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Funeral Singer EP

by Mackenzie Shivers

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1.
When did I become a funeral singer? I get hungover before I’ve begun To drink down many concoctions I used to savor them one by one Black on gray, a uniform I’ve worn for such occasions as this When did I become a funeral singer? I ask myself in distress I’m stuck here on the other side The dark side of it all Fucked it up on the other side No line between right and wrong We’re always in mourning For who we could have become Oh righteousness! Oh holiness! Have you frozen in the sun? Have a seat at my table I can’t promise you more than thoughts When did I become a funeral singer? I ask to no response We’re stuck here on the other side The dark side of it all Fucked it up on the other side No line between right and wrong Would you rather drown or remain alive? We will ask in broad daylight Would you rather speak or hold your tongue In blind faith that the good have won? When did I become a funeral singer? I get hungover before I’ve begun Oh righteousness! Oh holiness! Are you granting asylum?
2.
Sunday 03:04
If I don’t see the sun in winter I’ll listen for Sunday’s bells I don’t go in that house no more It makes me feel unwell But those sounds are religion to me Those sounds are religion to me If I don’t see the moon in Cancer I’ll reach for my father’s coat It brought him luck in ‘84 The year before I was born The year before I was born Well maybe I am lucky Or maybe I am wise to put my trust in you To keep you by my side My heart is beating fast as time That circles around you That circles around you
3.
Island Ave 02:50
There was a time When we held each other’s hands There was a man Who held me in his glance Who was the king of Island Avenue That night in my bed Head upon my chest Laid me down to rest No one in sight To watch his kingdom’s plight To see it all come falling off the ledge Mad from the wine We shook our fists up high Said we had the right to live our lives Down came the rain To wash it all anew To end our reign on Island Avenue

about

I was hired for my first music gig when I was eight. The job was playing original piano compositions at the funeral of a dear friend’s father.

The memory is visceral. I felt honored, humbled, sad, scared. I didn't know the right words to say to my friend, a fellow eight-year-old who had just lost her dad. But when I sat down at the piano, my fingers knew what to play.

With the world often in such disarray, I believe one of my jobs as an artist is to find the beauty and meaning in loss. But it’s not about glossing over something and making it shiny. We can hold space for things that seem like they would be at odds with one another, for both dark and light, and therein lies the magic and complexity of being human.

Death is the ultimate goodbye, and I hate goodbyes. I've spent years figuring out how to ease their blow, and I've mostly come up short. But one thing that has helped a bit is thinking of goodbyes as transitions.

'Funeral Singer' serves as its own transition, going deeper into the sonic world we created in my 2021 LP 'Rejection Letter' and shining a light on what’s to come. Its reality is at once peaceful and unnerving, genuine and dreamlike.

I hope you enjoy it.

xo M

credits

released January 7, 2022

Words and music by Mackenzie Shivers
Produced by Kevin Salem and Mackenzie Shivers
Recorded in Woodstock, NY by Kevin Salem
Mixed by Kevin Salem
Mastered by Hans DeKline

Mackenzie Shivers: piano, keys, vocals
Kevin Salem: electric guitar
Yuka Tadano: bass
Cody Rahn: drums
Jess Clinton: harmony vocals ("Funeral Singer")

many many thanks to these beautiful humans.

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Mackenzie Shivers New York, New York

When Mackenzie Shivers creates music, it’s as if it demands to be heard. The Hudson Valley based singer-songwriter began writing music and playing piano when she was four years old, telling her mother she had “music locked inside of her that needed to come out.” Her writing provides a conduit for complex emotions, untangling as they poke through the surface, yearning to be explored and set free. ... more

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