Uboa - To You, My Collapsing Star (pt1) (WIP)

Hey, sorry I didn't get around the collective noise diary. I didn't do it immediately, lost momentum and the pressure of getting it done 'in time' while having the worst POTS flare up of my life was a little overwhelming. I also needed to vent about my health ... more.

Here is a song I've been working somewhat inspired by disability, isolation and my love for astrophysics. It's somewhat adjacent to some of the stuff in The Origin, especially with my old trustworthy gamelan VST. It also brings back some of the (currently fake) orchestral elements. It is very melodic and has a similar structure to An Angel - and a final version may even feature guitar. It also features dictaphones and more old-sounding instruments.

I want the song to go somewhere, maybe somewhere heavy - not too sure yet. Part of pt2 is written as well, and will be done separately. There is a distinct gap in vocals as I ran out of breath while making this first draft of the song, although its not too bad. I feel the noise is somewhat placeholder-y as well.

I did it quick in order to capture the emotion - grief over losing the health and ability you once had. It's dark and bittersweet - bitter as POTS is a permanent invisible disability requiring lifelong management, but sweet as I finally know the reason behind my recent bout of health issues after a sit-stand test (turns out it wasn't entirely withdrawals...).

The lyrics are inspired by my issues with plane travel - as I found out going to and from roadburn and many other locations around Australia - triggers my POTS via travel sickness, up to and including syncope. Also not being able to be horizontal without being first-class usually causes me to feel utterly awful. Thank christ for antihistamines - but living in Australia and being somewhat allergic to plane travel makes touring not a fun prospect for me.

Like The Tyranny of Posture / Dissociative Kindness it also has the the same theme of tying chronic illness to astronomy and will be on the same release, alongside Banksia Grave and Footscray Park pt.1 - they all have the same warm, intimate analogue feel. I have about 5 other songs (footscray park pt2, to you my collapsing star pt.2, eternal heart, untitled organ song and quiet autumn) in this style, and may have more - making this very much a full length project. The working title of this unexpected record is "lavender house" - assuming I don't break it down into a bunch of EPs. You should hear a lot of it here first, unlike impossible light, as it takes the opposite approach to that record. It is less ambitious (even if it has sprawling epic songs!) and more personal, intimate and human. And more intentionally lo-fi, or at least as far as an Uboa project goes. And also a double record. (I am working on at least 3 other records currently lol).

More will be added to not only this part, but the next part - so it's very much a WIP demo, but it can be enjoyed somewhat as "complete" in this state.

Here are the lyrics:

ll I have a seizure on the plane again?

Will we crash into the midnight sea?

Will the oxygen masks fall down and save us?

And do they really make you high?

You can see the stars above the clouds here

Glimmering and maybe dead

Some will explode or just disappear

We won’t know for millions of years 

Will I have a seizure on the plane again?

WIll it fall from the sky?

Because because some CEO

Thought it was more expensive to fly

it's cold up here

It's cold up here

it's cold up here

It's cold up here

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Also: will have two new releases - the "Meltdown" set and the split with a local band - annouced soon. Meltdown (renamed Every Reactor Four a Friend) will have cassettes from the flenser and the split (feating The Apocalypse of True Love, Petplay Polycule Open Fire, Wasted Potential and Pareidolia Shadow) will have vinyls and I am so excited for you to hear the final version, as I consider the split some of my best work (and Meltdown one of my favourite sets I've played, even if it is more improvisational). Keep it quiet among your friends, but you are my patrons and heard it here first! I intend this year to be a lot of smaller releases before diving into releasing more records.

This is a WIP, will upload when it is closer to being done. It is considered a Noise Diary - a term getting more ambiguous - merely due to similarity to other Noise Diary releases.