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The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights

by Sean Rowe

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  • Streaming + Download

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

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition Color Double LP (3 sides + etching on side 4) in Tip-On Gatefold package.
    PLUS CD with full packaging. Package ships in late February

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 200 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $45 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition Color Double LP (3 sides + etching on side 4) in Tip-On Gatefold package. Limited to 200 copies. RECORD SHIPS IN FEBRUARY

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    edition of 200 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $35 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Black Double LP (3 sides + etching on side 4) in Tip-On Gatefold package. PLUS CD with full packaging. SHIPS IN JANUARY 2022

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $35 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Black Double LP (3 sides + etching on side 4) in Tip-On Gatefold package. SHIPS IN LATE FEBRUARY 2022

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Old Skool CD !

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • TEST PRESSING
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    These are the test pressings used to evaluate vinyl quality before the main run is pressed. There are only 5 in existence. These will be hand numbered. They come in a plain white jacket

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
its a long way coming down and you try to be so smart but theres a hammer on your chest and it’s bound to break your heart where’s the version of yourself the one who knew which way was up you’re gonna drink away tomorrow with all the wrong things in your cup but for tonight… love don’t feel as light as it did the day before when the apple of your eye is an oxidizing core you’ll be sighing at the moon while you’re pumping in the gas and your hoping that tomorrow’s gonna save your tired ass but for tonight… what are we doing baby? what are we now so you customize that ride then you roll it down the trail how many times you lost control you get surprised right of the rails how you used to be so free the broken bones of wear and tear soon you’re gonna see your brothers in the graveyard of repair but for tonight…. you go looking for the truth where your parents hid the gold and you found it wasn’t there now you might get wise if you get old you can’t kill your enemies when you’re running from yourself and soon all your favorite records are gonna be calling you from the shelf but for tonight…
2.
not too much but maybe a little enough to touch I wish this pill worked every time it took this to get that feeling like the first kiss in the beginning you always shine all this sky all this music floating by one day it will be the last time you won't get it again Till You lose your way Till You lose our Face Till You pay 10 fold For what you used to steal When You lose at Love When you lose your mind Then oh my god you'll make it real who are we behind the makeup but oneway glass afraid to break into a thousand shards the moment's gone good thing I kept it it's on my phone I got this captured here forevermore but I won't see it again my baby blue my ocean green that I thought was true was just some magic carpet ride but you can't wash out your eyes... Till You lose your way Till You lose your Face Till You pay 10 fold For what you used to steal When You lose your Love When you lose your mind Then oh my god you'll make it real (instrumental) bridge: all this darkness dressed in colored lights Everything is wrong But you look so damn beautiful tonight but not Till You lose your way Till You lose your Face Till You pay 10 fold For what you used to steal When You lose your Love When you lose your mind Then oh my god you'll make it real
3.
Little Death 04:06
SOMETIMES I SEE US BOTH WALKING BACK TOGETHER IN MY MIND LIKE MAYBE, WE BOTH REALLY MISUNDERSTOOD BUT THAT DON’T MEAN THAT WE REALLY SHOULD NOW I’M THINKING THAT WE MISSED THAT TRAIN FOREVER —AND THAT’S FINE CUZ BABY IT WASN’T STOPPIN AT NO PLACE GOOD I’M GONNA WRITE A SONG GONNA CALL MY FRIENDS GONNA FALL IN LOVE WITH THE ROAD AGAIN GONNA WRAP MY ARMS AROUND HER WAIST WORK ME LORD AND WASH MY SINS GONNA FALL IN LOVE WITH THE WOODS AGAIN FIX THAT SORRY SHAPE IM IN OH YEAH NOBODY EVER GETS TO GO BACK TROUGH THE WINDOW OF TIME —IT’S CRAZY BUT THAT DON’T STOP US FROM TRYING IN VAIN A LITTLE DEATH IT DOESN’T KILL US AFTER ALL IT’S FINE — WHEN YOU AINT THERE YOU AINT THERE TO FEEL ALL THAT PAIN
4.
I Won't Run 04:17
i could get used to texas get a job go work for your dad You know he's not a drunk he just makes the wine look bad you hit me in my solar plexus I swear on my guitar my 135 you can hang me by the strings but I'm never gonna leave your side Chorus: well don’t you go thinking that i was ever lying i might be a fool but i aint dumb do you remember when your old world left your crying i said i won’t break your heart and i won’t run My face is only for mothers but i age better than wood and i got the right hands and baby they work so good i know that man left you broken and the scar he put on your lip is starring back at you if you ever need to jump this ship
5.
you said you wanted space so i gave you montana and i gave you more than half of my bread all these lines that make your face sometimes i wish they didn't matter wish they didn't matter but i draw them every night in my head i never slept good on your one person mattress but i miss your broken lamp made of shells theres only 10 percent of me that really hates that you're a grifter most of me is under your spell riding through the desert on a camel walking backwards looking for the truth in your eyes nothing i wouldn’t trade here for a cold drink water except the ocean between your thighs i know that you’re re a runner but i was hoping that i wasn’t right honey in the morning Turn to poison by tomorrow night I should be on a white horse but I drank too much potion now I’m sleeping on the kitchen floor i wanna hold you so close in cinematic slow motion now you're gunning for an open door now it goes without saying that the future’s uncertain when you get tired you just blow out the spark how you gonna know love if you can’t remove the curtain you know the devil only wins in the dark
6.
aint nobody gonna take me for an angel / i’m only flying with the crows / while all the saints are sleeping in heaven i wanna be down on the alter takin’ off your clothes i don’t wanna get you lost in my religion / i don’t wanna be a stone / hand me the keys we won’t live forever i don’t wanna drive you crazy i just wanna drive you home I know you're thinking that you cannot surrender /Without selling out your soul If holy water won't keep us together / I’m gonna find out what you love and I'm gonna put it in the bowl So you see a vision in the sky Are you really gonna let that holy moment pass you by? Oh you got me wondering… I know you're feeling like you've known love before me / I know you'd like to cut the cord Don't fly so high before I can touch you I need your body before You get married to the Lord
7.
Gabriel 03:45
I know you're tired but our hands are in the fire This ain't no time for dreaming you're gonna snap that cosmic wire We'll go crashing from the ceiling you'll be crying, you'll be kneeling you'll be wasted away Your angel doesn't work for free anymore Oh angel Gabriel I hear what you're saying i used to work for love Now I I don't know just what I'm paying for Could it really be that river I see cannot take me home anymore Now before you shoot down the sun Before you conjure up the thunder there must be some piece of gold Some kind of Magic little number You won't get so high if you keep asking why That's the price at the top of chain There's only one way to fit through the door Oh angel Gabriel you stick in like a sliver but I only got one heart and such an underrated liver now go back to your boss tell him I'm happy I've lost And I can't wait to get back to the blues
8.
Squid Tattoo 04:30
I’ve been up too late in this dive bar I dipped the wrong song into alcohol Now I love you But I can’t believe you’re from ohio I love your squid tattoo I love the way you live I love your black lipstick that you’re speaking with Yeah you strike me as the right kind of crazy And with this cold dark beer in my hand tonight I’m gonna spin this room I’m gonna change my life I’m just waiting for you to raise one of your eyebrows If you could see just who I was The second before I fell hard into your doorway Now I don’t wanna kill your buzz But baby I was losing so damn hard going the wrong way oh baby there’s something ‘bout your way I can understand Let’s go to north Caroline Get a cabin there Sleep in the woods at night By the shade of your hair I can only see the future In this moment Or maybe go to live with the urban class Buy a big brownstone We could stain the glass We could live off all my music And your paintings
9.
Tornado Head 05:45
10.
Rabbit Hole 04:46
the ol black hole's a comin' You just start digging Now you’re onto something and you can't put your finger on it when you do that's when you don't want it but you're not coming to your senses you don't care what the sign on the fence says and you almost took the gold when your flashlight batteries just went cold whoa I looked everywhere you sent me down the rabbit hole whoa I looked everywhere but I only got his foot then I let him go where's the bad tone and the good distortion it's not the right feel not the right proportion I'm so bored of this fake talking looking for something for my mind to walk in I got this perfect imperfection the right face with the wrong reflection and I almost took the gold but these flashlight batteries just went cold whoa I looked everywhere you sent me down the rabbit hole whoa I looked everywhere but I only got his foot then I let him go the sun and my sweat are flirting I tried to clean up ah but nothing's working I'm a blind mole cutting through the ground You’d think I’d find my way or be in China now and I almost took the gold but these flashlight batteries just went cold whoa I looked everywhere you sent me down the rabbit hole whoa I looked everywhere but I only got his foot then I let him go
11.
Toast 04:46
we're cooked we're toast goodbye your clothes so warm down south i kiss your mouth how can i describe the weather it's never gonna reach your ear so i better touch than try to tell you how to read the atmosphere i don't think i can take a shower maybe in another year i can smell you in the morning hour from all the work we've done in here I know you feel me where words don't reveal me climbing the ceiling I know you feel me I let you fall and give me it all I know you feel me we're cooked we're toast goodbye our clothes so warm down south i kiss your mouth

about

About half-way through the recording of Sean Rowe’s excellent new album, The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights (Fluff & Gravy Records), he and producer Troy Pohl were taking a break. They were holed-up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, working at Brian Joseph’s studio, Hive, which is situated on a remote acreage of rolling green hills. While catching their breath, they noticed a minivan that had turned off of the rarely traveled road adjacent to the property and onto the grass, driving straight towards them. It pulled so close that it almost touched the picnic table. A stout and somewhat menacing man emerged, who did little to calm suspicions when he spoke.

“You ever been on TV?” he asked.

Rowe, thinking that’s exactly the kind of thing someone might say before murdering you, replied, “I actually have. Have you?”

“Yep, back in the early 90’s, I was on David Letterman twice.”

“Oh yeah, for what?”

“Stupid Human Tricks — I could pour two beers at once without using any of my appendages.”

Troy and Sean nodded in recognition and without another word, the man climbed back into his minivan and drove off. As he was pulling away, Brian Joseph came sprinting across the yard to see what was happening. They recounted the head-scratching tale of their brush with a minor celebrity and after some failed attempts to make sense of it, went back to the business of making a record.

A curious mind and a sense of adventure make for quite a collection of stories. Some, like this, play out over the course of a few minutes while others, more profound and complex, take years to untangle. Rowe, an artist and nomad at heart, has made himself into the perfect repository for volumes of every variety — hysterical, terrifying, heartbreaking, mystifying, and ridiculous — and on this record, he makes it clear that at some point it’s hard not to feel them all at once.

The album’s title is taken from its first single, “To Make It Real.” “All this darkness, dressed in colored lights. Everything is wrong but you look so damn beautiful tonight.” It’s a relatable couplet that illustrates the paradox between what once was and what now is, while the chorus howls in response to being lost in the inbetween. “When you lose your way, when you lose your face, when you’re paid tenfold for what you used to steal. When you lose that love, when you lose your mind, well then oh my God, you make it real.”

While “To Make It Real” was forged from the despair that comes from losing yourself to heartache, “Little Death” recognizes that both in spite of and because of such events, it’s possible to find yourself again. Here, Rowe brushes off the dirt and looks ahead to the freedom of only being accountable to oneself. “A little death, it won’t kill us after all and that’s fine. When you ain’t there, you ain’t there to feel all that pain.” In the chorus, he lists some of what he's looking forward to. “I’m gonna write a song, gonna call a friend. I’m gonna fall in love with the road again. I’m gonna wrap my arms around her waist. Work me Lord and wash my sins. I’m gonna fall in love with the woods again. Fix that sorry shape I’m in.”

Rowe opened up about some of the work he’s been doing to build a fitter, happier version of himself. “The heaven and hell that swirls around in our head — to a large extent, we make both. So, in realizing that, you begin to realize that you have the ability to decide which one you’re gonna make.” Rowe credits therapy and a guided ayahuasca retreat with helping him to reach this understanding.

“Over the course of an intense weekend, I had three profound experiences that stripped away all of my defenses and rationalization, along with the guilt and anger that built up over the course of being a human. Two of those experiences brought me to a place of such intense beauty and peace, while the third showed me the exact opposite. I think that the lessons learned over that weekend are still being revealed but in those moments, I seemed to experience real heaven and hell. Now it’s up to me to choose which one I want to exist in.”

The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights is ripe with both dimensions. It was produced by Rowe’s friend and longtime collaborator Troy Pohl, whom he has known since he was in his early twenties while Pohl was still a teen. The two grew into their professionalism together and here, they make the most of their combined ambition and experience.

The studio Hive in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was chosen so that they could work with the Grammy-winning engineer, Brian Joseph (Bon Iver) and for its proximity to a group of musicians that Sean came to admire while listening to Anna Tivel’s remarkable album, The Question, in his manager’s basement studio. That group includes drummer/percussionist, and producer Shane Leonard, along with Jeremy Boetcher on bass, and Ben Lester on keys and pedal steel. Courtney Hartman was flown from Colorado to provide background vocals and guitar. Chris Carey provided additional bass, while John DeHaven, Jeff Nania, and Joel Yannuzzi made up the album’s brass section.

Rowe’s admiration for Tivel’s album was not limited to its sonics. The Portland, Oregon label Fluff & Gravy Records, which has released all of Anna Tivel’s albums, is home to The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights, which will be released on CD and double-vinyl, as well as available on all streaming services on October 8.

credits

released October 8, 2021

Words and Music by Sean Rowe
Music of the Mothership (BMI) o/b/o itself
& 4 Septembers Music
Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Troy Pohl
Recorded by Brian Joseph and Troy Pohl
Additional Recording by Shane Leonard, Chris Carey, and Sean Rowe

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about

Sean Rowe Troy, New York

The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights was produced by Rowe’s friend and longtime collaborator Troy Pohl.

The studio Hive in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was chosen so that they could work with the Grammy-winning engineer, Brian Joseph (Bon Iver) and for its proximity to a group of musicians that Sean came to admire while listening to Anna Tivel’s, The Question, in his manager’s basement studio.
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