Earth Leaps Up, by The Giving Shapes

Earth Leaps Up

by The Giving Shapes

supported by

Colin Howells Best LP of 2020? Yes. Buy this record.

more...

	/

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Four-panel gatefold wallet with one disc, cover artwork by Meghan Hildebrand.

Includes unlimited streaming of Earth Leaps Up via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 7 days

$14 USD or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$11 USD or more
Full Digital Discography

28

releases

Get all 28 elsewhere releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Continuité, fragilité, résonance, L’Occhio Del Vedere, Circles, Reeds, and Memories, lieues d'ombres, Betula, Monochromes, drift nowhere past / the adventure of sleep, In Better Shape Than You Found Me, and 20 more. , and , .

Purchasable with gift card

$204 USD or more (40% OFF)

1.	Dousing 04:53	lyrics
Dousing I feel it like weather Storm’s blowing in Walking with my eyes closed Move from within I feel it like weather Storm’s blowing in What you get is shaped by the why How is something bodies know Where can Be found at the root Feels In the present, all of you can Be collected, into one Don’t leave, any part of you Back
2.	Tessellate 04:48	lyrics
Tessellate Two, ten, twenty: tessellation Out, in, any: intuition Build, break, body: basic rhythm Turn inside out We created this place for each other Fill up our space, make a safe place Letting in each other Rain drops hold oceans They hold rain drops Rain drops hold the sea Holds you, holds me
3.	Sightlines 04:22	lyrics
Sightlines Let the light in / introspective visions Let the stillness be / besides the tower I see Breathe deep air it out / outer shells dissolve with my doubt Tip the container over / overtones telling our stories Storming through the senses / sensation through Through out / outside Sight lines / lineless You are the lens you seek Sightlines bring out what you need Mountains stay still as they speak Lineless shadows breed mystique
4.	Gravity 03:57	lyrics
Gravity I thought you were lucky To be chosen, what did we know then All the pressures that be Though we hadn’t learned a basic love I thought I would never talk, would never share But you brought it back These common threads, we weave a net Catch pieces of us we were robbed of We recall the weight of his body We carry it everyday like gravity I thought you could be trusted I entered your house asking for help I cried ‘help keep me safe’ But in your grip my body was limp and twisted You said ‘Sleep here, I’ll be good’ (I thought your kiss was an invitation A subtle cue that no must mean yes) We recall the weight of his body We carry it everyday like gravity You’ll get what you came for They’ll all believe my loud ‘no’ was misunderstood I learned how to cry because of you (A lie spoken by my distorted manhood I want to tell you my violence is self loathing Ask my father the question why I never Learned how to cry) Violence Distorted I hold it I feel it We hold it, we feel it, we carry its weight Like gravity
5.	Upstream 06:02	lyrics
Upstream The mouth of the river can only be as wide as the words you speak The songs for another can only be as loud as the ones sung for your own team Why do our sisters and mothers and brother warn of this song making us weak? Send the song upstream!
6.	Shadow's Hue 04:34	lyrics
Shadow’s Hue Build a maze full of walls to catch your hand and break your fall Eye no longer meets the eye The distance grows, how do you fall? Mountains forming colour blue A brother lost, oh solitude Distant gaze, shadows linger Blue light scatters, stones will always break Holding tight, spread your wings Hold what matters, must time always bring loss? Mountains coloured in blue, distant My solitude, shadows hue Brother fading to grey, broken My family found, I miss you
7.	Faces 04:20	lyrics
Faces The many faces of an embrace The shy ones look at you through a veil The sly ones take a piece of you A piece of truth, you feel it too The many places in an embrace The closer ones will take you back a while The wild ones give It grows in you The old and new You need it too The many shadows in an embrace Illuminate the curves that you have shaped Shapeshifting, they speak to you We start anew I know it too Places, faces, speak to you Places, faces, start anew
8.	Mirror and Echo 04:16	lyrics
Mirror and Echo Shaping what you see (echoes of my agency) Holding what you hear (mirrors my autonomy) Shine the light on Cast a spell Shout into it Might as well Can pass through it Feel it too Try to see through it Envision you Giving what you got (light up the passing thoughts) Make it what you may (send it out beyond earshot) Duplicate it Send it off Reinvent it Make it ours Things you see are Echoes too What you hear could Mirror you
9.	Earth Leaps Up 03:20	lyrics
Earth Leaps Up When earth leaps up, flowers become the stars When heaven falls and the two will meet like lovers do Is dust nothing but a handful of the planets past Full of creatures singing songs as they circle Humming about the blossoming stars And the distance so far of your box in the ground? You can sing if you want to Flowers will bloom like the stars do Planets bloom like lovers born as flowers Will bloom like the stars do Planets bloom like lovers born as...

about

"Earth Leaps Up is a work of surpassing elegance, quiet confidence, and generosity of spirit (making The Giving Shapes’ name most apt). Its surface delicacy conceals deep reserves of emotional intelligence and inner strength. As Darwin put it, “from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” (Spencer Cawein Pate - The Light of Lost Words)

"Like the angelic voices of Elisa and Robyn - often divided into offset vocal harmonies - the two classical instruments refer to each other as if they actually were the horizontal or vertical translation of the other: the ample natural resonances allowed to their minimalist patterns, sometimes mindful of the "Electric Counterpoint" by Steve Reich ("Dousing"), they create the illusion of a floating cloud of sounds in which the specular melodies playfully chase one another in a perpetual circular motion.

The intoxicating sweetness of certain Japanese inflections ("Upstream", "Shadow's Hue") is only a fleeting latitudinal grip for a music that resides outside of any geographical or temporal coordinate, woven with the most loving care in a completely pacified mental space, preserved in the luminous quiet of those spring afternoons that the artistic expression has always aspired to eternalize in its romanticized splendor." (Michele Palozzo - Esoteros)

credits

released February 26, 2020

------------
ABOUT THIS ALBUM

The Giving Shapes is a collaborative project between harpist/vocalist Elisa Thorn and pianist/vocalist Robyn Jacob that formed in fall 2017 at the Banff Centre for the Arts. This is the duo’s first release.

This project triangulates aspects of new music, creative music, and song-writing, combining their classical training and their involvement with the Canadian creative and indie music scenes. Though they originally met while both pursuing degrees in classical music at UBC in 2007, they share an interest in many musical styles. Their sound reflects broad influences from artists including Nico Muhly, Bjork, Jonny Greenwood, David Lang, and Caroline Shaw.

Thorn and Jacob are interested in merging the familiar with the new, and draw from their wide range of influences to create music that is honest. Their approach involves equal parts of intellect and feeling, pursuing both accessibility and experimentation equally. The process of songwriting varies from song to song, but usually one of them brings in a kernel, and the two develop parts together, parts on their own, then back to different possibilities together.

“The piano and the harp are a really interesting match because they are so related in timbre and function, but individual enough to offer each unique sound palate. The possibilities of blend, texture, and harmonic depth are really exciting. Robyn is an endless inspiration to me in all the things that she does. We have quite different approaches to writing (Robyn is more rhythm and pattern-based, whereas I am driven mostly by melody and harmony) so the collaborative writing process is really interesting and stimulating.” (Elisa Thorn)

"I like Elisa's integrity and devotion to her artwork, and her attitude in general as a musician and an artist. Also, it is a privilege to be able to make art with one of your best friends." (Robyn Jacob)

The Giving Shapes is a synthesis of their shared musical aesthetic and curiosity with their long-standing relationship as co-curators and presenters. Music from the duo’s projects has been featured in jazz festivals such as the Montreal and Toronto Jazz Festivals, new music festivals like Music on Main, and indie pop festivals including the Campbell Bay Music Festival.

The duo's sincere yet polished, cool yet warm, celestial yet humane approach towards sounds is integrated into a single intimate world of music with everything impeccably balanced. Thorn's and Jacob's ethereal voices convey subtle emotions, gently unfolding the narrative of their personal world into a unique space where the acoustic beauty of classical music and the accessibility of pop music humbly entwine around each other.

-----------
all songs by Robyn Jacob and Elisa Thorn

piano, vocal by Robyn Jacob
harp, vocal by Elisa Thorn

recorded, mixed and mastered by Chris Gestrin
in Coquitlam, BC, Canada

cover art by Meghan Hildebrand
designed and produced by Yuko Zama

p+c 2020 elsewhere music
www.elsewheremusic.net

The Giving Shapes
www.thegivingshapes.com

--------
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.

license

about

elsewhere Jersey City, New Jersey

elsewhere music is a US-based record label founded in 2018 by Yuko Zama, focusing on new trends in contemporary classical music and beyond, specifically composed works.

contact / help

Contact elsewhere

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Earth Leaps Up, you may also like:

Wovenland 2
by Toshiya Tsunoda/Taku Unami

supported by 31 fans who also own “Earth Leaps Up”

absolutely phenomenal - favorite release of 2020 so far Rob
go to album
Revolution Shuffle
by Michael Pisaro-Liu

supported by 30 fans who also own “Earth Leaps Up”

Michael Pisaro-Liu making work as vital and beautiful as ever. One of my favourites of 2021. Lazarski
go to album
Extract From Field Recording Archive
by Toshiya Tsunoda

supported by 26 fans who also own “Earth Leaps Up”

Solid vibration of the surface of small breakwater is a very deep track, probably below 38Hz quite often. Sometimes it resurfaces. Mighty. flertalet
go to album
Mirrored
by Vanessa Wagner

The classical pianist proves that minimalism isn't just intellectual—it can cut straight to the heart. Bandcamp Album of the Day Nov 18, 2022
go to album
Vol. 1
by Rubod & Stroudinsky

Expansive orchestral music that has all the weight and heft of post-rock. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 26, 2019
go to album
The Sea Ranch Songs
by Aleksandra Vrebalov & Kronos Quartet

featured on Bandcamp Radio Dec 26, 2017
go to album
Not Fire
by Dean Roberts

supported by 26 fans who also own “Earth Leaps Up”
go to album