Pull down the faces you put on,
no sooner ascertained than gone.
You won’t hesitate to sneer at those in the same game,
but you won’t say no,
never, not now.
Not never, not now.
No, not never.
Any feint’s a failure, even drawn
arrow-straight and on the mark dead-on.
Nobody readier to call a sham a sham,
but you won’t say no,
never, not now.
Not never, not now.
No, not never.
You must have thought
the stage was yours alone,
must have taken
witnesses for a mirror.
Little you knew of a periscope wrong way around
or how long ago the dazzled had found you out.
Menu of faces you put on,
no sooner utilized than gone,
old apparatus you never noticed you’d outgrown,
but you won’t say no,
never, not now.
Not never, not now.
No, not never.
Julie Byrne continues an increasingly necessary tradition of quietly offering musical artifacts that want to be climbed into and lived in (spelunked?), to be known, like company, rather than consumed. Brian Seabolt
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 15, 2024