Masks & Mirrors
by Robert Leslie
Jackie
Salzig
Vagrant Species
dkuse
tante_peter
ling
ContentOak
R Efrain
Christopher Johnson
:Danielle Strle
madeline
Michael Hickey
georgiaspila
Tony Adams
cosmic_riot
artcarey17
AGutierrez
Eli
mforster2
velascan
bobkrasner
m_defer
vaxx_sagi
Charlie Hattabaugh
bigsmile19
oxband
pau913
joscelyn
debicker
Faizan
sloyo
Rich Kulesa
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 6 Robert Leslie releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Halfway Home, Masks & Mirrors, Sunny Kindsa Lies, A Shard of the Mosaic, Sense of Distance (EP), and So long! (EP).
Purchasable with gift card$22.10 USD or more (35% OFF)
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Vinyl + deluxe edition bonus downloads!
Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumYes yes yes. Hi-fi time. And eight extra tracks of outtakes and alternate takes to give ya a peek behind the scenes. YES!
Includes unlimited streaming of Masks & Mirrors via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Sold Out
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Limited Edition Cassette!
Cassette + Digital AlbumMan, you're hip. I get it. This cartridge has all that fat tone you crave. Nice.
Includes unlimited streaming of Masks & Mirrors via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Sold Out
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1. |
Fool's Gold
03:11
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too little
too soon
you make the message
you name the tune
but I was too quick to swear
like a schoolboy on a dare
really I knew nothing at all
too much
too late
you sing for supper
then you smash the plates
leave a bucket for the storm
trust a hilltop for the dawn
clearly I know nothing at all
but we got oceans and oceans to go
didn't take it but we got it
it's a funny thing to know
but you make time to try
try to live before you die
and so I'm digging for my little stash
of fool's gold
fool's gold
too little
too soon
but you can change a name
yeah you can phase the moon
cause I was too quick to share
just a bit too young to care
really I knew nothing at all
too much
too late
so free of love
so free of hate
like a dancer in the rain
a shot of morphine for the pain
clearly I know nothing at all
but we got oceans and oceans to go
didn't earn it but we got it
it’s an awful thing to know
while the good ones try
and those that never live still die
I’ll be here digging for my little stash
of fool's gold
fool's gold
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2. |
Tell Her
03:21
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there's quiet in the streetlights
quiet here in bed
hot water in the heater
money in the red
there's windows for the winter
and fences for the flowers
and monday through to monday
for stacking up the hours
tell her why, tell her why
the streets are all so still tonight
soft plastic in the winter white
tell her why
there's shirts hung up for springtime
the coffee and the cream
a riverboat all draped in names
for visiting in dreams
I see her at the crossing
expect her every day
so me I won't be staying
but I won't be going away
tell her where, tell her where
we keep away the hidden cares
that ancient and unchanging air
tell her where
I'm calling for the curtain
to make it all discreet
some day I’ll wear a lot of faces
keep bells tied to my feet
but there’s breaking in the bay these days
and waiting in the dark
and there's no real sight in searchlights
or safety in these bars
so tell her who, tell her who
still looks on in when passing through
some silly little baby blue
tell her who
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3. |
Flying
03:33
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these lazy days you waste with me
the flags and bottles in the trees
the price we pay for staying free
the colour of a life
no surprise to see you go
the ties we tried, the cards we showed
if anyone I oughta know
been on the leaving side
so I won’t try to change your heart
and I won’t change your mind
I’m flying back home
still caught up in your sideshow love
the spirit of the not enough
you hooked me on the harder stuff
got stuck inside your sheets
our high designs before the fall
our costumes for the wrecking ball
we know the words before we call
before the day we meet
but I won’t try to fake your ways
& I won’t waste your time
I’m just trying
trying
trying to know ya
a quiet stretch of highway dark
with rows of seats and passing cars
and now all the old familiar bars
the circles and the lies
and you there in your shantytown
still dancing clear on slipping ground
the perfect sight, the perfect sound
no place for other ties
and I won’t try to change my heart
but I won’t change my mind
I’m flying
flying
flying - back home
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4. |
She Won't Need Me
02:52
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she don’t need no taxi driver
to take her through the rain
she don’t need no counsellor
to keep her from going sane
she don’t need no fakey friends
just to keep her in the loop
don’t need no riches in her britches
or drunk bois on her stoop
she don’t need anything, it seems
I guess she won’t need me
yeah she’s got everything she needs
guess she won’t need me
she don’t need no subway map
to tell her where to go
she don’t need no sailor’s cap
to go chasing after rainbows, naw
she don’t need no bank account
to keep her out of debt
you walk her way
with a bill to pay
well you’d wish you never met
she don’t need anything, you see
and she won’t need me
all that I can do is dream
cause she won’t need me
she don’t need no traffic signs
to keep her on the road
she don’t need no summer heat
don’t need no winter cold
and she sure don’t need no police man
to say he’s on her side
no she don't need no guiding hand
to know what’s wrong or right
she don’t need anything, oowee
guess she won’t need me
she got everything she needs
and she won’t need me
it’s clear as it could be
she seems perfectly happy
guess I’ll go on being free
cause she won’t need me
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5. |
Velvet Room
02:33
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what will she want when she's in town?
the colour black, to hush the sound
a velvet room in which to paint
room to whisper, room to wait
what can you give her when she comes?
a light to see the winter sun
a costume and a jug of wine
to waste away till summertime
so she will paint herself away
never mind the nighttime
never mind the day
give her a room without a window or a door
with velvet walls and a velvet floor
where will she go when the work is done?
nowhere special, noplace fun
a line of dolls all dressed in black
will wait in line to take her back
so watch her paint herself away
never mind the nighttime
never mind the day
give her a room without a window or a door
with velvet walls and a velvet floor
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6. |
Somewhere All the Same
02:50
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this boat won't get me nowhere
this ship won't set me free
you're waiting by the quayside
you're sleeping in the sea
and I guess I'm not surprised
to find you buried in the beach
but take me somewhere all the same
take me somewhere all the same and let me be
this bus won't get me nowhere
there's nothing in this road
you're whispering in the wheels
reflected back in my window
you’re coming on behind me
like a runner pale and slow
but take me somewhere all the same
take me somewhere all the same and let me go
and this plane won't get me nowhere
there's nothing in the sky
you're somewhere far behind me now
it’s been too far to cry
but still I go on looking
like there’s something left to find
so take me somewhere all the same
take me somewhere all the same and let me try
and dreams won't get me nowhere
no sleep won't let me wait
I guess I could be sleeping
but I guess I’ll stay awake
cause the days keep turning at me
and now they’re turning on away
so take me nowhere all the same
take me nowhere all the same and let me stay
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7. |
We Got Time
02:51
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you got a big
wide
high dry place for you to shine
old sun
but all the best views
were chosen long long before I was born
you say it's dark
deep
a funny kind of sleep
oh my little star
well that's just fine
cause we got time
we got time
with our sleeping bags
and fancy wine
yeah we got time
we got time
yeah we got time
we got time
with our white lies
and our white lines
yeah we got time
we got time
so I'm waiting for a way to say enough
I'm waiting for a way to say enough is enough
I'm waiting for a way to say enough
I'm waiting for a way to say enough is enough
but we got
time
we got time
with our
holidays
and lullabies
we got time
we got time
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8. |
No Masks & No Mirrors
03:37
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it seems we’re still the same
all these years of trying to change the pace
I’ve forgotten all the reasons
got a song for every season
and the things we know
could only serve to break our hearts if they should go
but we won’t miss the show
cause I -
I wouldn’t have to call them lies if I could read the signs
it’s begging to be clearer
no masks and no mirrors
it seems a world could break
all these years of trying to chase the rain
a pill with no placebo
a hand-me-down casino
All these ways we cope
trying to look beyond the winter sun and summer snow
look for the afterglow
but you -
you could be quicker than our cues if you just thought it through
something scary’s coming nearer
no masks and no mirrors
cause there’s much to hate
and there’s ways to blame the time and place
you’d kill it if you cared
but you keep away from prayer
cause you you got your hope
can’t let go of all those promises you never told
your secret fools gold
but we -
I could pretend it was a dream that cut you out of me
but every day we waste gets dearer
no masks and no mirrors
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9. |
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I been blue
yeah I've been down
seems all I do is drift around
since my luna
lifted off and broke my heart
I don't know why
I must confess
I thought we’d found our happiness
but my luna lifted off into the stars
I gaze up at that lonesome moon-a
tell myself she'll be here soon, ah
but till that day
I'll have to pray
just singing
a sad tuna
o my luna
a fish ain't meant to fly away
still I prob'ly only got myself to blame
but it seems a little fishy all the same
perhaps she needed something more
- a somewhat bigger, buffer albacore?
but surely that's no luna that I knew…
oh, I’ve been sick
down to my scales
been crying harder
than the whales
since my luna
left me here without a clue
I gaze up at that lonesome moon-a
tell myself she'll be here soon, ah
but till that day
I'll have to pray
just singing
a sad tuna
o my luna
surely you could at least have explained?
o my luna
a fish ain't meant to fly away
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10. |
Spider Song
04:50
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too tired to be chasing the prevailing wind
stars quiet in the face of yet another incident
and so
you draw another circle
round and round and round yourself
up come the curtains and the players wonder where they are
out rings the clapping but the feeling only goes so far
get cozy on the flip side
like a pebble in the bottom of a well
oh, love
I discovered it's so easy to be free
just make sure that the lights are bright enough that you can't see
that it's secretly me
hey crowd
I hope you make a devil out of me
I'll gladly play a symptom of what's making you unhappy
oh my dears
oh my loves
join the spider with her feelers on the spinning wheel
get your bliss amidst the apple cores and orange peels
her love
she spins a silky web
around and round and round herself
cause it's all right, we got our telephones to dance to
yeah it's all right, we got so many lovers to be passed through
so we might as well
come on let's break another way into this hell
oh, love
I discovered it's so easy to be free
just make sure that the lights are bright enough that you can't see
that it's secretly me
hey crowd
I hope you make a devil out of me
I'll gladly play a symptom of what's making you unhappy
oh my dears
oh my loves
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about
back to basics with this one. album consists of ten tunes written here and there without particular intent from 2016-2017, recorded on cassette in the dead of winter round the end of 2017. big format switch from the maximalist approach of “sunny kindsa lies” - very sparse now, me and the guitar, going for that dry dusty kaleidoscope sound, both close and faraway, and a soft tape hiss like old heatpipes.
so, recorded them in the winter, and then spring and summer shimmering on in, all forms of chaos happy and unhappy, other projects to occupy me (my new band, “the jackson bollocks”, taking up a fair chunk), money troubles and injury and honeymoon love and so on. winter tapes got pushed back all this time as a result. seems it’s been about half a year now. anyway, better late than never.
the songs I picked for this album were born in following order: first “tell her”, february of 2016, brooklyn, winter nights and getting over dead love and all that. then “velvet room” in march - friend k. came by exhausted from work and I offered to write her a song to pass the time while she slept. used her sleepy mumbling to frame it. next, in june, came “fool’s gold” and “we got time”, written on the greek island of naxos over the course of a lonely drunk. “somewhere all the same” was written a few days later on the ferry back to athens. then came “o my luna”, written later in the summer to tease my vegan lil sis during a family fishing trip. “spider song”, in september, back in nyc. written out of sheer stragefright for a showcase I dreaded, trying to make sense of the weirding in the scene & myself & world at large, all that gradual gathering fear & hostility during election season. “flying”, january 2017, about a hedonistic ostrich tryst gone south over in new orleans. “masks and mirrors” arrived in may, getting a touch political what with the walls seeming to come down and familiar worlds unraveling. hung it on a dreamy arpeggiated waltzy guitar bit I’d written a while before, nursery rhyme feel to it, spanish summer courtyard in the 1890s or something. finally “she won’t need me”, in june, easiest damn song I ever wrote, about a good friend and part time lover who is rockin in the free world to this day.
there’s outtakes, too. six or seven of em, I’d wager. gotta leave something for future stamp collectors, but one of em is included in yer download if you buy the album here on bandcamp.
so, having spent most of my working time since winter on me and my buddy ed’s new band (our album release and first show was on june 30th 2018) I figured it was time to dust off ye tapes and get them ready for release. mixed them with a very light touch, kept away from effects, and then sent them off for mastering at analogcut studios in berlin. I made the cover art out of an old player piano roll, a bunch of chrystie’s auction catalogs, and some naked ladies snipped from a series of 18th century engravings based on marquis de sade’s “justine”. if the censors get me for that one lil lady, so be it. look at her go! the wee dear was too cute to leave out.
that’s all! off you run, songs! good luck to you!
so, recorded them in the winter, and then spring and summer shimmering on in, all forms of chaos happy and unhappy, other projects to occupy me (my new band, “the jackson bollocks”, taking up a fair chunk), money troubles and injury and honeymoon love and so on. winter tapes got pushed back all this time as a result. seems it’s been about half a year now. anyway, better late than never.
the songs I picked for this album were born in following order: first “tell her”, february of 2016, brooklyn, winter nights and getting over dead love and all that. then “velvet room” in march - friend k. came by exhausted from work and I offered to write her a song to pass the time while she slept. used her sleepy mumbling to frame it. next, in june, came “fool’s gold” and “we got time”, written on the greek island of naxos over the course of a lonely drunk. “somewhere all the same” was written a few days later on the ferry back to athens. then came “o my luna”, written later in the summer to tease my vegan lil sis during a family fishing trip. “spider song”, in september, back in nyc. written out of sheer stragefright for a showcase I dreaded, trying to make sense of the weirding in the scene & myself & world at large, all that gradual gathering fear & hostility during election season. “flying”, january 2017, about a hedonistic ostrich tryst gone south over in new orleans. “masks and mirrors” arrived in may, getting a touch political what with the walls seeming to come down and familiar worlds unraveling. hung it on a dreamy arpeggiated waltzy guitar bit I’d written a while before, nursery rhyme feel to it, spanish summer courtyard in the 1890s or something. finally “she won’t need me”, in june, easiest damn song I ever wrote, about a good friend and part time lover who is rockin in the free world to this day.
there’s outtakes, too. six or seven of em, I’d wager. gotta leave something for future stamp collectors, but one of em is included in yer download if you buy the album here on bandcamp.
so, having spent most of my working time since winter on me and my buddy ed’s new band (our album release and first show was on june 30th 2018) I figured it was time to dust off ye tapes and get them ready for release. mixed them with a very light touch, kept away from effects, and then sent them off for mastering at analogcut studios in berlin. I made the cover art out of an old player piano roll, a bunch of chrystie’s auction catalogs, and some naked ladies snipped from a series of 18th century engravings based on marquis de sade’s “justine”. if the censors get me for that one lil lady, so be it. look at her go! the wee dear was too cute to leave out.
that’s all! off you run, songs! good luck to you!
credits
released July 31, 2018
recorded & mixed by robert leslie, mastered at analogcut studios in berlin
many thanks to all the usual suspects, esp perry for the gift of old guitar magic and karl for his counterweight to the voices in my head
recorded & mixed by robert leslie, mastered at analogcut studios in berlin
many thanks to all the usual suspects, esp perry for the gift of old guitar magic and karl for his counterweight to the voices in my head
license
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about
Robert Leslie New York, New York
shows
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Apr 25Seattle, WA
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May 4Brooklyn, NY
discography
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Aug 2022 -
Jul 2018 -
Apr 2016 -
Sep 2014 -
Nov 2012 -
Aug 2011
contact / help
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