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Album · 2017

Window Hours

by Odalys Fern

Music for staring out of windows: snow, family, and the quiet hours between night and morning.

Tracks

  1. 1. Sorting Office, Letters Before DawnNight shift in a sorting hall, sacks of letters stacked tall. I wanted a song that begins the day before anyone is awake.dream pop, psychedelic folk2:59
  2. 2. Puppet Theatre, Strings at RestA puppet stage after the show, strings finally at rest. The voices sit on the sill like little figures.lullaby psychedelia, chamber pop3:31
  3. 3. Frosted Bridge Lamp, Blue HourA lamp on a bridge wearing a halo of frost. This is the blue hour in song form.wintry psychedelia, shimmer guitar5:53
  4. 4. Wind Chimes on the Porch, Soft BreezeWind chimes turning on a porch in the middle of the night. I recorded the real chimes and tuned the harmonies to them.psychedelic folk, chime ambient3:24
  5. 5. Footbridge in the Snow, One Violet LanternA footbridge in snow with one violet lantern. Nearly all voice, with church reverb doing the rest.choral ambient, winter drone4:23
  6. 6. Rooftop Beehive, Winter HumA rooftop hive humming through winter, warm inside its lid. I like to think the hum is the choir.warm psychedelia, drone folk3:29
  7. 7. Pale Blue Hour, Drifting HomeThe sky turning pale over the rooftops on the walk home. A slow arpeggio and long vowels, nothing more.ambient dream pop, analog synth3:07
  8. 8. Mom's Slow Steps, Hand on the RailMy mother takes the stairs more slowly now, and I walk beside her without saying a word. It's the song I find hardest to sing.tender ambient, choral folk3:34
  9. 9. Reading Glasses, Porch Swing EveningMy dad on the porch with his glasses slipping down his nose. I wrote it in ten minutes and changed nothing.nostalgic ambient, porch folk3:16
  10. 10. Final Encore, Candle SmokeCandles burning low on a piano after the last song. The closing track, and the quietest thing I'd made.choral ambient, hymnal dream pop4:00

Liner notes

This is the record where I finally sat down at the window and let it be the subject. Snow on footbridges, my mother's slow steps on the stairs, my father's glasses sliding down on the porch. I recorded the choir in a stairwell with church-like reverb and kept the synths as quiet as breathing. It's the closest I've come to a record that sounds like looking out.

Odalys Fern