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My Morning and Afternoon's Work

by Rat Child

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    Limited run 12" vinyl of Rat Child's debut album featuring original artwork by Daniel O'Toole

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1.
do not peel me do not prune me release me wild said the planet to her people talk to me in avocado/ in skin/ navel pressing against navel / speak to me in marshmallow dipping in hot chocolate / in landscape not portrait/ in light more so than silhouette / do not lose me in translation/ picture me perfect/ mistake me not / memorise the structure of these holy mountainous hips like verses that existed before scripture resuscitate these chapped lips in holy water / forget me not I am beyond the concrete brick of church beyond the iron glove of state resuscitate this breath so I can be your lung/ call me by my name ruler lover fighter sovereign freedom friend/ you speak to me in pistol and bullet/ in dead children and bloody flags un-claim me / do not speak to me in your silence the cousin of violence/ un-fence me in the presence of the moon un-draw the line where your country stops and mine begins/ you speak to me in acid rain with coal mines in your pocket and oil fields dripping from your palms/ do not talk to me in fear of the sea in your pain speak to me in olive branch and dove wing instead talk to my summer and to my yellow speak to me in changing seasons and cycles my constitution knows only of the currency of heart beat rumi chaka khan I know not the language of statistics and stocks mansions and mercedes / talk to me in wind kiss in dandelion wishes in river reeds feather cotton sheet clouds/ in indigo dyed sky dust settling and sunset finger painting dreams/ un change me do not peel me do not prune me speak to me of human becoming to me what the bandage is to the wound/? wrap yourself around me before it’s too late wrap yourself around me before it’s too late wrap yourself around me before it’s too late
2.
Changes 04:35
Never agree and never concede Never agree and never concede Never agree and never concede If you never see those changes Getting all the land Spending what we can Never know the face of the man Who controls the plan And never know the plan at all People seem to me To think that they’re free Never separating want from need More afraid of refugees Than of corporate greed And all of these people, so desperately They are vying for places in a society that fails them It systematically - Cause it’s too big to fail On exactly what scale? Cause there’s so many people And they are living in hell And the road has been paved by Those people who we cheered for Never agree and never concede Never agree and never concede Never agree and never concede If you never see those changes Not seeming to be thinking consciously Just focus on your individuality But your ignorance concedes your complicity Your planet's in pain and the ones who proclaim Infinite gain - they wont feel the rain right away But the shame gonna come and claim them When they try to explain Why the delay Making those changes Well well when we gonna change I'm asking when we gonna change? Your planet's in pain Your planet's in pain If it was your mamma Would you do the same? Well baby that ain't rain falling down your face That's your mamma crying out your name Asking when you gonna change?
3.
Joy 06:07
Have you seen Joy? I swear I left her here Have you seen my Joy? I want my mother’s milk, you hear I have enjoyed my Joy For most of my life And I will not live Unless Joy will be my wife Won’t you be my wife I want you, I want you I’ve been dredging my soul up I’ve been watching these tides roll up I try to find Joy in the most unlikely places But I see Joy’s hanging out less and less In these kind of spaces Have you seen Joy? I swear I left her here Have you seen Joy? I want my mother’s milk, you hear So I’ve been trying to create space I thought Joy might dig it if I got myself a new pace Oh and she did you know, she come around She come around here once or twice But she always got some good excuse why she can't stay the night (Oh stay the night sister, stay the night!) Have you seen Joy? I need her, I need her Have you seen Joy? My Joy, My Joy…. Well if she never comes back, yes I’ll go and find her, I’ll go and I'll find her in my sadness If Joy’s gonna be so god damned tactless I’ll go and find her, I’ll find her in my sadness I’ll go and find her in my sadness I’ll find her in my sadness I’ll find her in my sadness Find her in my sadness My sadness, my sadness, my sadness I’ll go and find her in my...
4.
I try to love daily That’s my morning and afternoon’s work But by the evening I’m so numb That I don’t have a sense of it’s worth I’ve been failing lately To advance since my birth My new one borne of pain Not of love like the first Oh the pain of being someone Who’s got seeing as her curse The curse of always turning out A hypocrite or worse It’s getting harder to tell What is good, what is bad While we sleep through this hell Taking from the mothers While I fail myself I’ve been feeling too weak To make myself strong To feel all this pain And keep the love flowing on I hope I can grow my roots So deep down in the ground That I’ll share my love Like trees a’dropping leaves up all around I’ll be a Love Facilitator We can be Love Facilitators Let’s all be Love Facilitators Just remember what your mamma taught ya And oh if she never taught ya Well baby maybe well you oughta just look a little broader Cause love is the answer And love is the proof And love is the thing That we need to induce Love is the hope That we feel amongst the waste So let love be the medal And love can be our race Let’s all be Love Facilitators Come on with me, sing it - Love Facilitators Just remember what your mamma taught ya We could be happy, won’t you agree If we could just share our love freely…
5.
6.
Hard 05:30
Well Samuel said it best I don’t feel at home in this world anymore All this taking up Not waking up Not facing up Not taking up the spaces that we aught to be Or changing things for better, and we Might as well be parasites If all we do is fight I wanna love you but you’re making it hard Samuel said it best I don’t feel at home in this world, never did But I try to be vulnerable And hold to the faith that ill find Something of meaning in life Love it might be love I’m sure But loves no certainty at all I’m supposed to make it in a world that’s hard I’m supposed to make it in a world that’s hard
7.
Forgiveness 07:28
There’s a wide flowing river There's an ocean forever There's a flood A flood of forgiveness In my heart for you Well there's a mountain in my mind Lush green valleys in my eye Oh yes, there's a forest A whole forest of forgiveness In my heart for you In my heart for you Well there's a star up in the sky For every tear that I've cried Forgiving and reliving you There may be a galaxy of faith One that can hold all of our love and pain That's the kind of space for forgiveness In my heart for you But with all this space for you The one thing I forget to do The one thing I just can't say Since you left in this way That I, no I cannot forgive myself I cannot forgive… When will I forgive myself? So let this be me… Yes I said, let this be me… Let this be me forgiving myself, myself…
8.
So It Goes 04:16
Well it’s kind of funny When you’re feeling so lonely Well you could have had All the things you wanted But now you’re so lonely Oh well it’s kind of great The twists that it takes You see I’m finding my old self Well I’m once again alone And I’m looking for someone I’m always looking for that someone Oh well don’t you think it’s cruel Cause I’m here missing you But it’s you that I don’t want And honey this I know But I still won’t let you go I still won’t let you go But baby I will Cause you know that I must I must let you go I must let you go I must let you go Well, so it goes I guess that’s just how it goes So baby I will Cause you know that I must I must let you go

about

Naarm (Melbourne) based singer-songwriter and storyteller Rat Child shares her long awaited debut album ‘My Morning and Afternoon’s Work’, a deeply personal and honest body of work delivered as a very natural extension of her talent and raw expression.

An ode to grief, joy and the tender chasm of vulnerability that sits between them, despite the album's mellow uplifting sonics, these songs are irrevocably time stamped in an era personal grief and depression: "they are the ink with which I painted myself back to life" - or as the song titles allude to, back to forgiveness and joy and love.

Citing inspirations from Nina Simone to James Taylor, Macy Gray to Gil Scott-Heron and even a nod to local folk legend Paul Kelly, 'My Morning and Afternoon's Work' is soulful storytelling at its heart. Rat Child's tender yet pointed lyrics are ever at the forefront but horns, flute, strings, kora and lush angelic harmonies take the listener on a musical journey from blues to jazz and and even something akin to gospel.

'My Morning and Afternoon's Work' is Rat Child's debut LP, released independently and features special guest appearances from kora master Amadou Suso, Afrikanist spiritualist Tariro Mavondo and much loved local rapper Cazeaux O.S.L.O (So.Crates)

credits

released November 10, 2022

This album was written, recorded and pressed on the stolen and unceded lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. A portion of the artist's income is allocated to 'Pay the Rent' initiatives.

All songs written by Rat Child
Introduction written by Tariro Mavondo
Love Interlude written by Cazeaux O.S.L.O
Horn Arrangements by Harry Cooper

Arranged/Performed by

Rat Child on vocals & guitar
Christy Wositzky-Jones on keys
Asha Trips on bass
Maddie Stephenson on drums

Featuring

Amadou Suso on kora (track 6)
Harry Cooper on saxophone (tracks 3 & 4)
Nathaniel Sametz on trombone (tracks 3 & 4)
Charlie Woods on trumpet (track 8)
Harmony Byrne on flute (track 6)
Caitlin Bass on double bass (track 6)
Rosie Luby on cello (track 7)
& Rara Zulu, Aarti Jadu, Danika Smith, Limor Benahron, Siobhán Housden and Kiki Shoe (choir on track 6)

All Tracks Mixed by Allan McConnell
Except 'Forgiveness' mixed by Carl Lindeberg
All Tracks Mastered by Satori Mastering

Recorded at Plug Seven Studios & Rolling Stock Recording Rooms
Engineered by Carl Lindeberg & Tomas Strode
Except Introduction engineered by Reuben Lewis & Christy Wositzky-Jones
& Cazeaux O.S.L.O feature engineered by Alnitak.Kid

Cover Artwork by Daniel O’Toole
Cover design by Dana Weizman at Paradise Studios

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Rat Child Melbourne, Australia

Powerful soul vocals combined with mellow grooves and an earnest knack for authentic political and personal storytelling. Based on stolen Wurundjeri Country

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