Lyrics:
Out of the west the evening-colored air
Made a music box out of the treetops
A wind harp out of the stars
Velvet waters tumble out from the fountainhead of
Inspiration and played the rushes
Wordless song on the river sighing
Forgotten the pipes and the flutes of the dying
The air is alive with the stirrings and turnings
Of phrase in the twilight like petals flying
Into the waters and dreamily floating
The poet felled him a tree
He felled him a fir and was shriven
He drew from pine his boat
Simple, imperfect, with evergreen dressing the air
He fashioned boards from his longing, and
Sacrificed food and rest for ever
He forgot himself
Distaste in this thing surrounding him
Decay
The poet amidst the musical waters
Became the song and what he had
Dreamt of being all along
HUBARDO is the seventh studio album by veteran avant-metal maestros, KAYO DOT. Produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn0))), Master Musicians of Bukkake, etc.), and with a running time of almost 100 minutes, the music follows an epic and heartbreaking narrative of a meteor falling to Earth and its enchantment and alchemical transformation of a lonely poet.
HUBARDO, meaning "lantern" or "lamp" in the magickal language of Enochian, marks the band's tenth anniversary. As such, it features aspects of all the shades of KAYO DOT from the past decade, including some that even hearken back to the band's former identity, the progressive MAUDLIN OF THE WELL, such as the album's opening: a stark and disturbing guest vocal appearance by MOTW screamer Jason Byron - his first recorded appearance since 2001.
From weird metal to beautiful post-rock, from demented ballads to tripped-out 70s fusion, this double-album has it all. With HUBARDO, KAYO DOT have crafted an enormous masterpiece of 21st-century progressive music.
credits
released 01 September 2013
Toby Driver - bass, synths, piano, rhodes, organ, vocals, percussion. Ron Varod - guitars. Keith Abrams - drums. Daniel Means - tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet. Terran Olson - flute, alto sax, piano, organ, and synth solo on "Floodgate". Tim Byrnes - trumpet, horn in F. Mia Matsumiya - violin, synths. Jason Byron - guest vocal on "The Black Stone" intro. Randall Dunn - synth design. Jessika Kenney and BC Campbell - guest backing vocals.
Produced by Randall Dunn and Toby Driver at Avast in Seattle, WA, April 2013. Recorded and mixed by Randall Dunn. Assisted by Scott Cedarholm. Mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering.
Album photograms by Rachel Wolf. Band photos by Toby Driver.
