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Fragile as Humans

by Emily Barker

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    LP (pressed on 140g translucent magenta BioVinyl)
    Limited edition comes with 24 page lyric booklet
    Pre-orders come with signed photo

    Includes digital pre-order of Fragile as Humans. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    Purchasable with gift card

      £28 GBP or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Pressed on 140g black BioVinyl
    Pre-orders come with signed photo

    Includes digital pre-order of Fragile as Humans. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    Purchasable with gift card

      £24 GBP or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 100 only.

    Contents:
    LP (pressed on 140g translucent magenta BioVinyl)
    Hardback book 40 pages
    Art print with handwritten lyrics for one song - signed and numbered*
    Signed photo

    *There are ten songs on the album. Each song has a special photograph associated with it. There will be ten prints of each, with the lyrics for that song handwritten on the back, signed and numbered 1-10. The prints will be mixed up and there will be one in each box.

    Includes digital pre-order of Fragile as Humans. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    edition of 100  9 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      £75 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in hardcover 24 page book package containing photos and lyrics.
    Pre-orders come with signed photo

    Includes digital pre-order of Fragile as Humans. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around May 3, 2024
    Purchasable with gift card

      £15 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of Fragile as Humans. You get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases May 3, 2024

      £7 GBP  or more

     

1.
With Small We Start
2.
Call it a Day
3.
I see a thousand worlds in the window of a train as it passes me by Each one plugged into an orbit, their own pain, their own lullaby Isn’t it wild to be sharing this moment the same very thimble of time Isn’t it wild that we each hold an ocean yet fail to fathom other tides Down at the edge of the water A mother weeps on the shore How can we study the wounds of our history and still send our children to war Isn’t it wild to be sharing this moment the same very thimble of time Isn’t it wild to be living when love is endangered, denied Isn’t it wild to be sharing this moment the same very thimble of time Isn’t it wild that we each hold an ocean yet fail to fathom other tides A child with hands in the soil wakes without question and grows truth is a hope to hold onto and where it blooms we will go
4.
Loneliness 04:11
See the horses from my window Bodies huddled and shape one shadow Flowers open, slow then violent Time is passing, I stay quiet Loneliness, your letter came you know my house, you know my name Loneliness, I hear you call from the kitchen, through the wall Loneliness, alive and well is there someone I can tell? Loneliness, you fill the day I wish that you would go away, would go away Everyone else seems surrounded With people and purpose and things that ground them Take me outside, shake the dust off In the sunshine all is not – Loneliness, your letter came you know my house, you know my name Loneliness, I hear you call from the kitchen, through the wall Loneliness, alive and well is there someone I can tell? Loneliness, you fill the day I wish that you would go away Loneliness, I feel you breathe down my back, upon my cheek Loneliness, I’ve had enough of moving slow, I want a rush, I want a rush I want a rush, I want a rush See the horses, from my window Bodies huddled and shape one shadow
5.
Has this time misshapen me? Budding branch on fallen tree I’m not who I used to be I am not who I used to be Budding branch on fallen tree My new reply when nothing calls: A poem read, a painted wall Sad is sometimes beautiful This sadness can be beautiful A poem read, a painted wall When this dream comes to an end My introvert, my winter friend Will you hide with me again? Will you hide with me back here again? I need you, my winter friend What of this will stay the same? The slowing down, the smaller days The quiet ways that we have changed The quiet ways that we have changed The slowing down, the smaller days Has this time misshapen me Budding branch on fallen tree I’m not who I used to be I am not who I used to be Budding branch on fallen tree
6.
I went to the burnt-out woods A tourist with some damaged goods Remembered how the trees withstood fires before Blue wren in the monochrome sifting through the ash and bone reminding me if hope is home then grief is a door The quiet pause where dead ends burn And new beginnings wait their turn Indigo wing be the body I bring to the door as before feathered thing, a feathered thing It’s so hard to let go, wanted to know wanted to know you with my body I stand on the ashen floor let go your hand I was hoping I’d forget the possibility we’d met where you were a ghost is left and grief is a war Wish there was something I could do find a way to see this through Did everything I could for you there’s nothing more The quiet pause where dead ends burn And new beginnings wait their turn Indigo wing be the body I bring to the door as before feathered thing, a feathered thing It’s so hard to let go, wanted to know wanted to know you with my body I stand on the ashen floor let go your hand
7.
Fragile as Humans
8.
Sad Songs
9.
Life is for an Hour
10.
Acisoma

about

On her new album, Fragile as Humans—written and recorded as her time living in the UK was coming to a close—Emily Barker turns her lyrical gaze inwards. The expansive themes of her previous album A Dark Murmuration of Words are replaced by an empathetic concern for matters more personal, familial, closer to home. The ten songs take us on a deep dive into the human condition, an unflinching self-examination of grief, pain, loneliness and loss, at the same time sparkling with hope and optimism.

Luke Potashnick's intricate production puts Emily's expressive voice at the very forefront, exposing its full emotional range—vulnerable, yet assured—backed by a cinematic sonic palette provided by Richard Causon on keys, Tim Harries on bass and Tom Visser on drums, with Luke himself contributing additional guitars, effects and studio wizardry.

As Emily writes in the album's pivotal title track, we live lives of complexity, grappling with loneliness and disconnection, searching for compassion, connection and community – we are all “fragile as humans and made of who we love”.

credits

releases May 3, 2024

Engineered by Josh Best-Shaw
Produced by Luke Potashnick
Mixed by Luke Potashnick
Recorded and mixed at The Wool Hall
Mastered by Dick Beetham @ 360 Mastering

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about

Emily Barker UK

Emily Barker is the award-winning songwriter and performer of the theme to BBC TV’s Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. Her music is an indie blend of influences from alt-country to folk via 60s pop, with comparisons ranging from PJ Harvey to Joni Mitchell. ... more

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