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Living Isn't Easy

by Robocobra Quartet

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  • Streaming + Download

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

      £10 GBP  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality lacquer cut black vinyl.
    Vinyl lacquer cut at Air Studios by Kevin Tuffy.
    Pressed at Optimal Media.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Living Isn't Easy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £20 GBP or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality lacquer cut yellow vinyl.
    Vinyl lacquer cut at Air Studios by Kevin Tuffy.
    Pressed at Optimal Media.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Living Isn't Easy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £22 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Living Isn't Easy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £12 GBP or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes:

    - 12" Living Isn't Easy vinyl record (your choice of colour)
    - 7" Wellness / I Love You vinyl record
    - 7" Heaven / Night vinyl record

    Includes unlimited streaming of Living Isn't Easy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £40 GBP or more 

     

1.
Flew Close 04:18
Try on some wings, burn up in them Figure it out: living isn’t easy See through the window of a Georgian basement flat. I’ll never live like that. And in every school there’s one kid who doesn’t make it A tragic passing, only freshly into double digits. One winter we never thawed out, And the cherry blossoms of spring never did their thing. Tried on some wings, burned up in them. Try to time the market, time to try the market. Tried on some wings, burned up in them. There's a better you, burn up in him. Try on some wings, burn up in them.
2.
Wellness 03:04 video
It's 7:00am. I wake after having had, on average, 7 hours and 41 minutes sleep. I have analysed my sleep over the years and found this is the perfect amount for me. I often to go Hyde Park, take off my shoes and stare at the sun for 20 mins. Being barefoot grounds me and I receive electrons from the earth. I sun stare because UV rays aren't harmful to my eyes the first hour after sunrise, and it resets my circadian rhythms. 8:00am: Take a shower using natural products; chemicals found in shower gels can be harmful. I weigh myself and test my urine pH with a litmus test strip. 8:30am: Turn on my HumanCharger, a device that shines light into my ear and gives me energy. Make Bulletproof Coffee. After I've had my coffee I fill out a spreadsheet on my computer with how well I've slept and my urine pH. 9:00am: When I arrive at office I fist bump every member of the team - 15 in total - and I often take a nootropic drug called aniracetam. It calms my brain and gives me clearer thinking. I have a standing desk in my office and I often wear Blue Light-blocking glasses (they cut out junk light). I have a quartz crystal that I place next to me while I'm editing photos. I work by himalayan salt lamp - it helps to get rid of the harmful energy that is all around us from WiFi and electricity. Goodness knows what it could be doing to my body. At some point between meetings I try to take a shot of activated charcoal. They sell it at Pret now - we're so blessed in Britain.
3.
Labyrinth 04:24
Hop inside the Labyrinth - maybe you'll get out of it? Oh Daedalus you cheeky fucker. You fixed a way to keep us under You spun a web of caustic comfort. Ah comfort you cheeky fucker. Your dead-end leads us from contempt to content. Wave a slip - "Insurance: Medical/Dental". "If you ever get sick you'll be happy to have it" Smothering days give way. Hop inside the Labyrinth - what a way to make a living. It paid for my dialysis after a life's worth of weekends. Hop inside the Labyrinth - maybe you'll get out of it? Or give way.
4.
Heaven 06:45
Here's how I made my fortune while you filled up your collection tin: Started with an orange juice stall (started with nothing at all) Moved on to marathon from crawl. And now they're coming after me? Over my dead body. God help me, Lord take me, Christ forgive me. Here's how I made my family: 9 months to create the image of me. Ah, such beauty. Oh, god help me. Lord take me, Christ forgive me. Three months holed up. Put on these Nikes and dress just like me. I'm going where the marathon leads me. Full ablution, I follow my gut. Follow my nose, find us lying in plain white robes. Oh, god help me. Lord take me, Christ forgive me. I lost it on stocks. Lost it all. I lost it on stocks. Lost it on the exchange. Lost it all. God help me. Lord take me, Christ forgive me.
5.
Micro Person 04:55
News of a little child. We're getting on, it's a been a while… We are getting late in the day. Passing our golden age. A little bundle of joy! A little surprise. Don't tell her she was a mistake. Couldn't stand the look, couldn't stand the heartache. There she is. There he is. How does it feel to be part of the family? One of us! So glad you could join us. So glad to find a little man. There he is There she is.
6.
Chromo Sud 09:17
Shit house, shit flat, got keys, got out. Inherit the whole estate and wake with enough on collection plate. Waltz across hundred year floors and pray for one hundred more. You know some people don't even have enough to eat? I tread with a one hundred thousand pounds beneath my foot but the floor is lava and don't you forget that I don't even own the rights to it yet. It's a shit house, shit flat, got keys, got out. Hey how are you? Not bad how are you? Not bad, but things got pretty hairy… For sure. No doubt. But we're through the worst of it now.
7.
Was depressed - bought a plant. Flung myself through the week. Hung myself from the tree that the plant grew to be. In a way - devoured me... Puppeteer screams "feed me", "see more scenes","take a day trip to Bray". Buy the plant, take the chance. Through thirsty roots, it grew offshoots. I keep seeing you from the corner of my eye every single time I'm outside. Some day i'll get used to it. Some day I'll die and I only hope to leave some happiness in my wake. Crest of a wave gushing with foamy bliss. I don't know if I'll get over this. Don't know if I'll get over it. The crest of a wave.
8.
Woke up. I was in a sour mood. They put me up in this place with no pool. I am an agent in stasis; there's a bag in a train station. Top right locker and put there by some fucker. And all I want is to get this job done. Heart housed in a Halliburton Zero. Art thou our questionable hero? Sittin around waiting for the call. After this one I'm done (you can tell everyone). I'm learning to be more succinct (getting better I think). Woke up. Back at the house. Dinner with spouse on dog-chewed chairs. "Maybe Disneyland next year? This is the last one I swear." Woke up. Slept like a log. Dig in bowl for keys to car. Scratch behind the ear of the dog. He pulls me back whenever I stray too far.
9.
Night 04:03
What can a dog do when sent to the pound for the bite it was bred for? That dog told me "things are looking up" or so he hears... He hears things you never will. Heard you were coming up. He's got some years on us; he told me this: He says "When you want to balance you fix your eyes somewhere in the distance".

about

"This is the first album we wrote entirely collaboratively and recorded live. We had spent the past few years playing shows and improvising on stage so it felt right to try to use that energy in the studio. We kept a really limited palette on this record, restricting the amount of people and the instruments used to keep things focused. Loosely written as snapshots of a character negotiating modern life, all of the vocals were recorded in one sitting to let the narration get exhausted and more worn out over time." - Chris, June 2022

All bandcamp orders come with a sample pack of hits and loops from the recording sessions.

credits

released June 17, 2022

Chris W Ryan - Drums, Vocals
Nathan Rodgers - Bass, Effects
Ryan Burrowes - Bass, Sampler, Keys
Tom Tabori - Soprano Sax, Keys, Sampler
Peter Howard - Alto Sax, Tenor Sax
Thibault Barillon - Tenor Sax

Produced and Mixed by Chris W Ryan
Engineered by Tommy McLaughlin
Mastered by Kevin Tuffy
Photography by Stephen Leslie

Supported by PPL Momentum Fund with PRS Foundation, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest NI.

℗ First Taste Records, 2022 under exclusive license from Robocobra Quartet
© First Taste Records, 2022 courtesy of Robocobra Quartet

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