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Peace Meal

by Luke Sweeney

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition 12" Vinyl LP on classic black wax, with cover artwork by Hilary Pecis. Album comes in durable polyvinyl bag! Hand-written lyrics (& photos) on the insert.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Peace Meal via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 75 

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Limited Edition cassette tape with special Marigold shell. Hi-Fi cassette tapes made in the USA. Features artwork by Hilary Pecis.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Peace Meal via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 75 

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Super Limited Edition Blue & White Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Super Limited Edition Blue & White Swirl Vinyl on 12" vinyl at 33 1/3 rpm. Features artwork by Hilary Pecis. Get them while you can!

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

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1.
This restless time keeps me goin’ south with my hands in my head, my mind so close to my mouth I pull no punches, but still you feel the hooks you keep on sayin’ that you’ll wait it out but you can’t be in love when your heart is in doubt you’re hiding in the shadows of your looks hunting down my inner child through memories of yours chasing ‘round the underground when I’m right at your door ‘cuz hunny I’m already yours You care so little, but think too much just let go of the wheel when you feel my clutch can’t call it love, if love was all it took... hunting down my inner child through memories of yours chasing ‘round the underground when I’m right at your door ‘cuz hunny I’m already yours (I’m all ready…)
2.
How’d I get so far over there? they don’t make it any easier signs in the gutter and curses in the air why’d you leave me without any fare? it’s tough enough they make it so laize-faire if I can’t feel the danger when I dangle my limbs I won’t hear no stranger, there won’t be no babies cryin’ East Coast Vertigho St. - am I here again? stranded on my feet, my only choice to pretend feel my way through ‘til the morning makes anew this place I swear I already knew spiral back to you in a lover’s chair you won’t make it any easier under the cover, no cloak for me to wear in the desert dawning of your snap-dragon prints East Coast Vertigho St. - am I here again? stranded on my feet, my only choice to pretend feel my way through ‘til the morning makes anew this place I swear I already knew... East Coast Vertigho St. - am I here again? stranded on my feet, my only choice to pretend feel my way through ‘til the morning makes a new East Coast Vertigho St. - am I here again? stranded on my feet, my only choice to pretend feel my way through ‘til the morning makes a new East Coast Vertigho St. - am I here again? stranded on my feet, my only choice to pretend feel my way through ‘til the morning makes anew...
3.
Hey you big old lug, you’ve been through enough let me give you a hug way too long on the farm you give it your all let me sing you a song if you could keep low, buddy I could pass for nobody and steal home with the bread we got a kid in tow, but she’s quick to know the road and will keep a roof over our heads Moonlight for dreamers is still within grasp! room at the inner sanctuary laps Moondreamer, dream of stardust and diamonds in your eyes Hey you city slick make a life that’ll stick let me throw you a brick any way you work it now they’ll play you somehow, so let’s get up and out... I’ll be feelin’ fine in the summertime layin’ in the tall grass under the stars ain’t too far away from the modern day baby, where we lay you can hear you some cars Moondreamer, dream! of stardust and diamonds in your eyes… I’ll be feelin’ fine in the summertime layin’ in the tall grass under the stars ain’t too far away from the modern day baby, where we lay you can hear you some cars if you could keep low, buddy I could pass for nobody and steal home with the bread we got a kid in tow, but she’s quick to know the road and will keep a roof over our heads Moondreamer, dream! of stardust and diamonds all golden, all shining of stardust & diamonds in your eyes…
4.
Oh, your precious gold and your fine wine hold your heavy phone it’s a clothesline some will wait to call ‘til you’re out of time... roam like the garden gnome they’ll adopt you direct you, correct you, put you in costume pristine, preserved and clean they will beg and pine… oh, they wanna get you on loan I wanna make a buy… low swingin’ chariot will you wait for it? or is the gift you present gone past tense to fight the weekend war with your last common sense? oh, they wanna get you stoned just let’m pass on by oh, they wanna get you on loan, I wanna make a buy oh, they wanna get you stoned, I wanna get you -- only wanna get you -- only wanna get you high…
5.
A Wave 05:28
I’m just a wave of the physical form I take my place in the unconvention I’m unaware of political leaning why should I stare if the facts are misleading our truth? make me a sign of your astrology if you get crossed, there’s a star that will see your light as it shines, wherever you will be holding a candle or blowing a city watt (or not…) I’m not immune to the mean stream of ours serving our ids drive-thru TV hor’s d’ veurs open my lids to make room for the dessert and see our kids go from cracked to egg white, pale-as-shit-scared… I’m not afraid of the spiritual world I feel vibrations that are out of control I’m in the sky all at once as the ocean, I’m always here yet always in motion to there (or there…) you could find me in the thinnest of air trace my profile with the finest of care when my mirror is gone, but my vanity is too I’ll have plenty to do, watchin’ over you like a wave washes blue, like a wave over you I’ll be there I’m just a wave of the physical form...
6.
Ruby Rain 03:22
Runnin’ out the back door like a fired actor a method that was all in vain the gift was returned in the sky the letter burned when i looked up after the natural disaster all that did remain was ruby rain, ruby rain Hey man, what is that for? you can’t get there by tractor pullin’ it against the grain the odds are all the same they even out in the end… ruby rain, ruby rain When i came to ask her she got to me faster, wanting me to please explain ruby rain, ruby rain (gimme rain…)
7.
You hear me now, across the great divide thoughts are loud in the starred night you silence the crowd, ya you’re alright beside me it’s not over, on your shoulder nothing left to chip at reaching out for your warm light eyes in a drought - could you lose sight? what’s it about? have you made it any more clear? it’s not over, on your shoulder nothing left to chip at I’m calling now o’er the Great Wide Ocean serenading the great wide open world… I don’t know how, but you just might feel me now as you take flight you silence the crowd, but you’re always beside me it’s not over, on your shoulder nothing left to chip at I’m calling now o’er the Great Wide Ocean serenading the great wide open world…
8.
here’s a spoon-fed man and a starving african who’s a good samaritan when there’s no one watchin’ (you)? me, myself I’m free of sin ‘cause I don’t believe in black or white, it all blends in if you’re really starving for truth... escape the weather find the shade nature knows who’s getting paid we’ll be sipping lemonade under Valhalla natives are free of sin cause they don’t believe in black and white it all blends in if you’re really starving then you will be calling it truth up atop the totem pole sun was hot, their feet got cold something had to break the mold, (sink or be swallowed) fix your suit and your dress put on your Sunday best beat the drum or pound your chest the king has been hallowed give him ‘til tomorrow to beg us and to borrow the truth a tropical storm hits everybody run for it! me and my lady friend we can’t even be bothered we’ll be sitting in the shade sippin ice cold lemonade never hurry to get laid under Valhalla black, white, mexican you could be my next of kin I could be your next best friend don’t have to belong if we get along we could share some lemonade under Valhalla or heaven, or whatever you call it
9.
Therapy 03:48
Shoot first, and ask questions later maybe by then we will see what lies on its back in the shade of this old, dead-tired fantasy I wasn’t so polite to the waiter knowing in my eyes he could see when he asked about the wife, and the home life, “How’s it goin’ with the baby?” I had been all around town, almost bought you a plant but they’re so damn expensive and my mind is all spent tryin’ to break through your gated shrubbery who knows what will come next love a clean house, or a clean bill of health… lord knows I will stand beside you in sickness, and our pursuit of wealth I know I can’t mime the hands of Father Time as he’s waving goodbye to our youth I can only help you find enough peace of mind to never go fearing the truth when it hits you babe and I know it will - that you’ve lost your way you know I will still be around Oh, you wonder how I stay calm, stand tall and hold my tongue while your cool parts just like the Red Sea? my conscience is strong, and I can write a song this one’s for my own therapy.
10.
There’s a fatty glow on the patio and your little toe in a sandal near the beach within reach a seashell Oh, madamoiselle - won’t you tell me what you want, and where you want to go? there’s a golden grape on the landscape I’ve been workin’ there left the door agape come in any time feel the sun shine share a squeeze with me in the breeze, baby -- won’t you tell me what you need, and where you want to be? Oh, Argentine Mornings… get a breathe of air or a sip of sea if you even dare swim away with me to a hideaway in a shallow bay there’s no strings involved, leave your history what you’ve always wanted to but could never say… Oh, Argentine Mornings…
11.

about

Luke Sweeney began writing 'Peace Meal' in a San Francisco apartment overlooking the Pacific Ocean during 2014. The goal was to make a record quickly, before questions on the meaning of it all could reach him. The initial recording took place in October 2014 with longtime friend and collaborator Robin MacMillan at Faraway Sounds in Brooklyn, and by the end of 2015 the tracks were left mostly in the producer’s hands as the album traversed several incarnations during the following years. Then, on a fateful night in April 2018, just as the final mixes for the album were being completed, an astrological grip intercepted Sweeney’s life when he awoke to find his infant daughter no longer breathing and the toughest of life’s questions falling all around him.

Originally intended as a heartfelt follow-up to 2014’s 'Adventure:Us', 'Peace Meal' still serves that purpose, but the songs took on even greater significance in the wake of Sweeney’s personal tragedy. In reflecting on the songs, Sweeney now considers the album a communion with the spiritual realm - an imperfect but sincere offering to a higher source, an appeal to our better nature. Perhaps the songs were the fruit of a communicative collaboration between this plane of existence and another; Sweeney says the lyrics to ‘Great Wide Ocean’, written on the studio floor long before his daughter Rishi was conceived, came to him as if sent from another realm.

Ultimately, the arrival of 'Peace Meal' feels like something of a rebirth for Sweeney and his decade-long catalog of musical output. Stripped of all pretense and expectation, the toughest of life’s questions are brought to the table. Meanwhile, breezy melodies and buoyant beats soundtrack what is musically Sweeney’s most pop-oriented album to date, serving as the perfect complement to his thoughtful and compassionate lyrics. Looking back on the whole thing, Sweeney had these words to offer - ”When the wheel stops spinning and the gears fall apart, the consciousness of the artist comes alive and puts a beat back into our collective heart.”

credits

released May 3, 2019

All songs written and performed by Luke Sweeney
except * written by Luke Sweeney and Robin MacMillan
© 2019 Serious Sailboater Songs (ASCAP).

Produced by Robin MacMillan

Luke Sweeney: guitars, vocals
Robin MacMillan: bass, keys, drums, percussion
Christina Courtin: strings on tracks 2, 6, 8 & 9
Brett Eastman: drums on tracks 2, 4 & 7
Roberto Pagano: bass on tracks 4 & 8
Frank LoCrasto: keys on tracks 6 & 10
Alec Spiegelman: saxophones on tracks 7 & 10
Jordan Brooks: bass on track 6
Jacob Silver: bass on track 10

String and Horn Arrangements by Robin MacMillan

Recorded at Faraway Sound in Brooklyn, NY; Faultline Studios (RIP) in San Francisco, CA; and Coppertone Studios in Berkeley, CA
Engineered by Robin MacMillan, Joe Santarpia, Roberto Pagano & Brett Eastman
Mixed by Robin MacMillan at Faraway Sound in Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by John Greenham in Los Angeles, CA

Cover art on this record is an original painting called ‘Ocean Meal’ by Hilary Pecis
Photography by Tyson Vogel
Art design and layout by Tory Ford

Dedicated to Rishi -
One day I’ll be with you again in your realm. Until then, this music is something we can share.

Thanks to Rohini and Pele for sticking with me.

And Thank You!

© and (p) Royal Oakie Records LLC

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Luke Sweeney San Francisco, California

A bicycle crash left a young Sweeney with his jaw wired shut for six weeks, and in recovering, his sustenance was on a guitar. What was he chasing?

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