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    Cover art by Shaun Tan. Design by Andrew Nelson.

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Currently Bandcamp merch is only shipping within Australia!
    Visit neilandfourplay.lnk.to/signsoflife/ for many more options.

    Cover art by Shaun Tan. Design by Andrew Nelson.

    Grab yourself a first edition pressing of the vinyl record while stocks last! Bandcamp purchases will be shipped within 3 days of release date, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Deluxe two-pocket, thick card stock, double gatefold with 8-page booklet, featuring illustrations by Shaun Tan.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Signs of Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

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    Currently Bandcamp merch is only shipping within Australia!
    Visit neilandfourplay.lnk.to/signsoflife/ for many more options.

    Cover art by Shaun Tan. Design by Andrew Nelson.

    Hardbound case-wrapped CD book, with 16 page booklet, featuring illustrations by Shaun Tan.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Signs of Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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lyrics

1. To find the many in the one
he sweated under foreign skies
to see the stars behind the sun.

So space and time were now undone
reality was undisguised.
We found the many in the one.

We stare at photographs but none
could show the mind behind the eyes.
He saw the stars behind the sun.

Not with a sword, or knife, or gun,
a simple picture severed ties.
He found the many in the one.

Light bends around us. So we run,
as gravity reclassifies
the stars we saw behind the sun.

To see the world beyond the skies,
to touch the mind behind the eyes,
To find the many in the one
he showed us stars behind the sun.

2. Unfucked, or anyway retiring,
in the awkward sense. Retirement will never be an option.
The gruff gentleman with the cap who understands
what the numbers mean
remembers a bicycle ride when he was younger.

The smoke of the cigarettes he does not smoke kick at his lungs
mixing with the buzz of the booze he doesn’t ever drink
a convivial pint after the ride into the country gave him such a thirst.
And afterwards they lay on their back in the stubble
staring up at the stars. Together. All the stars

Countable as the words in a Bible,
countable as the hairs on his friend’s head,
all accountable, and that is why they never truly touched.
The shadow of prison or disgrace perhaps moving between them
like the shadow of an eclipse.

And, in another life, at another time,
to see the stars behind the sun,
he takes his photographs
fighting the cloud cover. Becoming
the thing that happened in Principe
when he proved that the German was right,
that light had weight,
half a year after the Armistice.
A populariser, but not courting popularity.

Somewhen a boy is counting stars.
Somewhen a man is photographing light.
Somewhen his finger strokes the stubble on another’s cheek,
and for a moment everything is relative.

credits

from Signs of Life, released April 28, 2023
Words by Neil Gaiman, Music by FourPlay String Quartet

Produced by Lara Goodridge, Justin Tresidder and FourPlay

Recorded by Lara Goodridge, Justin Tresidder at Sony Music Studios, Sydney
Assisted by Lewis Mitchell

Additional recording by Anna Laverty at Sing Sing, Melbourne

Mixed by Justin Tresidder at Hydrofunk HQ, Mullumbimby

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FourPlay String Quartet Sydney, Australia

FourPlay is an indie rock band that just happen to be a string quartet.

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