words rang hollow And I smiled too bright It was blowing a gale, To kingdom come Oak’s branches were sailing In the morning sun And the world kept knocking And calling my name And I knew that I couldn’t Keep turning away You said an early frost Or sudden sun Can wilt the leaves or Turn the bud Like a hidden fault On an iced up lake It’s the smallest things That can make it break It’s the smallest things That can make you…
4.
Ghosts 04:26
Summer looked the same As it ever did before The grass cut close As a barber’s throat Wet diamonds in her jaw Summer looked the same As it ever did before An August haze A petrol glaze A sleep walk to our door Summer fell like lead And pinioned to the bed We lay like butterflies Until our wings turned dry Summer looked the same As it always had till then A bridal veil A ship set sail The dazzle of a green, green gem And the night that wrote your name Made a cast upon the dawn Oh we didn’t see its hand Move over the pages like a storm Turn me like a light Blind me to this sight Circling my mind Like scavengers at night Summer turned its face And it never looked the same A broken bowl A patchwork doll A wind-up in its place And you didn’t speak a word As they led you through the door You were dumbstruck by the ghosts Who waltzed your body down the hall And I watched the faces of so many strangers Come ricochet through him like ghosts at a ball A soft-footed priest with his eye to the steeple My father, Our Saviour, a conquistador And the summer stumbled by But my love was still the same Though this hope, pinned like a stolen brooch Grew rusty in the rain And I loved you to the bone Far more than I could say Though my arms held fast I could not ask those weary bones to stay Turn me like a light Gather me from sight Visions in my mind An ever falling sky Go down to the end Where calla lilies bend Roots that in the dark Still hear his beating heart And tendrils with blind sight Still lean towards the light In golden sorrow
5.
Red Balloon 04:34
You are from mountains You’re gentle and you’re wild I imagine myself on the road That edges your house Should I watch the chimney smoke Rise up like a wraith, like a ghost? Should I watch the lights Illumine, darken like my hope? Tell me your song And I will sing it too Sweet song of mystery - The scorpion and the moon But for the part that has no reason That cannot hold the tiger’s jaw The piece of me, the piece of me that would risk it all For that moment when we touch Fingers delirious Fingers with eyes, inching across my skin Trying, trying to see everything And the ground drops away, And my mind drops away… Tell me your secrets Let me trace them in your palm When you first came to this city Did you pine, oh did you yearn For your green-gable land With volcano sands? Did the pound shops And the tower blocks Bring you down in the end? Tell me your song And I will sing it too But the hourglass is running for The scorpion and the moon At this altitude There’s no consequence See the figurines, see your garden fence? Don’t you want to know, to experience All your lives un-led and your dreams undreamt? Now I feel like I feel like A red balloon Tugging at the string Longing To be weightless
6.
Stay awhile till you surrender All the ghosts that gather at your door Call them in, call rain and thunder Call desire the strangest agony of all Wrapped up in your great coat, Will the sun bless this winter’s afternoon? When I think of you, I see a crocus bud Braving frost enough to bloom But you know that he’ll never let you in So don’t stoke the fire if you can’t bear The heat against your skin In sorrow, in sorrow – Silence spoke Her tongue was made of crystal And violet was her throat Travelling blind to soothe your mind will cost you Golden hours and worn out feet All those planes and trains you take to shake his shadow In the arms of strangers, comfort seek But you’ll find that he’ll never let you go Seems he’s the one who’s always leaving But in the end, he’ll be the one left alone In sorrow, in sorrow Resolution spoke, In one hand held a dagger And from the other, cut the rope
7.
She wore hand-me-down leather And the trees seem to dance with an unseen lover When she walks on the banks, wind-lashed, Rain in the boat lamps, looking for dawn And the cranes making their neat arabesques And the ashes of park fires that fell on the ledge Of the Pont Mirabeau where she toasts you alone And sings with the wind that she'll never find home “Oh come near me, ‘Cos its been too long a time Oh come near me – “ Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine La joie venait toujours après la peine Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine La joie venait toujours après la peine After the night falls this love will remain Season of tumbleweed weather How that evening she woke to the touch of a lover Still felt like the ebb of those tides on the river Pulling her back to that shore And she will not forget, will never redress How she didn’t turn, when the moment was set And how history is filled with such tomes of regret She was a coward, he went unmet She sang: “Oh come near me, ‘Cos its been too long a time Oh come near me – “ Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine La joie venait toujours après la peine Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine La joie venait toujours après la peine After the night falls, this love will remain
8.
Magellan 05:12
She was born for laughter
 It was the first thing I noticed about her It’s the last thing I hear
 Like sweet bells in my ear
 When I lay my weary bones without her And upon a summer evening
 When the fireflies shimmered the lake We went down to the old fairground For some air and for nostalgia’s sake I bought three turns on the wheel of fortune We were going for, throwing for gold
 I came up empty, but she won the jackpot We laughed as she pinned on the brooch And we toasted her luck With some beer in a cup And a kiss on the carousel Her belly in bloom Like a waxing moon
 Was a secret time only could tell I work for the master
 And the harvest is still months away Even if I work faster
 It wouldn’t change nothing
 So until then, I just have to stay Oh my dearest, oh my darling I’m no stranger to hard work and toil I’ll be with you, before you miss me But you must take the next ship to sail And she boarded that vessel
 With our cargo most precious
 She waved from the top of the deck I’ve frozen that moment
 Like a photograph, treasured
 And locked it inside of my chest Now winter is here, there's a frost that is creeping The fire is out, there’s a ghost in the crib When I wake there’s a moment
I think I’ve been dreaming
 And they’ll be beside me as real as I live Oh the boat they say it foundered On the rocks of the Magellan straits And it shattered into pieces
 Just the way my heart now breaks And you can drown your sorrows But sorrows, they can swim Rising up from your midnight cup When the light pours in She was born for laughter
 It was the first thing I noticed about her It’s the last thing I hear
 Like sweet bells in my ear
 When I lay my weary bones without her
9.
Hyperballad 03:50
We live on a mountain Right at the top This beautiful view From the top of the mountain Every morning I walk towards the edge And throw little things off Like car parts, bottles and cutlery Or whatever I find lying around It's become a habit, a way to start the day I go through all this Before you wake up So I can feel happier To be safe up here with you I go through all this Before you wake up So I can feel happier To be safe up here with you It's early morning No one is awake I'm back at my cliff Still throwing things off I listen to sounds they make On their way down I follow with my eyes till they crash I Imagine what my body would sound like Slamming against those rocks And when it lands Will my eyes be closed or open? I go through all this Before you wake up So I can feel happier To be safe up here with you Safe up here with you Safe up here with you Safe up here with you

about

"Extraordinary... Silvera has an uncanny ability to combine discomfort with beauty, strangeness with simplicity" - Folk Radio UK

“Hushed and riveting, the new LP from Ana Silvera centers her expressive voice against quietly glowing guitars” - Bandcamp (Editorial)

"A new release from the brilliant singer-songwriter Ana Silvera who wears her life and her heart on her sleeve in the best possible way" - Night Tracks, BBC Radio 3

"The album is a gem strewn feast of brilliantly wrought tunes, stunning lyrics, exotic arrangements and heart melting vocals" - Soho Radio

"An album that is rich with destiny, dignity and forgiveness " - Far Out

The first release since her much-lauded ‘Oracles’ live album (Guardian Critics’ Pick 2018; “a rare commitment to art” - CLASH), singer-songwriter Ana Silvera now releases studio album ‘The Fabulist’, produced with award-winning multi-instrumentalist Gerry Diver (BBC Folk Awards, Mercury Prize) and featuring stellar musicians including LA-based singer-songwriter Alan Hampton (Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird) and double bassist Jasper Høiby (Phronesis, Planet B).

Known for her lyrical, emotive alt-folk and bluegrass stylings, works of ‘lavish, vivid imagination’ (Metro), Ana has helmed a number of tours and collaborations over the past decade with notable British contemporaries including Imogen Heap, Olivia Chaney, Jim Moray, Bill Laurance (Snarky Puppy), Maya Youssef, Mara Carlyle, Max de Wardener and Aidan O’Rourke (LAU).

As a solo artist, she has drawn packed houses to top venues including Purcell Room, (South Bank Centre), Liverpool Philharmonic, Rockwood Music Hall (NYC), festivals Folk Alliance International, Iceland Airwaves and SXSW and composed commissions for Royal Ballet, Radio 3’s ‘Late Junction’ and Estonian Television Girls Choir.

The album title, meaning ‘teller of fables’, speaks to Ana’s love of story-telling, with the songs both drawing on the lives of “imagined others” as well as plumbing the depths of her own emotional experiences.

‘Ghosts’, for instance, describes Ana’s witnessing of her teenage brother’s descent into psychosis over the course of a sweltering London summer: “You were dumbstruck by the ghosts / who waltzed your body down the hall”; ‘Red Balloon’ describes the dizzying, disorienting pull of a forbidden yet magnetic attraction replete with off-kilter drums, soaring violins and the tender swells of Adrian Lever’s guitar pedals; and ‘Early Frost’, a duet with Alan Hampton, tells the story of a couple living a seemingly picture-perfect life – marriage, a house, a perfectly tended garden – but “like a hidden fault on an iced-up lake / it’s the smallest things that can make it break”.

Stylistically, Ana says, "Gerry and I wanted to root these songs in a folk sound-world – with instruments like acoustic guitar and fiddle as our primary palette - whilst bringing in contemporary elements such as mellotron, Wurlitzer and electric guitar. Production-wise we took inspiration from albums like Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’, Joni Mitchell's ‘Court and Spark’ and songs like Scott Walker’s ‘It’s Raining Today’, those rich, expansive arrangements with flutes, gossamer strings and instrumental interludes. It was a real joy working together to find a unique musical vocabulary for such a deeply personal collection of songs”.

credits

released April 22, 2022

All songs written by Ana Silvera
Except track 9 written by Björk Guðmundsdóttir

Tracks 1 – 8 arranged by Ana Silvera and Gerry Diver.
Track 9 arranged by Ana Silvera, strings arranged by Graham Coe.

Voice, piano, pump organ, Wurlitzer – Ana Silvera
Violin, viola, banjo, additional guitar, mandolin – Gerry Diver
Guest vocalist – Alan Hampton
Guitars – Adrian Lever
Cello – Graham Coe
Double Bass – Jasper Høiby
Drums/Percussion – Pete Flood
Additional drums & percussion – Gerry Diver
Flutes / Recorders – Rosanna Ter-Berg


All tracks produced and mixed by Gerry Diver
Except track 9 - piano and vocals recorded live at St Luke's Church by Rick Leigh.

Mastered by Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering

Ana Silvera is supported by KODA Kultur and PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund for Music Creators.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Ana Silvera London, UK

'Stunning...magical storytelling' -The Guardian

Ana Silvera is a London-born singer- songwriter and composer whose folk and bluegrass-tinged tunes are lyrical, intimate and emotive, works of ‘lavish, vivid imagination’ (Metro). ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Ana Silvera

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Ana Silvera, you may also like: