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The Portrait Peels (Off)

by Shadow Grew a Body

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  • Cassette + Digital Album

    C54 red transparent cassette with full coverage on-body printing on both sides of the tape and audio recorded, supplied in clear case with printed two-sided j-card. Merch artwork is digital representation only. All proceeds will go towards the completion of an accompanying hand-drawn animation that will be released later in 2021.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Portrait Peels (Off) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Like, like weeds (x2) That puncture the pavement cracks (x2) Two zones (x2) He pushed, he pushed through (x4) Alien blackness Divided (x2) Two zones (x2) He pushed, he pushed through (x4) Somewhat elongated now (x4) Effortlessly slipping out towards a collective volume Of blinding whiteness He pushed, he pushed through (x8) Like, like weeds (x2) That puncture the pavement cracks (x2) Two zones (x2) Alien blackness Divided (x2)
2.
Youn Cwi 02:12
3.
Slai Gome 01:06
Just wanna reaction Positive reaction When I’m alone
4.
Particularly (x2) Over time His use of mimesis Became flawless Particularly (x2) When under duress The needle grass society he circumvented Had been hard to convince No heads No centre Just endless labouring To fight dust Intoxicating (x3) A full bodied slippage Intoxicating (x3) Enriched with difference (rpt) A tiny blurred lens Embedded into the perimeter Was his solitary window To the world Moist nose and lips Pressing against the spherical surface As if drawing in water All around the pinched edge The air seeped in It was intoxicating No heads No centre Just endless labouring To fight dust Intoxicating (x3) A full bodied slippage Intoxicating (x3) Enriched with difference (rpt)
5.
Xenophobia 03:15
Time to get on board (x9) Xenophobia (x3) Desert’s getting hotter Take me to the water Let me drink the juice, it’s icy Let me have a share, play nicely Everybody’s dancing Horse’s p-p-prancing Time to get on board Xenophobia (x3) Never in agreement Always with resentment I just wanna live, he’s crazy I just wanna work, she’s lazy Foaming at the mouth dear Stupid cos I’m not here Time to get on board Xenophobia (x3) Never unaffected Make me stand corrected Bigot and you’re getting stronger Crazy cos you’re living longer Stinkin haughty laughter Your daughter, I’m not after It’s time to get on board (x3) Time to get on board (x9)
6.
Kanisk Kapu 02:38
I’m glad to have entered I’m finally free (x2)
7.
Feel Nothing 03:01
You gotta become them Feel what they feel (x2) What do they feel? Nothing! It’s the grubbing about for morsels It’s those hundreds of bits of Yum, yum, yummy That’s what it’s all about Dear Friends That’s what I’m here to get Hey, hey Say no to Geography No stop for me Cos I am free So wipe that grin off your F.A.C.E. Synchronous smiles Reveal only fragments of their identity And with such limited supplies made available for imitation An overburdening anxiety ensued Our second draft would have be Much more Authentic They concluded You gotta become them Feel what they feel (x2) What do they feel? Nothing!
8.
Krup Cis 01:12
9.
Hebe Stalur 01:51
Wings are open Flying high Where you going? Mothers cry
10.
I love the position I’m in now I wouldn’t trade if in for anything in the world I’m becoming more and more comfortable in this identity My god, I spent my teenage years feeling trapped Starving just so I could feel the power and control Afforded by brutal refusal I’ve been like seven different people since then It feels less like lying when I walk into a room and introduce myself I’m finally free A cowboy in a desert of my own This is a point in time A stopgap A weird soft panic We’ve always benefitted from these moments where we just stop Breathe Even if only for a second I’m beginning to feel a weird kind of déjà vu about all Or maybe it’s accountability Maybe the metaphor of me being a cowboy here is actually really quite apt Because we’re writing on the frontier of our own experience And we just got to go it alone together Ride till we can’t no more Maybe I slow it all the fuck down I think I just need to shift the weight onto another foot for a while I’m glad to have entered into this identity Even if it was only ever accidental I’m free, free on my horse in this wild, wild west Arms spread, chest open to the burning orange sun Solitary in the sky
11.
Polyn Moor 01:00
Hello? Is anyone there? Guys, seriously please You’re really scaring me Guys, I know it’s you If you don’t stop messing about Then, I’m just gonna leave
12.
Here they come (rpt)
13.
Zieln Bor 00:28
How many times will You say maybe
14.
Little Line 03:08
In-between two words Like, like the little line In-between two words His role Very much Like the little line And bind Like, like the little line His role Very much Like the little line His role was to simultaneously Separate and bind His role Very much Like the little line Like, like the little line In-between two words
15.
Sol Rhee 01:21
16.
Listen I’m authentic mate Just you look What you grinning at? Face to face This ain’t no imitation That’s it right there ha ha The first draft of the portrait Was doomed to peel Face to face with the new folk Concrete grins formed in unison Listen I’m authentic mate The first draft This ain’t no imitation Of the portrait The first draft What you grinning at? The first draft Are you grinning at me? The first draft I can see it in your eyes mate The first draft Of the portrait The first draft I’m really just a nice guy Was doomed to peel Don’t I know you from somewhere? I’m sure I do Yeah, you’re the one I recognise you I’m one of the nice guys Face to face Me and you Doomed to peel There’s a right way of going about it And there’s a wrong way of going about it Don’t you give me that fucking look mate I know exactly what you’re up to Don’t diss me bruva The first draft of the portrait Was doomed to peel Face to face with the new folk Concrete grins formed in unison You fucking numpty You fucking bastard Ha ha Yeah that’s the one That’s it right there Ha ha You can trust me
17.
Sky High I Fly Rye Sigh I Try My Lie Bye Bye Dry Eye Why Cry (x2)
18.
Mazu Zabe 00:52
Where you going? (x13)
19.
Oh help me Arborescent pathways Oh so cold Food waste Oooh The intrusive potential Oooh, aah Was impossible to resist Impossible Hold me I’m freezing (rpt) Arborescent pathways Food waste Feed me I’m hungry (rpt) Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop The intrusive potential Was impossible to resist Help me I’m here now (laugh & sing)
20.
Newcom Ryb 02:00
21.
Maj Slot 01:30
Two hearts into one The rhythm, rhythm Running, running Oooh Woooah Running up a mountain Oooh Yeah eh Oooh Yeah heh The rhythm runs It’s fast and slow Woah yeah It’s fast and slow Woah ho ho yeah The rhythm runs The rhythm runs Running down the mountain Woah ho ho heh yeah Two hearts into one The rhythm runs Forget about the bad things The rhythm, rhythm The rhythm, rhythm
22.
Smiles Synchronous (x14) Smiles Synchronous smiles when you tell me I’m illegal Sign above the line and take your seat around the table Raise a glass eye up towards the sky and see the people Synchronous smiles when I’m laughing at your small talk I time it right and open wide exposing teeth and gum But I despise what’s in your eyes – that constant background hum S Y N C S M I L E Synchronous smiles when I beat you on the console Fucked you off real bad you go and diss me on the social Sail a boat, a Trojan horse, a gunshot through your wall is totalled Synchronous smiles now we’re cats that guard our garden Claws sharp, arched back, fur like sharks fin Fangs into the neck until you cry out ‘help! I’m choking’ Synchronous smiles when we self-medicate Piss-weak opinions as the eyes dilate A chemical gatekeeper with a slow expiry date S Y N C S M I L E Synchronous smiles are encoded in the bedroom Of spoon-fed kids with imposter syndrome Time to stay on track – an existence set to biohack Let’s stick googly eyes on it And then We can pretend It’s watching us Let’s give it that flavour And make it our own They stole it first So it’s time to steal it back Synchronous smiles now forever caught in stasis A clusterfuck that’s stuck in place, a hell mouth ever open Sleeping in the job your face droops down – you must be fuckin jokin S Y N C S M I L E Synchronous smiles when I ask for your permission You think I’m here to rob a job or crack the shell of your ambition I won’t be here long enough for you to stop my infiltration
23.
Pinko Dac 01:46

about

The Portrait Peels (Off) is the second album by Shadow Grew a Body. The 23 track concept LP explores themes of human migration, alienation and identity loss, addressing timely questions about how we define ourselves.

Loosely structured around a spoken word narrative, an isolated protagonist strives ineffectually for acceptance – moving from place to place, reshaping their inner and outer self in the process. Eventually becoming fully absorbed into their seductive new environment.

Track 10, 'A Cowboy in a Desert of my Own', features The White Pube and takes excerpts of spoken word from their 2019 essay ‘I am a cowboy in the art world and I don't know what to write about’.

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released January 1, 2021

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Shadow Grew a Body

art pop & experimental animation project

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