Vena Portae, by Vena Portae

Vena Portae

by Vena Portae

supported by

wonderdog Coz it's Emily Barker (yet another great Aussie export) - this time sans The Red Cloud Halo but with two v. able musos. This album sounds like a classic on the surface but it is brand new underneath. SUPERB.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in gatefold card sleeve with 12 page booklet.

Includes unlimited streaming of Vena Portae via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

£8 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
12" vinyl - includes CD with bonus tracks: Boys, Sidereal and Summer Kills (Peter Morén remix).

Includes unlimited streaming of Vena Portae via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

£15 GBP or more
Streaming + Download

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

http://venaportae.net

Purchasable with gift card

£7 GBP or more
Full Digital Discography

20

releases

Get all 20 Emily Barker releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Precious Memories, Sweet Kind of Blue, Anywhere Away (Songs from the Jake Gavin film 'Hector'), The Toerag Sessions, Vena Portae, Live at Swindon Arts Centre, Photos.Fires.Fables., Songs Beneath The River, and 12 more. , and , .

Purchasable with gift card

£52.05 GBP or more (35% OFF)
Limited Edition LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited edition 12" vinyl - comes with CD including three bonus tracks: Boys, Sidereal and Summer Kills (Peter Morén remix) and limited edition signed screenprint (originally available only with the pre-order copies of the album, there are just a handful remaining).

Includes unlimited streaming of Vena Portae via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out

1.	Summer Kills 03:05	lyrics	buy track

2.	Before the Winter Came 03:24	lyrics	buy track

3.	Foal 03:19	lyrics	buy track

4.	Solitary Wives 02:36	lyrics	buy track

5.	Turning Key 03:16	lyrics	buy track

6.	Transatlantic 04:27	lyrics	buy track

7.	Flames & Fury 02:42	lyrics	buy track

8.	Magpie's Carol 02:13	lyrics	buy track

9.	Stingrays 03:23	lyrics	buy track

10.	The Mapless Sea 03:20	lyrics	buy track

11.	All Will Be Well 02:48	lyrics	buy track

12.	Boys 03:25	lyrics	buy track

13.	Sidereal 02:16	lyrics	buy track

about

Vena Portae are an Anglo-Swedish alt-folk band, comprised of BAFTA award-winning singer/songwriter Emily Barker, songwriter and performer Dom Coyote, and Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Ruben Engzell.

venaportae.net

In the winter of 2012, Vena Portae found themselves in the tiny, snowed-in Swedish town of Mölnbo just outside Stockholm. They built a make-shift studio, full to the rafters with analogue equipment, spring reverbs, electric guitars, banjos, pianos and an array of weird and wonderful instruments and over the space of twelve bitterly cold days, they recorded a treasure trove of songs, inspired by heartbreak, passion, and intrigue, which together make up the album Vena Portae.

"a thoughtful, melodic style that eases between Americana and pop-edged alt-folk" Guardian 4/5
"Alluring songs" Mojo 4/5
"You can safely assume Anglo-Swedish alt-folk is a fairly small sub-genre on the musical tree, but however large it was, this trio would be at the top" Daily Express 4.5/5
"gorgeous… haunting… impressive… a relaxing and atmospheric album" Maverick 4.5/5
"An elegant achievement" Uncut
"a layered and carefully executed recording" What HiFi
"the harmonies are beautiful..." HiFi+ 8/10
"Full of real quality in all departments from beginning to end, utility and luxury in one package" AmericanaUK 8/10
"a spine tingling sense of familiarity" Spiral Earth
“edgy folk… traditional instruments fit together seamlessly in making people feel the music they are playing” R2 Rock’n’Reel
"deep, atmospheric lullabies and wonderful unison vocals" Never Enough Notes
"the whole record absorbs the country duet feel to wonderful effect" CultureFly
"a record that feels incredibly unique - a modern take on a vintage sound" The Ruckus
"full of melodious moments, beautifully sung and underpinned by a strong roots sound" Three Chords And The Truth

credits

released November 25, 2014

This album was performed, produced, recorded and mixed by Vena Portae at Hagaberg and Studio Ljudriket, Sweden

All songs written by Vena Portae (Normal Music Ltd/Domino Publishing Company Ltd.)
except Transatlantic: music & lyrics by Christian Kjellvander (Warner/Chappell Music)

Mastered by Linus Larsson at Studio Hogrän / Photos by Johan Bergmark / Cover design & logo by Melina Grundel

license

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 a blend of roots influences from country to English folk via 60s pop.

shows

Dec 15

Mojos Bar

Fremantle, WA
Dec 27

Woodford Folk Festival

Woodford, QLD
Jan 15

The Milk Factory

Brisbane, QLD
Jan 17

Wooloweyah Hall

Yamba, NSW
Jan 19

Toyota FanZone

Tamworth, NSW
Jan 20

Toyota Park

Tamworth, NSW
Jan 22

The Welders Dog

Tamworth, NSW
Jan 22

The Welders Dog

Tamworth, NSW
Jan 24

The Newsagency

Annandale, NSW
Jan 26

Smith's Alternative

Canberra, ACT
Jan 29

The Workers Club

Fitzroy, VIC
Jan 31

The Wheatsheaf Hotel

Thebarton, SA
Feb 08

Bridgedale House

Bridgetown, WA
Aug 13

Cropredy Festival Grounds

Banbury, UK

contact / help

Contact Emily Barker

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Track Name: Summer Kills: Our hearts barely beat with all these broken parts
And it seems unlikely we’ll mend them in the dark
Morning sun don’t rise and show me
Colours slowly fading away

Ghosts in my coffee and underneath my skin
The seams of my dresses the ones you loved me in
And the cells of my own blood
Dreaming pathways back to you
I don’t know what I should do
I don’t know what I should do

I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills
I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills

This is me at midnight I’m calling out to you
Clutching at memories in search of something
You don’t have to tell me baby, I know you are true

But I lost my footing back there upon the rocks
And I lost my soul to someone I should not
You don’t have to tell me baby
I’ll find my way, I’ll find my way back to you

I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills
I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills
I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills
I want you, I want you to be by my side summer kills
Track Name: Before the Winter Came: Will the swallows be waiting there for me?
Like they’ve done before, take me to your door

Pick me up where we left
Through the days we forget
We returned just before the winter came
Set me down at the end
Where the sea meets the land
We returned just before the winter came

Bracken to the sea, waves will always be
Breaking on this shore, take me to your door

Pick me up where we left
Through the days we forget
We returned just before the winter came
Set me down at the end
Where the sea meets the land
We returned just before the winter came

Winds rolling, souls calling
Dive under deep water
Leaves turning
The tide’s a comin’ in
We’re boats on the deep water

Pick me up where we left
Through the days we forget
We returned just before the winter came
Set me down at the end
Where the sea meets the land
We returned just before the winter came
Track Name: Foal: Pine needles underfoot
After rain, dripping in the woods
We wear no shoes when we cross the stream
Dappled shadows, brother pulling on my sleeve

Move in cautiously behind the bushes
There’s something in the leaves

A foal is crying, its mother on the ground
Her eyes are open but she makes no sound
The foal’s leg is broken, crows circle all around
A scream shoots through the branches
Then he covers my mouth

What would father do?
We’re all alone here and we don’t know what to do

He leaves me standing by the mother and foal
Says he won’t be long but the minutes pass slow
And after what seems hours he returns to me
With a rock in his hands, he need not speak

Moonlight on the stream and over our hands as we clean
Mists rise through the green of the forest as we leave
Mists rise through the green of the forest as we leave
Track Name: Solitary Wives: Gray waves carve the shore
November skies are chasing
Pine trees bending low
Cling their feet in the buckthorn weeds

Seagulls crying out
The wind against our faces
Eyes fixed far away
Silently standing still as stone

Waiting for the fisherman
For the sailor boy
For the long lost son
For my lover’s arms
To return

(For the long lost son, for my lover’s arms)

Gray waves carve the shore
Like they’ve done for ages
Rosebush braves the sea
Planted by loving hands long gone

Waiting for the fisherman
For the soldier boy
For the long lost son
For my lover’s arms
To return

(For the long lost son, for my lover’s arms)
Track Name: Turning Key: Oh, we heard the calling from
The eaves, where we would sleep some more
The embers burned and so did our sleeping hearts

Oh, we heard them calling from
The towers where we could climb no more
The way was lost, along with our sleeping hearts

Oh, we heard them calling from
The stairs of our father’s house
Like memories, they followed our sleeping hearts

There’s a turning key
There’s a burning light
How they call to me
I can hear them from the rooftop
Souls out in the night

Oh, there’s no one calling from the towers
So we will build them higher
Than before, build with our fearsome hearts

Oh, there’s no one calling from the stairs
Of our father’s house
We closed the doors and followed our fearsome hearts

There’s a turning key
There’s a burning light
How they call to me
I can hear them from the rooftop
Souls out in the night
Track Name: Transatlantic: I never wanted it to end
This m/s can roll and is built by steel that bends
Under a million star sky
The bow wind brought more than tears to my eyes

And we all have ways of dealing with this pace
Now the nights are simply transports for the days

I’m transatlantic...for a while

Goodbye to you, fair Canada
The St Lawrence slowly fades beneath my sleep
And like a thousand burning hells
I will cleanse my soul with mid-atlantic swells

And one can get addicted to this pace
Sometimes it seems like it’s all about getting away

I’m transatlantic...for a while
Track Name: Flames & Fury: I believe every lie that leaves your sweet lips
In return for me babe never tell me how it is
Let’s fill in all these cracks with excuses

Crash your love upon me
All your flames and fury
Smoke us out the house and damn us both to hell
Your love is deadly
All your flames and fury
I’m burning like a fever and we’re both damned to hell

I blinkered my eyes and covered my ears
So I’ll follow you blind for hundreds of years
Let’s fill up our souls with excuses

Crash your love upon me
All your flames and fury
Smoke us out the house and damn us both to hell
Your love is deadly
All your flames and fury
I’m burning like a fever and we’re both damned to hell

So pucker up my babe and come over here
I’ll fall at your feet in worship and fear
Let’s fill in all this shame with excuses

Crash your love upon me
All your flames and fury
Smoke us out the house and damn us both to hell
Your love is deadly
All your flames and fury
I’m burning like a fever and we’re both damned to…

Crash your love upon me
All your flames and fury
Smoke us out the house and damn us both to hell
Your love is deadly
All your flames and fury
I’m burning like a fever and we’re both damned to hell
Track Name: Magpie's Carol: Under the shade of the Jarrah tree I’ll ask you to stand
Still as the water in the Blackwood river that winds its way beneath our feet
I’ll ask you to hold your breath for a minute and I’ll hold mine too
Maybe we could keep so still that time will cease

And I’ll ask the question I’ve always asked and always will
Fate stretches like fabric the cloth in which we bind ourselves

My heart will shout and stumble hearing the answer
Skip to the end of the red dirt road that leads to your home
Slip through leaves and the smell of summer to the magpie’s carol
Reeds in the river wade out to the middle of the clear, clear blue

And I’ll ask the question I’ve always asked and always will
Fate stretches like fabric the cloth in which we bind ourselves
And I’ll ask the question I’ve always asked and always will
Fate stretches like fabric the cloth in which we bind ourselves
Track Name: Stingrays: Stingrays move from the dark to light blue
Drawn to the shore by the fish that we threw
Our skin it was burnt by a stolen sun
As ships said goodbye and set sail for London

We’d walk through the trees until leaves gave way to sand
And wondered what we’d do after falling every tree in the land

Branches break and the purple bark sheds
To the soil then the street where the strangers all tread
We’ve tired out our muscles and the jokes are all spent
As we carry the timber like wounded old men

We’d walk through the trees until leaves gave way to sand
And wondered what we’d do after falling every tree in the land

Rivers and roads run to the sea
Where boats wait like coffins down by the jetty
The last of the wood is taken below
Now the Karries are gone and the roses won’t grow

We’d walk through the trees until leaves gave way to sand
And wondered what we’d do after falling every tree in the land
Track Name: The Mapless Sea: There was a boy who wandered
Travelled the oceans wide
Followed the constellations
They kept telling me I’d be just fine
They kept telling me I’d be just fine

Boy of the mapless sea
Called to the birds above
Followed the tides of the moon
She kept telling me I’d be just fine
She kept telling me I’d be just fine

Well the boy had a shadow
He followed it all the way
It whispered to him at night
Keep on rowing and you’ll be just fine
Keep on rowing and you’ll be just fine

Follow the silver lights
That shine beneath the waves
Swim down to the bottom
Keep on swimming and you’ll be just fine
Keep on swimming and you’ll be just fine

When he got to the bottom
There was nothing to find
Broken boats and bottles
Swim back up and you’ll be just fine
Swim back up and you’ll be just fine

So the boy left his shadow
Beneath the rolling sea
All the waves were singing
Keep on rowing and you’ll be just fine
Keep on rowing and you’ll be just fine

Calling out, tearing at the darkness
Calling out, slipping through a memory
Calling out, swallowed by a shadow
Calling out, out across the morning…
Track Name: All Will Be Well: Each day these days are darker
Than the day that came before
The cats and dogs are silent
And the rooster crows no more

But this crooked path will straighten out
And the blackbird change its tune
The meadows will be blooming
And the sun will shine come June

All will be well, will be well
All will be well, will be well

The silence of the night it seeps
Into our very core
It stares through every window
And it’s knocking at our door

The moon has turned away
And all the stars are angled wrong
But time will turn them right
And put them back where they belong

All will be well, will be well
All will be well, will be well

The words we whisper softly
Are choked by their own sound
They lose their loving meaning
And fall cold upon the ground

Your touch is soft but distant
As we slowly drift apart
But warmer days will come
And they will thaw our broken hearts

All will be well, will be well
All will be well, will be well

All will be well, all will be well
All will be well, will be well
Track Name: Boys: Tell me all the games that you wanna play
All the little things that you wanna say
Every little dream, every little secret
You know that I’m gonna always keep it

Safely in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play
Safely in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play

Come over here and sit with me
Bring your favourite story
Every little word, every little picture
You know that I’m gonna always miss you

Gently in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play
Gently in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play

Hold on tight to every day
Don’t push all the years away
Every little minute, every little hour
You know that I’m gonna always love you

Steady in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play
Steady in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play

Tell me all the games that you wanna play
All the little things that you wanna say
Every little dream, every little secret
You know that I’m gonna always keep it

Safely in this heart of mine to stay
Tell me all the games that you wanna play
Track Name: Sidereal: We left after nightfall
It was autumn
And the wind still carried the scent of the summer months

We walked over meadows
And through forests
Over rivers and mountains and scarps 'til we came to the shore

I want you to see
The stars and the moons and the swivelling suns
That shine through your skin
Secretly hidden, but glowing and burning my eyes

Winter was coming
And we settled
We built us a cabin of wicker and reeds by the sea

At night we lay trembling
Intertwisted
With the sound of the waves crashing in and the storm raging on

I want you to see
The stars and the moons and the swivelling suns
That shine through your skin
Secretly hidden, but glowing and burning my eyes

I want you to see
The stars and the moons and the swivelling suns
That shine through your skin
Secretly hidden, but glowing and burning my eyes

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Vena Portae

by Vena Portae

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

£8 GBP or more

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

£15 GBP or more

Streaming + Download

£7 GBP or more

Full Digital Discography

£52.05 GBP or more (35% OFF)

Limited Edition LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

Sold Out

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Vena Portae

by Vena Portae

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Full Digital Discography

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Limited Edition LP Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

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credits

license

tags

Tags

about

shows

discography

contact / help

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

£8 GBP or more

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

£15 GBP or more

Streaming + Download

£7 GBP or more

£52.05 GBP or more (35% OFF)

Limited Edition LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album