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AWAKE MUSIC

by Nate Leslie

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    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

    3 bonus tracks and a PDF lyric & description book are included with purchase! Also, all my other albums are available on a pay-what-you-want (even free) basis, so enjoy.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The amazing artwork for the 6-panel CD jacket was done by Robyn Birkey

    Includes unlimited streaming of AWAKE MUSIC via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
if we need a reason I bet we could find one of these days I'm finally gonna find love what you've done with the place it looks like you've got a smile on your face that you look through wanna use my body to give you a hot flash-bulb bursts into a little light showcase all the garbage we don't need to speak to you immediately who are you talking to? no one's even here...all my telescopes have been broken, I cannot see anymore I have got a spy inside my chest still hiding under the floor come to me, in my sleep in all my dreams you're with me what if I say I don't want a normal lifetime movies always make me cry someday I'll be able to stop time and live my life alone at midnight what am I trying to find? there's holes in my mind, all my empty words have been spoken I cannot speak anymore think you found a valley in my chest I think your eyes are a door come to me, in my sleep in all my dreams you're with me in all my dreams you're with me what are you looking for? all my pictures fade all my telescopes have been broken everything is so far away everyone's attracted to motion if I hold still they'll go away
2.
Finger 02:53
a wall of flame consuming the masses a dark phoenix will rise from the ashes the grave robbers know where the cash is we're on the roof as the building collapses one way non stop false door into the ocean and it's standing wide open, built on a bed of nails a thousand fall on my left, a thousand more at my right, they fall on their own swords as I bring out the guns one way non stop false door into the ocean and it's standing wide open built on a bed of nails all night sleepless false hope that you would bring her, she's a funeral singer she lets us fall with just one push of her finger
3.
Prisms 04:20
somebody left our cage open, we roam the streets at night, just keep your eyes on the road dear, we'll make it out alive, there's a tangle of wires connecting all our eyes, all our homes are on fire, they're lighting up the sky I thought it was you, you thought it was me, we thought it was something in between, I try to lay low, I really don't know how can I fill my empty soul hey yeah somebody left you heartbroken, you lay awake at night, you're boarding up all your windows to shut out all the light, nothing ever made sense here, and I can tell you why: what you thought was your love, dear, was a splinter in your eye I thought it was you, you thought it was me, we thought it was something in between, I try to lay low, I really don't know how can I fill my empty soul, I thought it was you, you thought it was me, sometimes it gets so hard to breathe, I try to lay low, I really don't know how you can make me feel so low hey yeah I will take the next exit, we're running out of road, the path was made for my feet here, where I can walk alone, I could've sworn you would be here, with explosions in your eyes, the slow dance of the branches playing with the light
4.
I never thought that I would take a single step outside this place, but the view from here is different when you go, and I’ve shown everything I’m made of, but everything that you’re afraid of is empty, hollow, and nothing but a shadow I’ve tried to keep things looking clean, but I’m no good at thinking on my feet, I hope you have kind words when you remember me, but sometimes talking feels like pulling teeth the worse thing you will ever witness, the earth questions it’s own existence, I never find the perfect thing to say, there’s no need for me to remind you there’s nothing but disease inside you, I wouldn’t have you any other way you think that I’m so misguided, empty hearted, double-minded, but you don’t know the half of it my friend, you think that I’m disregarded, never left the place I started, but you don’t know the half of it my friend it might look like I am exhausted, losing everything I wanted, cannot catch a single breath of air, I miss all those that have departed, there’s pain in the place my heart is, but you don’t know the half of it my friend you don’t know the half of it my friend
5.
and when my body finds out what I’ve been doing to it (not a single one of the right things, not a single one of the right things), there’s no such thing as pleasure, there’s just my body fading, (not a single one of the right things, not a single one of the right things) They blindfold the children behind me, there ain’t no life left inside me, and I’d be a liar if I said I’m sorry and I’m one selfish son-of-a-bitch, and I’m one selfish son-of-a-gun, and I ain’t like that sun in the sky that shares it’s light with everyone, no I’m the last of the medicines standing, a deadweight, a poison, a light show, I’m a trophy wife for your coffin, I’m a trophy wife for your coffin, I’m not known for speaking, I’m just an empty bottle, I’m a trophy wife for your coffin, I’m a trophy wife for your coffin They put on their blindfolds, as the children sing can you carry a man by his hands? can you carry a man by his feet? can you a carry a man who couldn’t carry a thing?
6.
Mercury 04:47
wake up to a scene, drifting through a dream, staring down an endless hallway and realize you're standing next to me, you're torn from magazines, you untangle angry wires and calm me down so I can finally sleep I faded with the day, a sunlit masquerade, thought that I might soon catch fire and burn myself alive to feel your shade, my blood's old and grey, every cell and every organ wishes that I knew what you would say love is like a midnight sky, suffocating in your light, empty like a faded sign, telling you to run the riot has begun, the angry mob inside my chest makes the weight of every breath feel like a ton, there is only one who hypnotizes with her footsteps and lips that burn me like I touched the sun a storm over the seas, a thousand more degrees, everyone who thinks they know you has never seen that look you give to me, now's the time to leave, shooting myself into orbit around a little place called Mercury
7.
you stand there in the dark, locked your keys in your car, that smile still on your face, you stumble back inside the door's still open wide, your friends are glad you stayed I just want to stay with my friends, I don't ever want this day to end, if I had to do it all over, I'd live every last second over again I'm gonna leave you a message, tell you all of the words that you wanted but I never said, no I never said "I love you" enough these songs of love and war, are both worth killing for? we stay and talk all night, the empty bottle chimes, as we speak of better times, when everything was fine I hope to God I don't end up old and all alone when my time's finally through ‘cuz it's all smoke and mirrors till my head finally clears and I'm right next to you
8.
I am empty, I am blind, I am strung out in a line, I am weary and unkind, I’m malignant, out of time I’ve been waiting here for when you come home, but it’s crystal clear I was meant to be alone I’m the last of my kind, I’m the last of my kind I am empty deep inside, I’m the tumor in your mind, all my mother’s words and lies are set ablaze before my eyes and I’ve been waiting here for my life to change, or to disappear, for all this to rearrange I’m the last of my kind, I’m the last of my kind, I’m the last of my kind, thanks for keeping me in mind I’m the last of my kind, I’m the last of my kind, thanks for keeping me in mind, I’m the last of my kind
9.
Climb, I’m using a ladder out of the ocean, I’m looking for you but your face looked like a searchlight I have been blinded, seeing spots of blue you’re on my table, you’re in my doorway, you’re in my house, my house, and I believed you Footprints in the ground, you said my name out loud Leave without a trace of light or color I will breathe with such relief when this is over Unaware in the back of my mind somewhere, pieces of you are here and there, it’s a very very heavy heavy load to bear, I need to catch my breath sometimes your the echo of a fire burning in my eyes, I start to fall apart and then I realize the only thing to ask is “What’s it gonna take, what’s in gonna take to make you mine?” Footprints in the ground, I’ll leave without a sound
10.
Dream sequence part 1 I have this dream at night, I feel I'm swimming in the ground, I have no fingerprints, it takes me 1800 hours, I am a failed attempt, I'll build a mansion out of string, I'm tied up to a chair, I won't tell you a single thing I still have my hands, my brother's gone, he had eight eyes and wordless songs, we'll take our time, say our goodbyes, and stand in line to be long gone in the end in the end in the end I've got a trigger finger, I saw the bright lights, I didn't think twice, and if it sounds right, and if it sounds right, take the right sound and show it to the red light Dream sequence part 2 the sky is glowing blue, heat radiates off the road in waves, blurring the snow- peaked mountains on the horizon. I enter the white building as it suddenly appears next to me in my sorrow in my sorrow, I can't sleep, i can't sleep I know I've been here before but I can't place it, it's on the tip of my tongue. I see the man who is waiting for me, his eyes are too large for his head, and he knows who I am. I see the blade in his hand and I know what he intends to do to me. Before he can move I take my own blade and bury it in his chest. I take him to the ground as his eyes give me a look of total acceptance I leave him where he lays and walk out the door, because I know that there's somewhere where i'm supposed to be. The last thought I send to him, is better you than me
11.
Outlines 07:10
I coulda sworn there was somebody in my room, lit from behind, I couldn't make them out. reach for the lights but the shadows run away. I coulda sworn there was somebody in my room. I love the way that we fight, and I still love how we talk through the night, I woke up today and I swear I could feel no pain I trace a line around you in the sand as you look out through a filtered lens I can tell your sorrow or your glee just in the way that you expel your breath but not anymore...not anymore I lit a torch somewhere inside my dream the brightest flame that you would ever see, burned so hot that you could hardly breathe, you drowned it at the bottom of your stream stopped too soon stopped too soon I love the summer, your sights and your sounds, didn't think it would end when the last of the leaves came down, want to put them back on the stems, this time next year no one will remember them He lifted her up, but she's afraid of the heights He lifted her up, but she's afraid of the heights He lifted her up, but she never got to see the view

about

AWAKE MUSIC is my 4th solo album. I play all the instruments, write all the songs, and make all the recordings. I am a self-produced one-man indie-rock'n'roll factory.

In contrast to my first 3 albums which showcased a significant electro-synth influence, the sounds on AWAKE MUSIC are 98% guitar, bass, and drums, making this the most in-your-face and raw release I've ever done.

I couldn't be more proud of this album and I know you will love it if you give it a chance. Thank you to everyone who made mastering and manufacturing this album possible through my kickstarter project. I'm forever grateful. Looking forward to making more music for you all in the future.

-Nate

credits

released October 30, 2013

All songs, music, lyrics, and recordings by Nate Leslie

Art layout by Robyn Birkey

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Nate Leslie Chicago, Illinois

Nate Leslie is a sonic alchemist creating his own blend of indie post-punk electro psychedelic rock. Whatever that means.

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