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Playing Dead

by Obscura Hail

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition 12" of our latest album! Standard jacket in a protective sleeve, with a special inner sleeve including lyrics, pressed on black vinyl.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Playing Dead via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $40 AUD 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

      $15 AUD  or more

     

1.
The Arborist 03:03
Burn the leaves Light a match Firebug Lumberjack your skin is mirror I trace with my finger, when the light is gone or a map of a city inspiring envy for the residents I sleep beneath the overpass I fly above it like a hawk I fly above it like a hawk cursed by a hunger
2.
O.R 04:38
I listen to you snorin’ so I know that you’re breathin’ It’s never inconvenient It’s a sound I recognise you’re sleeping through the beepin’ every pulling of the curtain but I know you hear hummin’ cause our noises harmonise nihilistic nurse disturbs the pillow, low your head and mumbles something audible underneath their breath they say all love is terminal; we love until we’re dead, or no longer operable, there’s no O.R suitable to make our love extend, but if loving you is possible beyond what can be said then I have very reason to believe we’ll love again I’m tapping at my wrist watch you told me it was broken I’m taking it for granted I’m winding back the short hand it’s technically the weekend and now your face is changing the nurse returns to say my visit has to end and mumbles something audible underneath their breath this time its personal, I’ve something to defend our love is surgical, it cuts well past the bon, and these pins and needles remind me that I’m home and I am under an aesthetic to help soften the blow of all the melodrama and the trauma that we’ve known they say all love is terminal; we love until we’re dead, or no longer operable, there’s no O.R suitable to make our love extend but if loving you is possible beyond what can be said then I have very reason to believe we’ll love again I have every reason to believe we’ll love again I have every reason to believe we’ll love again I have every reason to believe we’ll love again. our love is surgical, it cuts well past the bone and these pins and needles remind me that I’m home and I’m under an aesthetic to help soften the blow of all the melodrama and all the trauma all the melodrama that we’ve known.
3.
Long Play 02:41
sweat is rollin' down my forehead in this cinema space we've never met, but I recognise the pain written on your face singing your story, knuckle to the nose, too easy to fall in love I need to find closure, don't wanna be alone, but I’m scared that I’m not enough turning on the air con, just for a minute, filling 40 pairs of lungs a cocktail of pheromones spillin' from the glands, and I shape your name with my tongue it ain't a mistake if you wanna repeat it, it ain't a mistake if you wanna repeat it love isn't a game, but so many play it, no wonder why we're all so jaded a couple days later, flippin' through the paper lookin' for some part time jobs I see they need an undertaker, an empathetic griever to help another through their loss too many treat the dead as if they're headed to a better place as if we are rewarded for doin' what we're ordered from the cradle to the grave from the cradle to the grave I wanna hurt I wanna hurt the one that hurt you
4.
Playing Dead 02:40
I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you deal I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you deal light a candle! wash off the lipstick it's my instinct time is tragedy tip your waitress and thank who made this tip your waitress and thank who made this call my friends and my family while I'm asleep and tell them what went wrong pick out the pallbearers, the grave robbers and show them how it's done I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you deal I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you…. deal I’m always looking for something (always looking for something) I’m always looking for something (always looking for something) I’m always looking for something (always looking for something) I’m always looking for something I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you deal I'm always looking for something but I can’t tell if it's real I'm playing dead to imagine your reaction and exactly how you deal
5.
Paranormie 02:56
Is anyone there? I get the feeling that somebody’s watching the hairs on the back of my neck are standing a silent warning is there anyone awake right now? somebody please I know you wont believe me but there’s someone in my house they've cut the power to the lights paranormie awake til morning when they ignore me paranormie awake til morning when they ignore me and I am underneath my bed does anyone care? I get the feeling that nobody’s coming call you back, I'll meet you there and I am underneath my bed each today is yesterday, tomorrow which is now each today is yesterday, tomorrow which is now each today is yesterday, tomorrow which is now each today is yesterday paranormie awake til morning when they ignore me paranormie awake til morning when they ignore me
6.
Paper Rock 02:37
you wanna turn your math into matter you wanna learn the rules of the game forget the cape, it's scissor paper rock no need to sigh or fly off the handle don't go and bury your head in the sand stop what you're doing, count all your fingers you only need a hand to command learn the shape of scissor paper rock you'll creep ahead like a snake on a ladder if you follow the law of scissors paper rock soak in the winnings, sun to an adder if you follow the law of scissors paper rock premeditate and drown out the chatter if you follow the law of scissors paper rock follow the law of scissors paper rock turn every move into intuition do what you know and whole every pot you can't compare the roll of a die to the likes of scissor paper rock follow the law of scissors paper rock
7.
Apparition 00:28
8.
despite the foreign substances you’re poisoning your body with and all the ugly looks your mirror chose to be reflected the endless empty promises you made when you were wasted only you decide what is to be, if anything only you decide what is to be, if anything, if anything of all the half-baked failed attempts to rid yourself of your ego And how you pushed away your friends when you lost all those kilos pretending that they never knew what happened in your bedroom pretending that they never knew about the things you were goin’ through only you decide what is to be, if anything only you decide what is to be, if anything, if anything
9.
Amnesia 02:02
two drops of whatever this is, two drops everyday to help with my amnesia to help with my amnesia to help me seize the day two stops til I gotta get off two stops til I'm back again I catch the bus with Aunt Fiona the bus with my amnesia the driver knows my name by now it be easier by now I should be better they've gifted me a picture frame and I use it as a mirror I use it as a mirror to help with my amnesia two drops of whatever this is, two drops everyday
10.
A light turning, react to a sound
11.
Widower 04:48
Muriel, ballerina lost her husband in a bloody war the ashes lay in a cantina that she pretends to sip as a ritual Jonathon, wartime hero you're not with us any more than she time decides the widows from widowers and to have a love to lose is lucky Grandfather dodged a bullet conscription avoided only to meet shots down the track is it peaceful to go in your sleep? because it looked like what was left of him was not surrendering but fighting back as I held his shaking hand I said I'd see him Sunday as I held his shaking hand I said I'd see him someday as I held his shaking hand I said I'd see him Sunday as I held his shaking hand I said I'd see him someday
12.
I’m having fun in isolation stuck in the nosebleed section and all the worlds a stage am I hard of hearing? or too bored to even listen either way, I cant complain get busy living or dying I just want merit for trying to find an in between I’m okay, thankyou for asking! how are you? Okay I’m guessing I still don’t know what it means I’m getting pins and needles and forgetting how it feels to be normal negotiating with the godhead til we’ve landed on a deal to make me normal a stranger called about a funeral plan - “half price on all coffins Try before you buy” I said I practice meditation to get a sense of deprivation, a coffin would be nice It isn’t easy these days my whole existence is prepaid nothing’s in the bank I just want to do right by my lady have a house and a baby but while I’m waiting for that pay day I’m getting pins and needles and forgetting how it feels to be normal negotiating with the godhead til we’ve landed on a deal to make me normal
13.
Where’s your head at?
14.
Venom 03:48
we're cooking up a catalyst to avoid the cataclysmic it's a duty to our children to fend of the oblivion to save them from indifference we fight infernos with an ember to breathe in a breath, renewed where once the air was poison snakes suffering their venom we're sucking at the wound Needless death treated by the needle thread passing through the eye

about

After letting the dust settle on their widely supported double EP ‘Siren’ (2020), Sean Conran, Tamara Issa, and Kaelan Emond of Obscura Hail, return to mellow things down and return to roots. The gleeful trio are set to release their album ‘Playing Dead’ March 2024 through Dot Dash (Remote Control Records). Obscura Hail have performed alongside Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Aldous Harding, Julia Jacklin, Cam Avery (Tame Impala, Pond) Soaked Oats, Bad Dreems and Hayley Mary to name a few, and have appeared at Brunswick Music Festival, By The Meadow Festival, Changes Festival, Kyneton Music Festival, Isol Aid Festival & Bigsound 2019 + many more.

credits

released March 1, 2024

Written, composed and performed by Sean Conran, Tamara Issa and Kaelan Emond
Produced by Sean Conran
Additional production / mixing by Sam Swain (3, 4, 6)
Track 13 originally written and composed by Basement Jaxx

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Obscura Hail Melbourne, Australia

our new album ‘Playing Dead’ is out everywhere now! On tour March/April/May. Stream/Tickets/Order LP below: obscurahail.lnk.to/playingdead-lp

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