stars like dying embers
by Hilyard
About this track
Perfection doesn’t resonate but like a moth to flame, the fixation will turn it to ashes in a ligature frame, strung under firs where the canopy wanes and snowslips carry wraiths all the way to its base, resting above soils of the threnody grove, the stars smolder as dying embers by fate alone, drifting on wind, above warmth under furs, conveyed but not heard like whispers without words, revealed to quiet witans only sent to observe. https://hilyard.bandcamp.com/album/a-handful-of-ashes This album represents an emotive reanimation from a lifeless state. As fate happens it sometimes feels like everything has burned to a handful of ashes, scattered to the wind as dying embers lost in the soil. Yet some ashes will come aloft adjoining stardust and those same embers lost in the soil are found as stars burning dimly in the sky. The death of something in this forest results in the rebirth of something else. A tree falls and its rotting corpse transforms and feeds into a thriving network of mycelium under blankets of moss. It’s height, and lustrous green traded for the entirety of the forest floor. Where it’s spirit can travel to the top of the canopy, not from where it just stood, but anywhere it wishes to be. AHFOA is the culmination of several years worth of studio sessions while battling with my autoimmune disorder in an exhaustively protracted war. It felt like my lifeforce was burning down to nothing. Yet the major conflicts have now ceased and those physical aggressions have been restrained and are close to remission. For a while I was dying, now I am living and this music comes from that inspirative place of defeat and victory. If you are listening, I hope it helps to transmute hardships and awaken to your triumphs. An exceedingly special thank you to Dan May for his original paintings created for this album. The art played a crucial role in helping me to conclude this album and convey it’s vision. Truly a great artist and his immersive atmospheres and gentle creatures are extremely moving. I am also immensely grateful to my friends and collaborators Andrew Klimek, poemme, Lauge, Zakè, and Jim McDermott for working with me on this project. All vocals by Hilyard except “by fate alone” which features vocals from both Poemme and Hilyard. 🖤🖤🖤