We Weren't Here, by Film School

We Weren't Here

by Film School

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scott Where has this band been hiding? So glad Bandcamp helped me find it. An absolute treat. Favorite track: Stratospheric Tendencies.

Derek Brosch Great stuff here guys! I’m digging the new record ever more than the last one.

cintorix FILM SCHOOL DOES IT AGAIN! Love it. Favorite track: Isla.

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We Weren't Here
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited Edition, 180 gram, clear vinyl. Our latest album released by Sonic Ritual. These are the last copies available.

Includes unlimited streaming of We Weren't Here via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Superperfection 03:54	lyrics	buy track
Please don’t make me Introductions I just thought you First impression Wild Times Let me make you No direction Spread you into Super-perfection Wild Times Please don’t break me Here’s a picture But you asked to Underbeneath me Wild Times
2.	Said Your Name 03:20	lyrics	buy track
Saw your name, saw your name It’s not the same Said your name, said your name Not the same We’ve changed It’s ok, it’s ok I’ll still call you One day What if you find someone?
3.	Stratospheric Tendencies 03:20	lyrics	buy track
The other night I left so high from your window But you were already gone Told me 100% I’m not supposed to diagnose But the voices again He said he understood But he never apologized It’s just the false equivalencies that are still broken inside So I put a pillow over my head to sleep Pretend to sleep She said she understood Apologized! It was so groundbreaking I put a pillow over my head Pretend to be asleep So it doesn’t annoy me Ever again These stratospheric tendencies Ah it’s stressful to you Yeah, and it’s stressful to me I’m just trying to see Just trying to be Trying to breath Leave it to me
4.	The More I Know 05:57	lyrics	buy track
The more I know the less I learn, my eyes on you The more I see the changes come, I can’t change you I see the future holding you, you holding me So long ago I had this talk and made it right For you
5.	Soft Reflections 03:36	lyrics	buy track
Sometimes I think you understand The way you look at me and laugh It’s just a passing cloud above Can you remember how it went Back then Now all these stories are retold A different whisper in your ear Some good some bad I know them all These soft reflections off the wall Are clear There’s just a way you see the people talking There’s just a way you hear the sun setting The only note you know you’re already holding The way you shut your eyes without me knowing Climb back to you It’s just your kind
6.	Isla 04:00	lyrics	buy track
Isla, Isla you’re showing Can you find us? Can you find us, we’re waiting Isla, Isla you’re showing Can you find us? Can you find us, we’re waiting Are you hiding about? Have you figured us out? Isla, you’re just a sweet song tonight Chances, what are the chances you’re taking? Did you fall down then realize you’re not breaking? There’s only two of you now, did you figure it out? Isla, you’ll be a sweet song of mine Roads we paved with good intentions Golden days we took for granted Will intentions be enough? Heard you’re here to save us Oh my god Isla, Isla it’s certain Recalculating, formulating a serum A way to stop all the days, a way to be the same age Isla, only our time separates
7.	Drone 2 05:16	info	buy track
8.	Why 03:20	lyrics	buy track
Just 21, the only one Don’t know what side you’re on Don’t know the names Don’t know the games A simple breezy song Just 32, so many yous What happened to this kid? Discovery, your memory Didn’t think you’d still hold on I can see you still, that emerald stone All alone Exploding into white sparks and stone You’re on your own, all alone
9.	CPPT 04:12	info	buy track
10.	Take What You Need 04:45	lyrics	buy track
Take what you need from me Just let me know, let me know Say what you need to say Just let it, let it go Let it go Little things that I coulda changed Would it have been so hard? So hard Simple things yeah were so deranged Figure it as we’re going along Going along You can have it all or not Nothing left here to lose Or worry about You can have it all or not Nothing really grabs me now Don’t apologize You can have everything, wished I gave everything You can have everything, wished I gave everything I can have everything, wished I took everything I can have everything, wished I took everything from you But nothing, but nothings as it Take what you need from me Just let me know, let me know Say what you need to say Just let it go, let it go Be what you wanna be, It’s all we know, all we know See what you wanna see, Let it show, let it show

about

Indie shoegaze stalwarts Film School return with their sixth full-length release and first for Sonic Ritual, We Weren’t Here, the follow-up to 2018’s Bright to Death. Whereas the band recorded the previous album while holed up together in the isolated Southern California desert enclave of Joshua Tree, the Covid pandemic forced a different kind of isolation this time around. Already divided between the SF Bay Area and Los Angeles, bassist Justin LaBo, guitarist Nyles Lannon, frontman Greg Bertens, and keyboardist Jason Ruck—each from his own quarantine home studio—had to collaborate on the songs remotely. Except for when newest member Adam Wade met up with Greg to record drums at LA’s Headwest Studio with mixer Dan Long (all wearing masks, of course), the bandmates never saw each other in person during the entire making of the album.

But the title We Weren’t Here isn’t merely a reference to its socially distanced recording method. During life in quarantine, Greg says, he became acutely aware of all the ways human beings try to avoid being truly present. Though lockdowns gave us the opportunity to spend “quality time” with whomever we live with—whether that’s a romantic partner, a roommate, a parent, or our kids—the pandemic also forced us to become more conscious of our own, uninterrupted, day-to-day reality—a disquieting sensation many countered with drinking more, streaming television nonstop, obsessively scrolling social media, or otherwise checking out. For the members of Film School, the making of We Weren’t Here reflects how music—whether you’re creating it or immersing yourself in hearing it—can be a transformative way to feel spiritually and psychically anchored again. 

What emerges from beneath the waves of the album’s psychedelic dream pop are bittersweet themes of a year lived in suspended animation: anticipation, separation, regret, revelation. From the moody sonic crush of “Superperfection” driven by an icy yet ethereal harmony featuring guest vocalist Noël Brydebell of Wild Signals (who appears throughout the album), to the standout track “Isla” with its intertwining guitars and swooning synths, and culminating in the buoyant, nostalgic closer “Take What You Need,” We Weren’t Here bathes the listener in a soundscape of atmosphere and emotion. With their sixth full-length release since the band’s formation over 20 years ago, Film School crystallize their position in the shoegaze pantheon.

credits

released September 24, 2021

All songs written and performed by Film School:
Adam Wade, Greg Bertens, Jason Ruck, Justin Labo, and Nyles Lannon
Produced by Film School and Dan Long
Recorded at Headwest Studios
Mixed by Dan Long
Mastered by Howie Weinberg by Howie Weinberg and Will Borza at Howie Weinberg
Vinyl Mastering by Dave Gardner
at Infrasonic Mastering Los Angeles
Guest vocals on Superperfection, Said Your Name and Take What You Need by Noël Brydebell
Artwork and concept by Brett Cody Rogers
Design by Toddrick Spalding
A&R by Maura Duval Griffin

℗ © 2021 Film School all rights reserved under exclusive license to Sonic Ritual, an Eternal Music Group LLC company

www.sonicritualrecordings.com
www.filmschoolmusic.com

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about

Film School Los Angeles, California

shows

Sep 26

Sneaky Pete's

Edinburgh, UK
Sep 27

Jimmy's Liverpool

Liverpool, UK
Sep 28

Strange Brew

Bristol, UK
Oct 19

Lodge Room

Highland Park, CA
Oct 20

Harlow's

Sacramento, CA
Oct 21

Cypress Reno

Reno, NV
Oct 22

Star Theater

Portland, OR
Oct 23

Tractor Tavern

Seattle, WA
Oct 25

Rickshaw Stop

San Francisco, CA

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