more from
Saddle Creek
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Likewise

by Frances Quinlan

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    - Includes digital download

    Includes unlimited streaming of Likewise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Likewise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day
    Purchasable with gift card

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Likewise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11 USD or more 

     

1.
Piltdown Man 03:15
Dawson’s Piltdown man teeth assembled from that of an orangutan Why would he do such a thing? Of course,  what a stupid question Outside our little tent your dog must have caught something I followed you both and let out screams to be let in Here comes your dad annoyed but wildly patient 6 am - so loud your mom had to kick us out  We ran the wheelbarrow   around and around Last night I dreamt your face changed through the doorway as I pushed you panicking Agonize in waking to admit moments raging though so very  small like this Outside our little tent your dog must have caught something I followed you both and let out screams to be let in Here comes your dad annoyed but wildly patient 6 am - so loud your mom had to kick us out We ran the wheelbarrow   Around and around A template, if there is one I still think of  Outside our little tent  your dog must have caught something I followed you both and let out screams to be let in Here comes your dad annoyed but wildly patient 6 am - so loud your mom had to kick us out  We ran the wheelbarrow   Think of the sound In the afternoon you both fell asleep Still knowing more than me
2.
Your Reply 04:19
Somebody wrote “tender” in the novel’s margins as if to remind about a precious force In the next paragraph the protagonist sat down on the belly of a dead horse The author I read fell  from a window, many stories high, stretching out to feed pigeons or a stray cat  (depending on the website) Whether or not I have or was given  a little more time there just doesn’t seem to be  much room for a reply And it’s possible it only belongs where it happened, fine. According to John fear softens into doubt To what do I cling and think is mine? No reply “Think the last time I came up this way I was younger” said your aunt, isn’t it a good line? We found the garden abandoned and that night became dark over chicken and wine Documentarians tossing lemmings stunned over the edge Wartime juveniles shot and martyred for the crime of stealing eggs Dinner by the way was divine I drank the last of the coffee  waiting for you to rise Whether or not I have or was given  a little more time there just doesn’t seem to be  much room for your reply And it’s possible it only belongs where it happened, fine. According to John fear softens into doubt To what do I cling and think is mine? No reply
3.
Rare Thing 03:30
My love, in the dream you were already speaking I was too shocked to make  any one of my tired speeches Listen, that’s a rare thing for me Sunlight touches on the plants that I’ve been torturing Yet when I come over I love that quick delay before your face alights in recognition I know there is love that doesn’t have to do with taking something from somebody was so much for me not real? I only managed to stay small by making giants out of strangers Through the chaos I can see all afternoon you inhale every bouquet you meet Come to think of it, the dream was a nightmare with no one who knew me  just then you were there  2 foot tall little bear, you took my hand and introduced me to everybody I watched as you were named on that mid-February morning 
 I know there is love that doesn’t have to do with taking something from somebody was so much for me not real? I only managed to stay small by making giants out of strangers Through the chaos I can see all afternoon you inhale Every bouquet you meet I have to stop myself and admit I am happy   there is love that doesn’t have to do with taking something from somebody was so much for me not real? I only managed to stay small by making giants out of strangers Through the window you look at me I have to stop myself and admit  you make me happy
4.
Detroit Lake 03:22
Quick the hawk took the poor thing just to the left of me You were mid-sentence when I had to interrupt you  in order to relate Two grey stripes flew up out of sight I mean one— the other no longer struggling “I cannot hear you,” laughing up the mountainside Unobserved, my voice grew increasingly gruesome in the quiet Turns out one can lose nonetheless looking for witnesses Miles from all  that’s between us at stake algae blooms up in Detroit Lake Listening for my turn to come next Leave, the same as I came in more or less Across the table words fly  underdone they rarely collide Former wells are exhausted so you pose the question— Are pigeons ever carnivorous? Turns out sometimes, yes Looking for witnesses Miles from all  I believe is at stake Algae blooms up in Detroit Lake Listening for my turn to come next Leave, the same as I came in more or less
5.
A Secret 04:40
Last time I was here- changing the subject,  “Just look at the lawn” you said, “It shouldn’t be so green in December,  do you think we should worry?” It’s been a long time since we argued and that argument ended You walk in and out of pain like a tide How did you want me to look even older? even older? how did you want me to look? even older even older don’t tell me where you’ve been Ok Of course I’ll visit when I can -Of course you’ll visit when you can- Of course I’ll visit when I can of course I’ll visit when I can I’m not making a fuss I’m not making a fuss Most of this isn’t even a secret Impossible questions, like: How can you still talk to them? How can you still talk to them when that long shadow  stretches from their little house all the way to the top of your mountain? But of course you’ll visit  when you can of course you’ll visit when you can… And when I said justice it just isn’t what  I meant at all I dare not speak for you, but I look forward to remembering him as a bad man, and that’s it
6.
Went to LA 03:56
Yes,  I still worry about it Out of self-preservation did I  begin with tenderness? The cannibal dragged his son  into the kitchen Outside, the deaf man fled the barn abandoning every father’s image Sure, sure I went to LA together with my maid she was awful quiet her hands were shaking in the donkey’s mane I went to LA, searching for my own face I couldn't find it in the dry toothy maw of the lake Heaven is a second… Thought you summoned horses thought you summoned childhood Oh the humiliation of having  been perfectly understood If I could observe beyond every open mouth men always end up telling you the truth I can see it now Every night is a lesson down a long hallway Good God this house, get me away Sure, sure I went to LA - what other choices could I make?
I sing along the road an idiotic smile on my face I went to LA It was easy in the first place- Wait, wasn’t I with a friend? What difference does it make The owner of the laundromat gave me a ride home  she said she saw me come in alone Heaven is a second chance
7.
Lean 03:51
“Leeza, show them your doll-” a tiny face up on the balcony of a capuchin- huh, I wonder what happened after the fed up remaining staff all stormed in Was she, free of a master released? Or handed to a kinder custodian at least? Nonetheless,  upon the sight of her your group sped off leaving behind a doomed lord looking down  from the top Jessie, I still can’t stand hearing the truth Let’s have one more about other countries I know you have to get up early,  but it’s what I need Wish I could have caught the expression of the captain upon waiting for the ship hand with whom he  (through email) corresponded… Only to see you pull the truck door open, and reach out  to shake his hand Jessie, can I crash here with you tonight? Although my contribution’s been lean… Woman, love follows where you’ve been Your legs can take it  just a few more times I know it isn’t fair Stories struggle for air and I need yours more than ever climb one more mountain for me, woman
8.
Woman woke up early heard a scraping  near her brain Imagine when the doc took out the roach how much she must have changed Afterwards  it dawned on me I heard noise from every corner and one night, ate  Raid-seasoned spaghetti Look up, the metal sign clangs in the wind from a wire Talk small, if at all my news is blind  and on fire Only me and big trucks  lost, driving from upstate alone I came in she had on  that white uniform I had my first coffee with her  that morning at home Victory, gold plated over  violence No presence save for memories spiraled and bent In your bedroom  Voltaire’s severed head stared me back to bed You’ve done your best all the way to the end Balloons in a foreign park Shadows of the dance class merge  and come apart Cough in the mirror, I’d forgotten to call Now that I’m back we should try again to talk
9.

about

“We should try again to talk,” Frances Quinlan writes. It not just a lyric—it’s a suggestion, a warning, a plea, a wish. This request is woven throughout Likewise, their forthcoming solo album, amidst dramatically shifting motifs. Some are jubilant, some are dreamy and abstract, and a few are sinister, but within each dark void that Quinlan explores, there is a light peering back at them.

Frances Quinlan has built an identity for themself over the past decade as the lead songwriter and front-person of the Philadelphia-based band Hop Along, and their distinct voice is among the most recognizable and inimitable in music. While the band began as Quinlan's solo project (originally titled Hop Along, Queen Ansleis), Likewise is Quinlan's debut under their own name. To make the record, they enlisted the virtuosic skills of their bandmate Joe Reinhart, and together they produced the album at his studio, The Headroom, recording in stints over the course of a year.

With a renewed openness to explore different sounds, Quinlan supplements their typical guitar-based instrumentation with synthesizers, digital beats, harps, strings, and a wide variety of keyboards. The shifting and exploratory nature of these musical arrangements allow their lyrics and vocals—which have always been at the forefront of their music—to reach emotional depths like never before. Their vocal tones beckon a kaleidoscopic range of emotions across all nine songs on the album, from soft and ruminative to enraged and commanding; from conveying powerful messages to highlighting small, yet poignant, moments.

Quinlan is a voyaging songwriter. Throughout Likewise, they confront what confounds them in the hopes that they will come out on the other side with a better sense of what it is to be human. They present listeners with a complicated, albeit spirited vision of what it could mean to truly engage with another person, to give a small piece of oneself over to someone else without expectation. Although such is likely to be a lifelong effort, these songs prove evident that light can still permeate from unsettling depths.

credits

released January 31, 2020

Produced by Joe Reinhart and Frances Quinlan

Engineered by Joe Reinhart at Headroom in Philadelphia (“A Secret” and “Went to LA” engineered by Kyle Pulley and Joe Reinhart)

Mixed by Joe Reinhart and Ryan Schwabe

Mastered by Ryan Schwabe

Interns:
Johanna Buamann
Eric James Guy Friedman
Danny Murillo
Alex Melendez
Chance Halter
Hank Byerly

All songs by Frances Quinlan, Pintail Rendezvous Enterprises (ASCAP), except for “Carry the Zero” by Doug Martsch, All Smiles (ASCAP) / Universal Music - MGB Songs (ASCAP)”

Album artwork by Frances Quinlan, with assistance on layout by Jadon Ulrich and Nick Tazza.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Frances Quinlan Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

contact / help

Contact Frances Quinlan

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Frances Quinlan, you may also like: