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Spike Field

by Maria BC

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1.
Amber 03:53 video
amber overgrowth amber embryo glow her scent is on me now / my senses draw me out I have no choice to fight / and no wrongs to right amber show me home make the mirrors windows her scent is on me now / her senses draw me out there is no place to hide / and no wrong
2.
Watcher 03:04
weren’t you on your knees? weren’t you closing / a broken seam? I held my peace / far too long weren’t you on your knees? I saw who could deny you / a trembling hand? the promised land / wilted in our palms closing / I saw
3.
4.
Haruspex 05:19
always on my mind: ‘is my body right?’ a pound of flesh / a dime for the haruspex harder / everyone wants their hard-earned break hunger / everyone wants their future saved is my body right? / thinking through my lines a pound of flesh / a grid, a test (a web) harder / everyone wants their hard-earned break hunger / everyone wants their love song played
5.
see it? break it out / what’s in heaven’s jaws… more than fantasy, oh no lack / no debt / no need / unmet in between / we run / our mouths / with hounds when you write, blue thumbs stain your return address so I’ll just let my answers get sent back there no debt / no lack if only writing made it so… no lack / no debt / no need / unmet in between / we run / our mouths / with hounds when you write, blue thumbs stain your return address so I’ll just let my answers get sent back there no debt / no lack wish that writing made it so…
6.
Tire iron 03:49
caught outnumbered, this time i won’t go so easy though glistening tire iron he pulls me in, so i’ll show him opal earth, mm midnight murmur, mm leaves of bone / hunger taxidermy of better times we drag them out, nail them down glistening tire iron i won’t let go so easy, no opal trail, mm midnight flailing, mm seeds of hell / sprouted leaves of bone / silken
7.
Daydrinker 03:58
sunrise envied some light in you went out / hunting blank rounds / the chemical traces bleed in your eyes / and name every nameless need and fear / a far away focus sunrise envied some light in you went out / hunted blank rounds / the chemical traces come back with care / and brush out my carelessness (and tears) here / I’ll show you my focus
8.
draw this out: a bad dream you face with a sewn-up mouth when you see me as a child god knows i wish you could turn back time hold me in all that i was, all i revise now wash that down / late at night bumping limbs / weaving home through man-made woods that seed in fire don’t go / you’re all that i know you don’t waste time avoiding pain you keep dashing out and back to hold me in my place with blistered hands
9.
Still 05:13
nothing’s wrong / we deserve what we desire you deserve my trying plush white rabbit / cut the seams wanna see something / out of reach nothing’s wrong / i’ll become what i disguise you deserve my trying plush white lining / cut it clean wanna see something / out of reach ~~~~~~ you’re still beside me, beaming in film watching the needles scatter in the hills you’re right here beside me, beaming and still watching the needles flicker in the hills backtrack (you’re still beside me) hit the meaning (rapt in a film) and take control (watching the needles) f- (flicker in the hills) raised at an empty table, a backlit door still / in the blue moon on the floor you’re looking good now, double crossing every line still / in the blue light of my mind
10.
Lacuna 04:16 video
11.
Mercury 04:08
on and on / you fell so long, / so loud… clarity will never come raise up a glass to the sun / white and opaque purity will never come you raise up a glass to the sun / and fracture the rays - nobody’s back there / trapping you there memory’s long stare / emptying mercury wades in the dusk mercury raises the blood / under the waves clarity will never come caught in a drunk hit and run / caught in a daze - mercury’s crosshairs / crossing you there memory’s long stare / emptying
12.
Spike field 06:26
blight / along this road here in your time / as in ours blight / beneath this sign remains in your time / as in ours stop

about

In the early 1990s, a team of linguists, engineers, anthropologists, and archaeologists were tasked with constructing a type of communication that could transcend time. How might we converse with future civilizations when language may evolve or dissolve entirely? The result yielded the design of spike fields; a strange construction of granite thorns bursting from the earth to alert its viewers to the deadly uninhabitability of nuclear waste disposal sites. For Maria BC (they/them), this state of temporal focus molds the wanderings on their second full length album Spike Field. How do we connect with the weathered shadow of our experience, while envisioning the self a few steps ahead of us? While their debut album Hyaline (2022, Father/Daughter) explored grief and anxiety through a series of character-led accounts, Spike Field recognizes that the past will continue to lurk below the surface until we decide to break through the soil.

Spike Field was recorded in the home of a family friend. The home featured an out-of-tune baby Steinway piano, complete with squeaky hammers and strange, sporadic sounds. The piano is sprinkled throughout the album, and features extensively on opener “Amber,” showcasing Maria BC’s looser, more extensive arrangements. The song flickers with electronic wonder, like a wave seeking out its station, before crashing into the angelic choral introduction of “Watcher”. Strings, plucked guitar and buzzing swells accompany their classically-trained mezzosoprano voice on “Return to Sender,” a song that focuses on the frustrations and turmoil of being unable to reach a loved one––both physically and emotionally. Spike Field reminds us that despite our best efforts to bury certain aspects of ourselves, they will always lurk beneath the surface. Instead of ignoring the seeds striving to break through, we can point to these places with a curious grace, concocting a language that transcends words to converse with our previous selves. Maria BC pieces together juxtaposing sonic landscapes and oscillating vocals to represent the thread of miscommunication, or the failure of words, that weaves throughout the album, transforming it into a distinct and ever-evolving sonic tongue. If we listen, we might find something new within ourselves.

credits

released October 20, 2023

Credits

Music by Maria BC

Additional vocals by G. Brenner & Dear Laika (track 02); Ethan Reilly (track 04)

Cello by MIZU (track 08)

Additional production on tracks 08, 10, & 11 by Ruairi O’Brien

Mixed by Ruairi O’Brien

Mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering Service

Album art by Linnea Nugent
Album bio by Sammy Maine

Thanks to everyone above and also to Erin, in whose family home much of this record was built; to my dad, who helped me record part of this record in his church sanctuary; to Kevin, who lent me his drum set; and to Rachika, Nina, and everyone who gave me invaluable advice and encouragement

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