Juliet Palmer: rivers

Water and song are elemental forces which sustain both our bodies and souls. In “Narrow Banks,” subtle variations of the body’s circulatory system resonate with field recordings of Toronto’s rivers, while Emily Dickinson’s poetry maps the heart’s inner landscape. Branching blood vessels and capillaries echo tree silhouettes in “Dreaming of Trees,” reminding us that we are rooted in the same ground. Two suns mark the dawn of the nuclear age in “Dusk of Tears,” an era when the exhilaration of scientific discovery gives way to annihilation. In “Burble,” an abandoned river jolts us out of numbness and back into the flow. “Litany” is a radio signal from a post-apocalyptic future to remind us of life’s essentials. Finally, in “Simple Death” the bridge over a vertiginous canyon invites us to choose between conquering fear and succumbing to despair.

Juliet Palmer rivers music for voice features:
Laura Swankey, Tova Kardonne, Felicity Williams, Lieke van der Voort, Alex Samaras, Jocelyn Barth, Mingjia Chen, Andrea Kuzmich, Aki Takahashi, Christine Duncan, Juliet Palmer, Ryan Brouwer

1. Narrow Bridge (6:26)
2. Dreaming of Trees (6:59)
3. Dusk of Tears (2:38)
4. Burble (9:37)
5. Litany (6:23)
6. Simple Death (5:26)

Produced by Jean Martin and Juliet Palmer
Recorded January 7 2017 by Jeremy Darby at Canterbury Music Company, Toronto
Additional recording at The Farm by Jean Martin on January 11 2017
Mixed and mastered by Jean Martin at The Farm, Toronto
Artwork and design by Jean Martin
Cover photo by Alisdair Jones; other photos by Jean Martin

All music by Juliet Palmer  (c) (p) 2018 Juliet Palmer / Barnyard Records
www.julietpalmer.ca