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Reckoning

by Jen Chapin

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    Full-size art and sound in beautiful gatefold package, including all lyrics on the inside. Original cover painting by Tifenn Python is actual size on this package.

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    Beautiful, eco-friendly 6-panel gatefold package with photography from our recording sessions, portraits by G.E. Masana, and original artwork by Tifenn Python

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 7 Jen Chapin releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Reckoning, Five Songs, Light Of Mine, Ready, Linger, Open Wide, and Live at the Bitter End. , and , .

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1.
It's All Right (free) 03:43
A roach got caught in the kitchen Old transmission died Tax man well he’s taking us Takin’ us for a ride Half of my face ain’t workin’ It wont’ move on one side Gravity pulling me pulling me Deep down Deep down and wide Will we get any sleep tonight? I don’t know Bouncing checks and another fight I don’t think so All things grow toward the light This I know Through this wall on the other side It’s all right Plump drops fall from the ceiling Dripping down on our bed Curling up on the bathroom floor Knees wrapped round my head Call off the show repack the bag Drink scotch whiskey down Time to find a new religion Maybe a new resolve No frowning Will we get any sleep tonight? I don’t know Bouncing checks and another fight I don’t think so All things grow toward the light This I know Through this wall on the other side It’s all right
2.
Insatiable 03:39
She is insatiable She is she is He didn't really know her He loved her just the same Star-trapped in her Latin words And the glitter of her name Her rediscovered taste for secrets Camouflage and wire tapping trumpets, stifling rooms Self-detonating fire She is insatiable She is she is She had been a trusting girl No one had ever done her wrong Now vengeance is the drone Toughness is the tone The same note in every song Daylight visible through iron bars Daylight swallowed up by cash Now vengeance is the drone Bluster is the tone Contracts up in smoke and ash She is insatiable Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do now?
3.
Let it Show 03:47
Little man little man I can see You are not such a mystery to me Little questions little highs little lows In a row Senses overflow I've been thinking 'bout this sad sad world About survival and the one thing you should know Is find your joy and let it show Will you be bumpy like a pine cone Cover your soft heart Try to be alone? Will you be smooth like sanded timber Wood grain winding Graceful and limber? I've been thinking 'bout this way processed world Of authenticity and the one thing you should know Is find your joy and let it show All the slick faces on the TV They tell us be fearful We are warned very soberly Don't you listen turn away turn away There's different melody to play I've been thinking ‘bout this sad sad world About survival and the one thing you should know I've been thinking on this fascinating world About survival and the one thing you should know Is find your joy and let it show let it show
4.
Don't Talk 04:25
I know I know I know I know we're such a cliché the lady tries to talk it through while the gentleman tries to wish it away the floor is piled with wasted words scorecards discarded fortresses unguarded we couldn't keep track of who's winning cease fire let's stop go back to the beginning then we won't talk anymore you laughed out loud interrupting my breakfast and making my day finally it's you with something burning something you just had to stay so we shook off the schedule off of our shoulders the clock ticking bolder we kept it at bay let's lose track of the hours the silence here the evening is ours then we won't talk anymore outside there's no clutter sentences well they don't sputter they just float into the sky washed clean by days of rain they all complain about the wet you and me we get it we just let it cool us down now we won't talk anymore
5.
city shut down the B84 was our only good ride to the grocery store paycheck goes to the glucose strip patience goes to the 95 minute bus trip 30 hour week -- I wish they'd give me more and I wonder what it's all for when I can't feed my baby no more worry worry work and cry full warm breast goes limp and dry wilted leaves still priced too high too hard feed my baby Granma grew her yams in the yard in the Carib sun chile it's not so hard but she traded that sun for the cold and the cash strong hands picking up office trash you never dig dirt with a new green card but her fingers still ache for the yard now that feeding her baby's so hard worry worry work and cry full warm breast goes limp and dry wilted leaves still priced too high too hard feed my baby junk food minefield on the tv dinnertime battle him against me change the channel try not to see starvation still starvation in the 21st century worry worry work and cry full warm breast goes limp and dry wilted leaves still priced too high red raw fingers fill the sack raid the trailers send them back silos rotting still I lack enough to feed my baby its tough to feed my baby
6.
Paris 03:42
That we were four By the rainbow At the Tour Eiffel Watered coffee It was just as well To stay earthbound Not to ascend with the multitudes That we were four Venturing four That we were four Racing up the grimy serpentine To the metro past the tightrope line We walked a long time Along the banks with the ducks and the dreamers That we were four Lingering four That we were four Lazy mornings Behind lush green Windows framing balcony scenes Of many-hued lives Bringing us into belonging Here is where the whole world wants to be Here we promenade Over castles Over centuries I've got no heavy bags I'm free to be tongue-tied I'm free to write new history And I'm just glad to be here That we were four Magical four That we were four Plotting just how he might ask his turn On new playgrounds there's so much to learn He's such a brave boy Qu'est que c'est quatre On fait la maison sur la place Crimée C'est juste le faite de nous L'espace pour jouer Pour jouer ensemble Together we four are belonging here
7.
Go Away 04:25
I love when you go away Then I get to clean up the mess you made Stare through the streaks in the glass all day Here with the boredom I've begged for begged for I'm happy you get to play I'm glad that I get to stay here with my fantasies They might be small but OK Don't want a thing but to finish my coffee I love when you go away My patience returns like a long-lost friend The furies they fly out the window Their sovereignty at its end I need you to go away For a minute for an hour for a blessed day Pack up your mirror take that ugly woman away Do I feel guilty? Not really I watch your breath rise and fall in your sleep at night Each morning I'm reeling from Any kiss, any touch, any smile, any kindnesses You are willing to bestow I love to take a walk unencumbered I love to read and read and read and read Anything in front of my face except you Do I feel guilty? Not really I watch your breath rise and fall in your sleep each night Each morning I'm reeling from Any smile, any touch, any kiss any kindnesses You are willing to bestow Polysyllabic words that you say I say them back We talk all the time Time flies it stops it goes in a circle I look at my watch through each story time Some stories I love I revel in rhyme They fall off my lips They drip down like wine I'm drinking you in I'm spitting you out I'm trying to learn What it's all about I'm trying to learn
8.
I like the way you love to be here unblinking eyes so wide and so clear no need for you to ever know fear in this favored place filled with smiling faces check out the way you work to break free stretch out your arms such activity nothing you do will ever keep me from holding on holding on so tightly not fair - that every mama doesn't have a baby like you not fair - that every baby doesn't have a mama like you do not fair - that every mama doesn't have a baby like you not fair - that everybody doesn't have spare love brave is the way you wake with a smile let's keep this scene around for awhile everyone falls in love with your style how you open up all the shut tight places gentle your fingers follow my skin through day and night such dreams we move in so soft your power to make the earth spin and your story has only just begun not fair - that every mama doesn't have a baby like you not fair - that every baby doesn't have a mama like you do not fair - that every mama doesn't have a baby like you not fair - that everybody doesn't have spare love to chew on
9.
Reckoning 03:23
I'm weary in so many ways too tired to keep on trying too wired to settle down my fight has gone and run away too stubborn to let go the reckoning I know will have to wait another day these blues are comfortable surrender's not so new my time is full enough I've lots of work to do half-opened envelopes pile up between my ears while unloved melodies amplify my fears that my song will not be sung that my doing comes undone the world looks different today more contrast black and white no longer shades of grey no final verdict if I stay or hang it up for good too stubborn to let go the reckoning I know will have to wait another day
10.
All as it should be I’m lost in a land Without counting Without the mounting measurements And dilations From this small Drop of the sea I reach out my hand To hold the shore The waves surging more on the inside Than what you can see There is no Emergency It’s all as it should be There is no Need to rush me Suspended over the fire We witches conspire To let it burn As tighter they turn the screws On all the new machines Crazy reckless and not all there It’s just hysteria C’mon Get on with the show But they know We’re in the chapel of god Ha ha The goddess There is no Emergency It’s all as it should be There is no Need to rush me
11.
Gospel 05:31
I was very far away When the cardboard sign called out to the world “the beginning is near” opened up my lips to say something something then swept high in the gorgeous tide so blue so clear clear eyes on the prize before us clear eyes on the path laid down from Memphis to Madison Cairo to NYC Here amid the law and lawless Here where you finally saw us Now reborn solitary voices become one building of a new world has begun shopworn gospel brought back in the sun human evolution never done new accountability with a new old fashioned sense of justice justice I said justice corporate personality with a motive built on more than profit justice we said justice clear eyes on the far horizon clear lines of connection between water planet future and history here amid this ugly beauty here where all ego disappears in true democracy solitary voices become one building of a new world has begun shopworn gospel brought back in the sun human evolution never done It’s gonna take a long time but we’re not going away..

about

Reckoning was recorded, mixed and produced by the esteemed 5-time Grammy Award winner Kevin Killen, who has mixed, engineered and produced with U2, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Jewel, Bobby McFerrin, Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Shawn Colvin (among many others).The album reckons with the challenge of balancing creative ambitions with the immediate demands of mothering small children — combined with a good dose of social commentary. In the poignant “Let it Show”, Jen sings to her not-yet firstborn “… the one thing you should know/is find your joy and let it show,” then in the candid tango-tinged rocker “Go Away:” “I love when you go away/my patience returns like a long lost friend..” Jen’s band cooks right along under her intimate portrait of a broken food system in “Feed Your Baby” and “Insatiable,” her indictment of our militaristic and security-obsessed culture, while the sensuous reggae of “Don’t Talk” extols the virtues of non-verbal marital communication (i.e. sex!). Other songs include the fiery “Don’t Rush Me,” emerging from the experience of childbirth, and “Gospel” — a celebration of social movements for economic justice and democracy around the world.

Basic tracking for the songs took place in mid-March at Mission Sound in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, overdubs followed at Stephan Crump’s home studio, and mixing at Killen’s favorite mix room, Zona Dulce in NYC. Reckoning was mastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig at his Gateway Studios in Portland, Maine. Killen describes Reckoning as “a very evocative album,” and the collaboration as “a wonderful and fun experience with an incredible talented array of players.” These players include Jen Chapin’s long-time creative collaborators: her Grammy-nominated acoustic bassist/husband Stephan Crump, “unflappable melodist” (New York Times) Jamie Fox, “singular” (Village Voice) Liberty Ellman (guitarists), “highly regarded” (All Music) drummer Dan Rieser, and the “powerful” Martha Redbone (New Yorker) on background vocals.

Jen says, “I’ve always worked with intimates — old friends, longtime partners, even my husband. So I knew that I needed to trust Kevin Killen as a friend, as well as a master music maker. Our first meeting at a Brooklyn coffee shop on Flatbush Avenue confirmed what I had always heard — that, along with his formidable skills and experience, Kevin possesses a rare decency and unassuming kindness. So after an hour or so of our talking in happy shorthand about music and recording, I asked him if he might accompany me to pick up my 3 year old from pre-school. Of course he obliged and jumped unflinchingly into the chaos — helping search for missing shoes, engaging with shy toddlers, carrying backpacks, and generally affirming the wisdom of my choice! Later, in the studio, Kevin created an adventurous space where we were all free to experiment, to take risks — he just made things happen!”

credits

released May 28, 2013

Jen Chapin
vocals
Stephan Crump
electric & acoustic basses, string arrangements, glockenspiel
Liberty Ellman
electric & acoustic guitars
Jamie Fox
electric & acoustic guitars
Dan Rieser
drums & percussion
Chris Brown
hammond organ, celeste, clavinet, piano, wurlitzer, farfisa
Martha Redbone
background vocals
Julia Biber
cello
Luke Cissell, Rachel Golub, Jessie Montgomery
violins
Ambrose Akinmusire
trumpet

Recorded at Mission Sound, Brooklyn, NY March 11-14, 2013 by Kevin Killen assisted by Myles Turney
additional recording at The Butler Plaza by Stephan Crump
additional keyboards recorded at Green Door Studios, Brooklyn, NY
mixed at Zona Dulce, NYC by Kevin Killen
mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studio, Portland, ME

Cover painting by Tifenn Python
Design by Burton Yount & Gordon H. Jee
Photos by G.E. Masana
Makeup by Cheyenne Temperio
mixed by Kevin Killen
Mastered by

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