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1.
Seed 00:56
Are they symbols of our blind faith? Are they symbols of our failure? So many seeds of hate Have fallen on this ground And as we send them to the sky They scribe a perfect arc of madness We'll see them sown before We ever her their sound
2.
Holding On 05:06
Left the line and made it home again How do I spend these precious days so many ties to mend Like being paroled from your own prison cell And following on this kind of heaven with some kind of hell I’m holding on to every grain of hope that I can find And holding back every doubt that preys upon my mind See the stillness from the waterside Letting it flow through every memory that today untied Choose a stone that makes an easy throw Into the centre of the water watch the ripples grow I’m holding on to every grain of hope that I can find And holding back every doubt that preys upon my mind All I’m thinking while I’m there is home Now that I’m here and I can see how much the kids have grown A ray of hope suggests and end in sight Maybe the other side will feel the same and see the light Holding on to every to memory that’s so dear to me And holding back the bitter truth that seems so clear to me Holding On, Holding Back, Holding On, Holding Back The more they ask me the more I’m lost for words Looking for answers chasing reason like a flock of birds Seems like home is now the foreign land Maybe it’s just too much for anyone to understand Holding on to every to memory that’s so dear to me And holding back the bitter truth that’s oh so clear to me I’m holding on, Holding Back, Holding On, Holding Back Keep us in the dark we’ll lose our sense of wrong and right (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth) Maybe someday we will find a way to shed some light (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth)
3.
Holding on (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth) Holding back (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth) Holding on (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth) Holding back (Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the bitter truth) Listen son there’s something on my mind cuts me at every turn I need you to know Every step I take will lessen any chance of my return Won’t be long before I go No turning back from the promise that we made No second chance No looking back on this endless road we’ve made No second glance Take my hand son look into my eyes you need to understand I may not return Behind the vail of your brave face, reflected in your anxious eyes My bitter lesson learned No turning back from the promise that we made No second chance No looking back on this endless road we’ve made No second glance They cast the line we took the bait we are the nation's loyal sons We swallowed hard we stepped up only to be fodder for the guns Straying from the path of reason led us down the road to war How many children must she lose before a nation cries “no more” No turning back from the promise that we made No second chance No looking back on this endless road we’ve made No second glance
4.
As I walk between the faces Of the trenches to the frontline To familiar exchanges Of the bullets and the five nines They pull me back to this world I'm like a stone into the water All the new and nervous faces Soon to be acquainted with the slaughter Still we face each other in this pouring rain Still we pay with life for every inch we gain Still we wonder if our lives could ever be the same While the undertones of war Seep into the very core Of your soul As I walk between the faces Of the trenches to the frontline To familiar exchanges Of the bullets and the five nines They pull me back to this world I'm like a stone into the water All the new and nervous faces Will soon be acquainted with the slaughter Still we face each other in this pouring rain Still we pay with life for every inch we gain Still we wonder if our lives could ever be the same While the undertones of war Seep into the very core Become the keepers of the door To every soul Still we face each other in the pouring rain.... And now the time we waited for Is here to wake the keepers of the door This endless road, this endless war The endless rain that falls on this killing floor The face of every man I see Another Mother's eyes are staring back at me And as the son begins to fade This heavy price will seal this bitter trade
5.
I’m not broken but the cracks are plain to see I’m crossing lines and dogs of fate are haunting me And every word that flows from this pen onto this page I get to feel the place that I belong And every day I’m here I feel further from The road I should be walking on To find the right within the wrong We’re alive but we don’t live from day to day We just survive among the wreckage and decay And every word that flows from this pen onto this page I get to feel the place that I belong And every day I’m here I feel further from The road I should be walking on To find the right within the wrong We took the longest trail To see the logic fail And then the cracks appeared With every ounce of steel That finds a fate to seal Another crack appears I’m not broken but the cracks are plain to see I’m crossing lines and dogs of fate are haunting me And every word that flows from this pen onto this page I get to feel the place that I belong And every day I’m here I feel further from The road I should be walking on To find the right within the wrong The right within the wrong The right within the wrong I’m not broken but the cracks are plain to see I’m crossing lines and dogs of fate are haunting me We may be alive but we don’t live from day to day We just survive among the wreckage and decay
6.
An hour before the dawn We open up our day The calm before the storm The black before the grey The watchers gaze As the night begins to fade For any sign Of a move to be made I can’t escape the sound That echoes through my mind No answer could be found In the space between the lines Where the watchers gaze As the sun is on the rise For any sign Of life between the lines SOLO And I fix my gaze To a moon on the wane In a clear sky Above, this pouring rain I can’t escape the sound That echoes through my mind No answer could be found In the space between the lines Echoes through my mind The space between the lines Echoes through my mind The space between the lines Echoes through my mind The space between the lines
7.
You came to save and you Carried the weight as you Crossed the line to bring our brother home A ray of light passing Through the black of war For every life you save you risk your own You, like me, will bleed when you are torn and it’s Clear that we would both prefer to talk than kill so Much more to lose than they could ever hope to gain It’s not the only way Dehumanized by the High Command we are Trained to see you as the evil foe But I can see by your selfless action you are Another brother I should get to know You, like me, adore your wife and children we are Led to believe that we are fighting for their lives Take this cigarette let’s work on that connection It’s the only way We so weary of this war it’s taken so much life Cuts to the core of every soul clean as a butcher’s knife You feel the guilt of being the only one who’s left alive Was this the only way? If I could I’d walk away I’d find a way back home See angels fly once more before another falling stone But all I ever see is flying steel meet flesh and bone Was this the only way? This thin veneer we call humanity has fled this life No shred of doubt no grain of truth could ever make this right We’ve never seen so many shadows in such failing light Was this the only way?
8.
Over sees of complicity Through fields of regret Down roads of uncertainty To the streets of unrest Like a city under siege Our defences will break As our options are closing Only one we can tak Over the fences and over the walls The hope that would keep me alive Over the borders and over the land We need to escape to survive We’re not prisoners of conscience We’re not prisoners of war But this conspiracy of silence Makes us bolts to the door Over the fences and over the walls The hope that would keep me alive Over the borders and over the land We need to escape to survive Over the fences and over the walls We need to escape to survive We need to escape to survive We need to escape to survive…… Over sees of complicity Through fields of regret Down roads of uncertainty To the streets of unrest Over the fences and over the walls The hope that would keep me alive Over the borders and over the land We need to escape to survive
9.
One Day 01:51
The only real escape we can make Is to steal some time from our conscious minds See between the lines Looking through the grey To a better way One day One day One day One day
10.
We approach an unfamiliar road Our spirits fly high at the end of the wait Feel the lift of that familiar load And a sense of our minds shifting from hope to faith We’ll live our lives beneath this shadow That we know will never quite fade Some will make their name While they shift the blame When that day comes What kind of justice could play a role Blind ambition and greed, the conviction to win Left with this brutal and savage toll While the answer just hangs like a noose in the wind We’ll live our lives beneath this shadow That we know will never quite fade Some will make their name While they shift the blame When that day comes Who’s watching the watchers? Who’s guarding the flame? Who’s watching the watchers? Who’s placing the blame? Who’s taking the upperhand? Who’s looking for proof? Who’s claiming the moral ground? Who’s telling the truth? Who’s watching the watchers? Who’s guarding the flame? Who’s watching the watchers? Who’s placing the blame? Left with this brutal and savage toll We laid down our arms we were headed for home The promise that distant horizons hold With the future of so many souls set in stone We’ll live our lives beneath this shadow That we know will never quite fade Some will make their name While they shift the blame When that day comes We’ll live our lives beneath this shadow
11.
First the left and then the right Marching blind into the night It seems like a lifetime ago I was older they were young Trained to use their given gun They were loaded and ready to go Now the word is we are done And judging by the silent guns That day may have come Broken road carry me home To the life could have made On the path we should’ve laid Broken Road lead me away From where my brothers lie Where truth and reason died From the deck they’d see the land Racing minds and gun at hand They’d soon find how true was their aim And with the changing of the wind The sound of distant guns crept in To the lives that could be never the same We couldn’t find the sense in war Or see an end worth fighting for Though that day may have come Broken road carry me home To the life could have made On the path we should’ve laid Broken Road lead me away From where my brothers lie Where truth and reason died We’ll carry the scars from the cuts that run so deep they’ll never mend We’ll be caught in the vastness of the wake of a war without an end We could drown in a sea of regret and a tide we could never stem And return to our homes where our spirits have lane Suspended in time since the days before the rain Broken road carry me home To the life could have made On the path we should’ve laid Broken Road lead me away From where my brothers lie Where truth and reason died Where truth and reason died Broken Road carry me home Broken Road carry me home Carry me home Carry me home
12.
Dear May 03:04
This is the note I’d hoped you’d never read But if it’s in your hand…. It’s taken every one of us from someone You’ll hold our memory close as we fade from view This war must never claim me as it’s hero I belong to you I watched you every moment I could find Never more than just a heartbeat from my mind Our baby, she’d be sleeping on your shoulder Our brave son holding on to his Mother’s hand You’d catch my eye, I’d catch my breath From this distant broken land
13.
Seed Of Hope 01:09
Are they symbols of our love? Are they symbols of our failure? So many stolen souls A stone for every name And as I gaze across the land I see a perfect scene of sadness The seeds of hope that died In endless falling rain

about

SEED - The Album:
SEED is the third album from Freedom To Glide and completes their anti-war trilogy which began in 2013 with RAIN followed by FALL in 2016. With SEED Freedom To Glide have brought together every aspect of their unique sound to produce a very focused and personal concept album based around one man's experience of 1918 - the final year of World War 1. Musically, Freedom To Glide take you on a cinematic journey through their now familiar sonic landscape of layered synths, evocative acoustic guitar, atmospheric piano and soaring guitar solos.

SEED - The Concept:
On leave from the war at the beginning of 1918, a soldier, struggling to come to terms with the fact that the war seems to have no end in sight starts to conclude that his death is inevitable. Fearing this may be the last time he sees them he tells his family to prepare for the worst. In the months that follow he realises how much the war has cost him, his family, his friends, indeed all humanity. As his thoughts turn outward to the wider world he encounters an ‘enemy’ doctor carrying a fellow soldier back to safety. The two talk and find a mutual respect for one another as the futility of war stares them square in the face. With the end of the war now in sight they find a ray of light in the black of the war, a seed of hope that maybe peace is within reach?

credits

released May 31, 2019

Andy Nixon - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keys.
Pete Riley - Piano, Synthesizers, Organ.

With guest Louise Wilson (KAFKADIVA) - Additional vocals on "The Space Between The Lines" and "Seed Of Hope".

REVIEWS:

From Steve Chilton of Kafkadiva:
I remember when Freedom To Glide first started happening. At the time both Pete and Andy were in the same Pink Floyd tribute band as me. I, and the rest of our band, would commonly see those two guys stay behind after a ‘Dark Side Of The Wall’ rehearsal discussing their latest collaborations. From small acorns and all that.

They are my friends and that is something I’m naturally proud of but it plays no part in my opinion of the music they produce. That simply transcends our obvious connection. In fact, I’m rather fortunate that they are my friends because not only are they two genuinely lovely fellas, I may not otherwise have known about their music! From the very first EP release, then the exciting debut album RAIN, the subsequent EPs and xmas releases, and through to the amazing sophomore album ‘FALL', Freedom To Glide have continually produced music of an amazingly high standard. I listen as a musician myself, it’s impossible not to, but most of all, I listen as a fan of quality music. What I always love about their releases is that every one is carefully thought out, the narrative is never less than 'bang on the money' and without fail, makes you think and draws you in. Importantly, it’s always accompanied by a musical creativity that never fails to astound me. The music is always arranged, performed and recorded with such quality and attention to detail, it’s hard to think these guys aren’t full-time professionals. Given so much of the output that we get on a daily basis from mainstream media outlets it’s a massive bug bear to me that these guys are not household names and renowned artists in their own right. That’s where I am with Freedom To Glide. Love their music. End of. So, given that starting point it’s always exciting to encounter a new release… but that is always tempered by the wariness of wondering… will this next one be up to the usual standard?

So, onto SEED. The culmination of their three album trilogy dealing with the human impact of war, and most especially the brutal, and often pointless carnage that was World War One. This album is a triumph in many ways, and also a conclusion to this particular part of their story. What they do beyond this point remains to be seen. Maybe live performances, maybe a new album with a different subject matter. Who knows? The point is that Seed is here right now… and demands attention.

The most apparent thing that strikes you is that this album involves a narrowing down of the narrative. The first two albums dealt with many aspects of war and it’s impact on us as human beings. This album instead focuses on just one human being. An interesting path to take, and also to be honest, a surprising one, as I was expecting them to broaden the story. However, in doing this the emotion is even more close to home as you soon realise the personal impact on one man. One of millions. And also to his family back home. The opening track ‘Seed’ prepares you for what’s to follow. ‘Holding On’ is an immediate highlight for me. Classic Freedom To Glide containing a ‘to die for’ hook coupled with amazing lyrics finding the soldier at odds with being home on leave and the conflict in his own mind that causes. ‘No Turning Back’ continues this theme, preparing his own son for the possibility he may not return. ‘Undertones Of War’ kicks in with a sublime bass grove that wonderfully underpins this track. The “pouring rain” is no weather forecast. Every drop has a name. ‘The Right Within The Wrong’ is a tough listen in so much as it’s harsh and pleading, perfectly describing the soldier’s inner turmoil. Powerful both lyrically and musically, particular the ascending chord sequences towards the end.

A breather now as the atmospheric keyboard signature of ‘The Space Between The Lines’ changes the mood. The guitar solo in the middle is sparse and melodic, but absolutely perfect. Then you get the ‘hit you full in the face’ moment… an unbelievable change in the dynamic leaves you on the floor. Just when you think “wow, that’s awesome”… it grows more awesome. The lead guitar coupled with a truly powerful performance and arrangement of backing vocals (supplied by the talented Louise Wilson) create a soundscape that defies the earlier part of the song. Then the resolve. A truly amazing piece of work.

The previous two albums featured a beautiful acoustic guitar based track. Andy does us proud again with ‘The Only Way’. The story of the German doctor (previously explored on the first album) is the perfect way to describe how basic humanity can cross the divide of war. Moving in the extreme. ‘Escape To Survive’ is a song of hope and again proves how good Freedom To Glide are at coming up with a memorable melody on the chorus. I confess I find myself singing along with this one! A special mention too for the beautiful guitar work that closes the track. Immediately you’re transported into another mindset with the opening of ‘One Day’ with it’s haunting background and piano from Pete. The optimism of the lyrics are all the more powerful for their brevity. This is a perfect example of what makes a ‘Freedom To Glide’ album what they are. ‘When That Day Comes’ is not afraid to make its point and whilst the hope of an end is in sight, it questions and points the finger at the perpetrators of the horror.

‘Broken Road’ is another stand-out track… and quite how you can have such a thing on an album like this is a separate question! The road in question is the one taken as the guns fall silent but one loaded with memories that will haunt his life forever. The chorus again is wonderfully catchy, melodic and memorable. Plus, there’s yet another reference to the ‘rain’ for those of us familiar with the first album. Love that.

‘Dear May’… is explained in that first line. “This is the note I’d hoped you’d never read”. It’s heartbreaking. No words do this justice. Simply listen. Finally the album closes with the appropriately titled ‘Seed Of Hope’. Vocals provided again by Louise this track provides the final killer blow. Gazing out at a ‘stone for every name’ they are ‘the endless fallen rain’. The circle has been competed.


Every album by Freedom To Glide has told a progressive story. ‘Seed’ is that journey completed but it’s also full of individual moments of brilliance that make the album able to comfortably stand alone. This is no ‘part 3’. This is a must-listen album it’s own right. ~ STEVE CHILTON

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Article by: Rob Fisher:
I have spent the majority of my working life in higher education. For the best part of 35 years I have grappled – and have been a guiding companion in helping others to grapple – with the ways in which it may be possible to make sense of the bewildering diversity of artistic cruelty human beings seem capable of effortlessly inflicting on each other.

One approach is to consider the sheer scale of the numbers involved. Over the course of the last century alone, well over one hundred million people died as a direct of violence. WWI – circa 9 million (military), 7 million (civilian); WWII – circa 48 million; Stalin’s programme of collectivisation – circa 14 million; the Korean War – circa 5 million; the killing fields of Cambodia – circa 3 million. And on. And on. And relentlessly on, even in our new century. Nor do these figures include individual and social acts of brutality and savagery.

Unfortunately the shocking truth these numbers reveal highlights the key weakness of taking this approach. The numbers quickly become incomprehensible. Overwhelming. Numbing. Too much to take in. There is just no way of getting a meaningful handle on the sheer depths of the agony and anguish the numbers represent; they defy explanation and too easily the suffering of those who went through it becomes distant and depersonalised.

The other approach is precisely that taken by this truly outstanding third studio album Seed from Freedom to Glide and marks the concluding chapter of a trilogy which started with Rain in 2013 and continued with 2016’s Fall. Andy Nixon and Pete Riley have created a musical experience which is simply breathtaking in the way it opens the doors to remarkable levels of penetrating insight, which in turn pave the way for genuinely gut-wrenching moments of emotional empathy.

Never before have I reached for a pause button so frequently as when listening to this album. There is a gentle but disturbing sensitivity which underlies the lyrical ingenuity of this release that hits home again and again with heart-breaking poignancy and force. If you want to talk about war, if you want to come one step closer to understanding the unspeakable, unbearable horror of what people went through on the battlefields, if you want to remember them, then this is precisely how you do it.

A snippet of a song jumps out and catches your ear: the imagery, the allusions, the delicate beauty of the song’s story physically jolts you to a halt. As the resonances begin to ripple out from the point of impact, you find yourself sitting there on the verge of tears as the full force of the emotional realisation well and truly sinks in of the awful, senseless state of resignation and despair these soldiers – these sons, brothers, husbands, lovers, friends – felt as the sun rises and falls on yet another sodden, deafening day of fighting in a foreign land.

To pick out individual tracks would be a horrible injustice to the tight and organic conceptual as well as musical vision that flawlessly threads its way from opening chapter to aching conclusion. Yet I would point your attention to four particular episodes which mesmerise with a clarity and a focused purity the immense foresight and imagination which underpins this release.

The Right Within The Wrong is steeped in the most tragic sense of unravelling self-certainty, the unfettered questioning of everything you hold dear as you sink into the morass of moral ambiguity from the everyday sights and sounds all around you. The plaintive plea and desperate holding on to certainty repeatedly asserts: “I’m not broken”, but is tested in the heat of battle “with every ounce of steel / That finds a fate to seal / Another crack appears”.

The enthralling and elegant acoustic of The Only Way? tells the story of an ‘enemy’ doctor crossing the lines to bring an ‘enemy’ soldier back to his comrades. The unabashed humanity is “A ray of light passing / Through the black of war” and forces the recognition of what we have in common: “You, like me, will bleed when you are torn and it’s / Clear that we would both prefer to talk than kill so / Much more to lose than they could ever hope to gain / It’s not the only way.”

Infrequent moments of humanity feed fleeting seeds of hope. Yet even here, the lament of Broken Road is loud and clear: “Broken road carry me home / To the life could have made / On the path we should’ve laid / Broken Road lead me away / From where my brothers lie / Where truth and reason died.”

Dear May is staggering in the bewitching simplicity of the final message it conveys from “this distant broken land”. “You’ll hold our memory close as we fade from view / This war must never claim me as it’s hero / I belong to you.”

Seed is magnificent. It is devastating in the range of its emotional sweep, humbling in the profundity of the insights it enables and majestic in the way it flawlessly presents a holistic musical experience. This is, without doubt, a contender for album of the decade and should be mandatory listening for anyone who is grappling to understand what it is human beings are capable of doing to each other. ~ ROB FISHER

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