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Spruce Island

by Spruce Island

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1.
Don't Go Yet 03:30
Don’t go yet Stay a few more at least Before we both forget Let’s say our piece Don’t go yet I don’t think I’m worthy, and yet I will try Stay a few more at least I’m more like the type that’s the least in your eyes Before we both forget We’ll both rise together or get pulled apart Let’s say our piece I’m saved if you’ll carry a piece of my heart I do love you I do love you Don’t hold back Trust me to understand Empathy is a knack, an ampersand Don’t hold back We don’t want to find ourselves back in the past Trust me to understand We’ll unmake our mistakes and stand where we crashed Empathy is a knack, There is no assurance we’ll enact this plan an ampersand But I am, and I will, and I and, and I and, and I and I do love you I do love you Don’t go yet Words are still left unsaid Sympathy left unspent Inside our heads I do love you I do love you
2.
Impossible 03:04
Going to sleep won’t fix this Closing our eyes won’t erase what we said Took more than eight hours to break it And if we make it, it won’t be in this bed I just want to hit reset Let the screen fade to grey in my mind Not worth saving progress If you can’t promise to take it to the finish line I’ve been finding you impossible lately I’ve been finding you impossible lately, you can’t make me Understand, walk in your shoes lend a hand like I used to do I’ve been finding you impossible lately I’ve been trying to solve this Turn and turn til the colours align Every good faith measure to make things better Complicates down the line I’m not ready to call it But I can see why you’re ready to bail Should we check the market and clean the carpets And put it up for sale? I’ve been finding you impossible lately I’ve been finding you impossible lately, you can’t make me Understand, walk in your shoes lend a hand like I used to do I’ve been finding you impossible lately Can you feel it? With all the drive of a deflating tire? Can you feel it? The steady ebb of animating fire? I’ve been finding you impossible lately I’ve been finding you impossible lately, you can’t make me Understand, walk in your shoes lend a hand like I used to do I’ve been finding you impossible lately
3.
The person you wait for may come, but late It feels like eternity - you have to wait The world makes no promises so let’s not credit fate When the person you wait for arrives, but late The person you wait for x2 The person you wait for is here right now In signals and gestures that we endow With aching euphoria and grief and that is how The person you wait for is here right now The person you wait for x2 Wait, but fix your eyes on all that you control You decide the pace; you can set the tempo Wait, but you decide how far you’re gonna go You decide the pace; you can set the tempo The person you wait for might never come They slip through outstretched hands for some But you can never know how long you gotta wait The person you wait for may come, but late The person you wait for x2
4.
LaGuardia 03:42
Thursday night, Shubert Alley, Broadway’s alight Can anyone see the ghost light in me? As I clap to be polite Five days gone, six nights only, twelve dozen hours The pigeons agree; I’m lonely lonely as I wander through the towers It’s late and I miss you It’s late and I miss you It’s difficult to rhyme In Eastern Standard Time LGA, middle winter, flight is delayed If Terminal C could understand me It would sink in Flushing Bay Pockmarked walls, crumbling sidewalks, creeping decay If Fiorello could see his namesake’s frailty he’d rotate in his grave It’s late and I miss you It’s late and I miss you It’s difficult to rhyme In Eastern Standard Time L-A-G-U-A-R-D-I-A The name’s La Guardia L-A-G-U-A-R-D-I-A The name’s La Guardia
5.
I Will Run 02:46
The mottled skin of the freezing North Saskatchewan It beckons us to come and take a swim Should we jump in and float to where we learned to run Or should we turn to the western one? I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun Shake the dust from our feet as we cross into BC Hinton, Jasper, Robson, set us free And I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun We close our eyes in a turnout near a ditch Awake, asleep, I can’t tell which is which In my dreams I remember how it felt to thrive Now in my dreams I just survive I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun Shake the dust from our feet as we cross into BC Hinton, Jasper, Robson, set us free And I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun We can’t run fast enough - We can’t run far enough It’s the system that is broken – it’s not us, it’s not us But I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun Shake the dust from our feet as we cross into BC Hinton, Jasper, Robson, set us free And I will run if you will run, we’ll embrace the setting sun
6.
Maidstone 05:33
On a grain farm near Maidstone, there’s no room for a middle child Shared a bed with my sisters, arms and legs all in a pile While my brothers were out in the fields learning to drive I was stuck in the farmyard pinning laundry to the line I stretched through driver side window while our dogs made their goodbyes Dad was stoic as always and searched for rain clouds in the sky Mama said I’d go get my degree then teach back in town Didn’t know how to tell them I would never come back round Leaving Maidstone – didn’t care how I was homegrown but I needed to plow it under No wonder no one said that it’s fun Leaving Maidstone, defying my parents, disappointing everyone Dad was skilful and steadfast, served as reeve for the RM In my third year of college, I stopped getting calls from him Mama said he kept losing his tools and leaving on lights Then at length he’d forgotten fields he’d farmed his whole life We gathered in the basement for the reading of his will I listened as my brothers expectations went unfulfilled It’s the bitter truth down at the root of many family farms There’s one patriarch. All others reap the harm. Leaving Maidstone – didn’t care how I was homegrown but I needed to plow it under No wonder no one said that it’s fun Leaving Maidstone, defying my parents, disappointing everyone I got married in Maidstone, summer 1989 All the bridesmaids wore turquoise, though that year was pretty dry When I walked down the aisle on my own and we left arm in arm Couldn’t know six months later he’d say he would like to farm Leaving Maidstone – didn’t care how I was homegrown but I needed to plow it under No wonder no one said that it’s fun Leaving Maidstone, defying my parents, disappointing everyone
7.
I’m known for sitting the corner Finding fault and feeling kind of ornery Pet peeves and sour preoccupations Rolling eyes and dour demonstrations And I’ve been wrong and I’ve been petty Had long enough to think about it already I’m overdue for making amends When we’re together again I’m gonna tell you everything I should have said then I’m gonna bring you everything that I couldn’t send When we’re together again When we’re together again I’m known for taking it for granted Moving on and growing disenchanted I’m all about the destination Less impressed when I get to the station And I’ve been wrong and I’ve been petty Had long enough to think about it already I know there’s really only one end When we’re together again I’m gonna tell you everything I should have said then I’m gonna bring you everything that I couldn’t send When we’re together again When we’re together again Whoa-oh livin’ in my head Strung low on imagined thread We both know I’m due for making amends When we’re together again I’m gonna tell you everything I should have said then I’m gonna rush the borders of Saskatchewan When we’re together again When we’re together again
8.
Stop 02:51
When I’m aching with a pain I hesitate to say out loud (R) When I’m making things worse with every word out of my mouth (C) When conviction turns to stubbornness and I can’t give any ground (R) When I can feel uncertainty curdle into doubt (C) I need to stop for a minute and look at you I need to stop when I’m spinnin’, ‘cause it does us no good When the panic feels permanent Only you can reel me in I need to stop for a minute Every failure is pressed between the pages of my mind(C) Remember that love is not a ledger reconciled (R) It’s a red thread through a piece of lace; It’s the grace that we allow (Both) I know it when I see it and I’m seein’ it right now (Both) Each time I stop for a minute and look at you I need to stop when I’m spinnin’, ‘cause it does us no good When the panic feels permanent Only you can reel me in I need to stop for a minute Gotta stop it when I’m feeling so neurotic. Self-defeating. Gotta listen to my heart and its incessant beating (x2) Stop. Just stop. I need to stop for a minute and look at you I need to stop when I’m spinnin’, ‘cause it does us no good When the panic feels permanent Only you can reel me in I need to stop for a minute
9.
I need a baseline number I need a control life I’ve got an anxious hunger I feel double-blind tonight If you run a thousand simulations, in how many will I die? In how many will I die today? Tell me I’m fine, and I’ll tell you tomorrow If you’re online you’re next of kin Everyone beggared and ready to borrow Tell me I’m fine and I’ll tell you tomorrow I hear the sirens blaring In the pin drop night I went and wrecked my pharynx Trying to test if it’s alright You can leave it up to my perception But I feel pretty tight and tired On the best of days Tell me I’m fine, and I’ll tell you tomorrow If you’re online you’re next of kin Everyone beggared and ready to borrow Tell me I’m fine and I’ll tell you tomorrow Sleep is a mercy Let the calamity we’ve found meet gravity and tumble to the ground Sleep is a mercy Diphenhydramine compels me So you don’t need to tell me, tell me Tell me I’m fine, and I’ll tell you tomorrow If you’re online you’re next of kin Everyone beggared and ready to borrow Tell me I’m fine and I’ll tell you tomorrow
10.
I was born on May Day, delivered by my aunt Near enough to hear the trains and smell Burns’ packing plant My father’s Aqua Velva couldn’t hide the tang of blood Each day he went to slaughter with a steel-toe-booted thud I would take a different path though only by degree Deep inside where railway ties were fashioned out of trees I went in green and dripping sap and came out next to death Blackened by the creosote; smell it on my breath Take me down to the Kennedale Ravine Down where the trees are growing and green Far from the coal tar creosote steam ‘til it spits me onto 40th street Take me down where the emerald elms embrace me like when I was eighteen Take me down, take me down to the Kennedale Ravine Now Pocklington’s got Gainers and Domtar’s shutting down Pretty soon there won’t be work for my like in this town I’ve heard near Fort McMurray there’s a slurry; oil and sand And mining it’s as easy as reaching with both hands As I prepare to take my leave on highway 63 My feet arrive at my retreat when dad was feeling mean I’ve waded deep into the brush to bring these memories Into the care and keeping of the Kennedale Ravine Take me down to the Kennedale Ravine Down where the trees are growing and green Far from the coal tar creosote steam ‘til it spits me onto 40th street Take me down where the emerald elms embrace me like when I was eighteen Take me down, take me down to the Kennedale Ravine I was born on May day, delivered by my aunt Near enough to hear the trains and smell Burns’ packing plant
11.
801 03:35
801 possible uses for every injury a day produces and leaves as a bruise Build up a callous, take it as ballast Nurse a grudge just as you choose Make a list to keep track Look straight up from flat on your back Close your eyes and let it fade to black 801 possible reasons to let obligations fall to pieces and crash to the floor Always too many to focus on any Finishing only gets you more Why not start with a nap? Let’s go sleep on a plan of attack Save your strength ‘cause they keep coming back I know I don’t have the answers I know nothing at all I’ve grown awfully fond of throwing shit at the wall We’re told we should have the answers When we’ve barely begun Don’t guess where the wheel will land before it’s been spun 801 possible uses for all the offences and abuses we need to endure Chips for your shoulder, Sisyphean boulders fuel for a bridge that should be burned Make a list to keep track Look straight up from flat on your back Close your eyes and let it fade to black

about

Spruce Island is a new band that grew from old friendships.

The four members of Spruce Island (Rhiannon Ward, Craig Fink, Matthew Blackwell, and Mason Pitzel) became friends in their hometown of Regina in the early 2000s, and while almost everything else has changed, they continue to lean on each other in life and in music. Named after a hand-built island in the middle of Regina’s Wascana Lake, Spruce Island is a tribute to the intrinsic value of craft and creation.

In early 2020, Craig set to work writing songs that would introduce and showcase Rhiannon’s beautiful voice in a band that reflected their shared love of country and folk-influenced rock. COVID quickly shifted Spruce Island to a remotely-recorded studio project, and the distance only sharpened the need to “tell you everything I should have said then” and alleviate anxiety and regret through music.

On these eleven tracks in Spruce Island’s self-titled debut, Rhiannon and Craig’s voices give and take with the familiarity and comfort of old friends. In ‘Maidstone’, the album’s centrepiece, Rhiannon charts a course between Aimee Mann and Alison Kraus while navigating a roman à clef on leaving rural Saskatchewan and the ties that continue to bind. ‘Maidstone’ exemplifies Spruce Island’s persistent melodicism, incisive lyrics, and deft folk-rock accompaniment.

Spruce Island’s next project will be Clareview Lanes, a concept-album based in a working-class housing development in Edmonton.

credits

released December 2, 2022

Craig Fink - Acoustic guitar, keyboards, vocals
Rhiannon Ward - Vocals
Matthew Blackwell - Bass
Mason Pitzel - Drums, additional guitar

Ian Cameron - Pedal steel on tracks 4 and 6

Lyrics by Craig Fink; Music by Spruce Island
Recorded and mixed by Mason Pitzel
Mastered by Chris Goosman, Baseline Audio

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Spruce Island Edmonton, Alberta

Friends near and far, playing into the computer

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