LOCATION(S): East London Cemetery, Plaistow, London; The Crown and Seven Stars Public House, Whitechapel, London; a convent hall near the Swallow Gardens murder scene
SCENE: The funeral for Frances Coles was originally planned for Monday, February 23, 1891. In spite of an unexpected rainstorm, thousands of mourners arrived at the East London Cemetery – only to be disappointed to find that the funeral date had been changed to Wednesday, February 25.
Standing among the cemetery headstones, the only witness to Frances Coles’ murder imagines that can see Frances dancing in the distance behind the sheets of rain. As the day wears on, he catches glimpses of a woman who looks like Frances all over the city, only to have her quickly disappear as he attempts to approach her.
With the day’s events weighing heavily on his mind, he decides he will retire to The Crown and Seven Stars to reflect on the ghostly visions. As he makes his way to the public house, he passes a group of vigilantes intent on capturing Frances’ killer. The group has gathered for their nightly vigil in Magdalen Passage on the north side Chamber Street, a short distance from the railway arch where Frances took her last breath.
lyrics
A coal sky
Frames her hollow face
Pale with sorrow
Bloodless, paper skin
Through sheets of rain
See her dancing
In the boneyard
To a sad lament
A bell tower
Composes eulogies
Keeping time
To all the dead hearts
At midnight’s stroke
A raven croaks
Another light grows dim
On the East End
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
On the hollow wind
A melody climbs and falls
Aria from the great divide
A chorus grows
Voice upon voice
A third, a nine
Haunted words
Form a ghostly rhyme
Nightingale
Lying spread eagle
Ripped from stem to stern
In the mud and rubble
A swell mob
Beats a pounding rhythm
In the cobbled streets
Near the convent halls
Through the Swallow Gardens
To the Crown and Seven
Seek oblivion
In a glass of gin
Feel the walls breathe
Hear them rasp and wheeze
Taste the pestilence
In the thick air
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
credits
from In the Shadow of the Seven Stars,
track released March 1, 2021
Jeff Crandall: Vocals, Piano
Aaron Kerr: Cello
Justin DeLeon: Drums, Percussion
Brett Hansen: Guitars, Lap Steel
Toni Tinetti: Backing Vocals
Tyson Allison: Guitars
Laura Harada: Violin
Engineered by: Steve Murray, Randy Gildersleeve
Mixed by: Randy Gildersleeve, Jeff Crandall
Mastered by Tom Garneau
Produced by: Jeff Crandall
Emperor Penguin Records began in 2003 in St. Paul, MN and later moved to Milwaukee, WI in 2015. The label is run by
musician/producer Tyson Allison. EPR enlists and caters to singer/songwriters, introverts, experimental weirdos, bookish people, and crafters that paint pictures with words and toy with your emotions on a well-placed chord. Thank you for your interest!...more
Haunting folk tales brought to life by arrangements that incorporate American roots and blues, tribal beats and old world traditional music. Emperor Penguin Records
A visceral LP centered on the subject of death; deft layers of instrumentation that blurs the line between organic and electronic. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 5, 2018
Gaelynn Lea won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest, and it's easy to see why. Haunting, beautiful country songs, laced up with weeping fiddle lines. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 3, 2016