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Tell the world, "You're a Star" with your hat, and you'll instantly get feedback like, "Hey, nice hat!" This is a limited edition hat, with "You're a Star" embroidered on the front. It'd be a mistake not to own this.
Includes unlimited streaming of Swimmers
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
All the things
That I want to do with me
Hold me back from doing the
Things I want to do
You're so lucky
You've got everything that I need
In this world to succeed
And there's nothing I can do
The look, the style, the understated smile
The lack of care for everybody there
The talent, the force, the acrobatic voice
Everybody 'round you knows it, cuz it's true
You're a star
You can make it through
You're a star
And it's time to rise up
It's a trap
And there is no turning back
Your face opens a door that
Sets my demons loose
The look, the style, the understated smile
The lack of care for everybody there
The talent, the force, the acrobatic voice
Everybody 'round you knows it, and they're talking
You're a star
You can make it through
You're a star
It's time to rise up
All you got to do is play it cool
Don't hesitate to play it up
You're a star
You can make it through
Careful to never miss a step
Too much is riding on your rise
This is the life that you have chosen
Everybody 'round you knows it, so live it up
You're a star!
You have made it through!
You're a star!
It's time to rise up!
Who do you talk to
Who do you see
What do you do when I'm not around?
Cuz I'm busy and I'm strong
And nothing's gonna slow me down
Who would you talk to
Who would you see
What would you do if I let you down?
Cuz I'm busy and I'm strong
And nothing's gonna stop me now
Have you found my complex
Buried underneath the brush
Take care, I may have said too much
Have you found my weakest reflex
Bound up in sensitivity
Hold me, promise that you'll never leave
I don't know what you're talking about (complex)
It was late, I was half asleep (complex)
We were drinking, got carried away (complex)
OK, you're right, what's next?
Do you need more, do you really need more?
Isn't all this time enough for you?
Cuz I'm busy and I'm strong
And nothing's gonna change for you
Have you found my complex
Buried underneath the brush?
Take care, I may have said too much
Have you found my weakest reflex
Bound up in sensitivity?
Hold me, promise that you'll never leave
The deeper we dig here
The closer we come to finding a body
And I don't want you to see that
To put it simply
Let me preface this: it's all about me
(With men it often is)
But I feel very strongly that I am made of toxic stuff
And yet
On and on and on
It's so easy to give in
On and on and on
Throw caution to the wind
But here lies the truth:
I do not deserve your love
You're falling for me now
It's heavy, it's sacred
The way you look at me now
And I fear there's no going back
It's so easy to give in
Let my conscience feel the sin
'Cause it is very simple:
I do not deserve your love
I do not deserve your love
It's time that you turn me down and send me off
Let me go
I do not deserve your love
I don’t feel so smart today (a fool in fact)
I don’t know where I lost control
Nobody bothered to wake me
I slept too late
But I know I can - I always do
I can take it - I’ll figure it out so soon
Just give me one more night under this moon
Tomorrow I’ll take it on
I don’t feel so cool today (yeah I lost track)
I lost track of your love
Will I ever get it back
I’m a fool in fact
I’ll find a way to grow a little stronger
I’ll find a way to carry my own weight
Can’t run away from me much longer, no
I’ll find a way to carry my mistakes
But I know I can - I always do
I can take it - I’ll figure it out so soon
Just give me one more night under this moon
Tomorrow I’ll take it on
I’ll find a way to grow a little stronger
I’ll find a way to carry my own weight
Can’t run away from me much longer, no
I’ll find a way to carry my mistakes
I’ll take it all on
I'll take it all
I'll take it
Softly, slowly
Stand me still
I cannot divide my heart from my brain
You caught me lonely
Broke my will
I'm struggling to veer from how I've been trained
I want to know what this is
Define me
Define where I'm supposed to draw the line
I am not satisfied with kisses
So teach me
How to love and let go at the same time
Don't talk about it
Don't talk anymore
I can't help myself under the overthink
Don't tip the balance
Don't think anymore
Lift me from the filth as i sink beneath
about
Swimmers may be Miles Francis’s debut, but it’s clear there’s something in the water. Miles Francis is not your typical debut artist, and Swimmers is not your typical debut.
Swimmers arrives both as a 5-song EP and a 25-minute companion short film. Replete with meticulous and supremely catchy songs, paired with stunningly serene visual imagery, Swimmers is clear proof that Miles knows what he’s doing. In the songs, nothing is looped and there’s no computer magic filling in missing lines. Swimmers is pop music with an edge. In “Take It,” for example, a bouncing syncopated synth bass powers through lyrics about false hope. Swimmers is introspective, but it’s not sad: “Complex” sets a graceful, melancholy chorus over an off-kilter static-laden beat. It’s indie rock with an R&B vocabulary, like in “You’re a Star,” which juxtaposes a dancey drum pattern with a grungy bass line and hushed vocals.
Miles collaborated with filmmaker Charles Billot to create an eerily abstract yet intensely real visual world for the songs to live in. Swimmers [film] is an honest exhibition of the emotions found in the music, while leaving the door open for the viewers’ own interpretations - like water, Swimmers takes the shape of its holder.
Miles has learned from the best, and it shows. Since he started playing – first the drums at 6, then guitar, bass, keyboards, other percussion, anything he could get his hands on – he’s been an eager and diligent student. He spent countless hours in his childhood basement dissecting Prince’s guitar parts, learning David Byrne’s vocal phrasing, recreating Dilla beats, meditating on Fela Kuti basslines, and studying Bowie’s chord progressions. As a working musician, Miles has collaborated and performed with The Roots, tUnEyArDs, Sharon Jones, Amber Mark, Angelique Kidjo, Action Bronson, Allen Toussaint, Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio) and many others; toured the world with Will Butler (Arcade Fire), Antibalas and EMEFE; and appeared on shows like Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with David Letterman. All before the age of 26, too.
But Swimmers is also honest and genuine, the capturing of a particular period in a young person’s life. The EP was written in the back of a tour van and various hotel rooms and recorded by Miles alone in his basement studio. “These five songs captured a raw time for me, when life seemed to be coming to a head. I made an effort not to touch or edit them too much once I had recorded them. I wanted to keep that intimacy in there,” he says. You hear this particularly in the quiet but cathartic “Overthink”, the song that convinced Miles that Swimmers should leave the basement and live in the world. “‘Overthink’ is about telling yourself to relax, adapt to change, and not worry so much that it ruins the moment,” he explains.
Swimmers has plenty of hooks, but sometimes they’re in unexpected places. It’s smart, but not cocky. It’s confident but not brash. It pushes against the edge, but it doesn’t puncture. These are songs from someone who knows what he wants to say, how to say it, and perhaps most importantly, how to keep you listening. And you’ll definitely want to keep listening.
credits
released February 2, 2018
Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Miles Francis
Mixed by Julian Fader at Gravesend Recordings, Brooklyn
Mastered by Alex DeTurk at Strange Weather Studios, Brooklyn
Recorded in the Cornelia Street Basement, Manhattan
Miles Francis is an artist, producer, drummer, songwriter, singer, musician, guitarist, mogul, tastemaker, performer, pop
darling, influencer, actor, instrumentalist and multi-hyphenate born and raised in New York City. Miles has collaborated with Will Butler, Antibalas, Sharon Jones, Amber Mark, and Angelique Kidjo amongst others, and will release their debut album 'Good Man' on March 4, 2022....more
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