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Age of Apathy

by Aoife O'Donovan

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rileyridgway
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rileyridgway The instrumentation and songwriting in this album is really top-tier. Aofie is one of my favorite folk/alt-country artists and she performs wonderfully, bringing her unique tone of voice to this project. This album was my first step into Aofie's artistry, and is firmly one of my favorite albums. Favorite track: Prodigal Daughter (feat. Allison Russell).
yorksprof
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yorksprof This is a great album. Starts brilliantly with Sister Starling and had me completely immersed throughout. I get lost in it to the point where it is always a surprise when the last track ends. Elevators was an early favourite and for me its the standout track - but its a close thing Favorite track: Elevators.
rachelgsp
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rachelgsp Stunning vocals and evocative lyrics! Favorite track: Phoenix.
noel163
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noel163 All songs are gems and it is impossible for me to choose just one favorite. The most beautiful songs are the B61, Town of Mercy, Phoenix, Age of Apathy, Sister Starling, Prodigal Daughter, Galahad, and Elevators. Either way, I cannot stop listening to this album. It might be the best one so far. Aoife is my favorite artist which says a lot because music is everything to me. :) Her voice is hauntingly beautiful, the music and the lyrics are beautiful and unusual, and original. Favorite track: B61.
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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    This is a Limited Edition Deluxe Pressing of Age of Apathy.
    2 LPs on Tie-Dye Color Virgin Vinyl
    Featuring the album "Age of Apathy" on LP #1
    An exclusive recording of 8 songs from the album, performed by Aoife on solo acoustic guitar, recorded as they were written)

    LIMITED EDITION DELUXE VINYL - LP 1
    SIDE A
    Sister Starling
    B61
    Phoenix
    Age of Apathy
    Elevators

    SIDE B
    Prodigal Daughter
    Galahad
    Town of Mercy
    Lucky Star
    What do you Want From Yourself?
    Passengers


    LIMITED EDITION DELUXE VINYL - LP 2

    SIDE C
    Phoenix
    Galahad
    Passengers
    B61

    SIDE D
    Age of Apathy
    Elevators
    Sister Starling
    Town of Mercy

    Includes unlimited streaming of Age of Apathy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 2000  47 remaining
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Deluxe Edition 2xCD featuring full album on one CD + bonus 8-song acoustic CD.

    CD 1 - Age of Apathy
    1. Sister Starling
    2. B61
    3. Phoenix
    4. Age of Apathy
    5. Elevators
    6. Prodigal Daughter
    7. Galahad
    8. Town of Mercy
    9. Lucky Star
    10. What do you Want From Yourself?
    11. Passengers

    CD 2 - Acoustic EP
    (Aoife plays the songs solo on guitar, as they were written)

    1. Phoenix
    2. Galahad
    3. Passengers
    4. B61
    5. Age of Apathy
    6. Elevators
    7. Sister Starling
    8. Town of Mercy

    Includes unlimited streaming of Age of Apathy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 3000  49 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    All 11 album tracks pressed on bone color vinyl

    Includes unlimited streaming of Age of Apathy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $23 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Standard single CD of album with 11 songs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Age of Apathy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • T-Shirt/Apparel

    "If You Need Someone to Hold You Can Hold Me." (lyric from "Age of Apathy") printed on Dusty Pine color sweatshirt made by Alternative. Cotton/Poly/Rayon blend, slim fit. Low-impact dyed and washed. Made in WRAP-certified factory. Sizes S-XXL
    ships out within 3 days
    2 remaining
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  • Sturdy Diner Mug with, "If You Need Something to Hold You Can Hold Me." printed on one side and "Aoife O'Donovan" printed on the other.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $13 USD or more 

     

1.
sister starling’s on the move she’s going down watch the iridescence fading from her crown she looks up when she hits the ground broken wing, feathers all around pick the starling up and bring the bird inside fashion her a bed of needles and rawhide she sleeps with unblinking eyes 
i watch - another morning dies apples and oranges don’t make lemonade but i press and i squeeze anyway 
when life gives you gin, you make something i will do anything you say try to find her in the elements at night 
took out my diving mask and underwater light i can go deep looking for a fight 
she stays out of mind out of sight makeshift magazines now blowing in the wind i remembered all my dreams way back when i’d wake up reach for a pen 
can’t catch her now couldn’t catch her then apples and oranges don’t make lemonade but you press and you squeeze anyway when life gives you gin, you make something i will do anything you say and if you told me to jump i’d climb to the top of the CN tower today watch me fly away took half of my life to get here 
it’ll take half to get back to the bed i was born in 
it’s where i want to die 
where do you want to die?
 made a lot of money only to lose it while trying to fake it makes me want to cry 
what makes you want to cry? found a letter in an old festival tote
 smoothed the paper out to read the crumpled note i’m sorry...
that’s all she wrote
2.
B61 03:41
he had time on his hand s
he carried the world on his shoulders he said meet me at the hudson’s edge help me roll my boulder so i went down, running down 
took the B61 across town 
to where he was waiting at the ice house wish it was my house
he took me out back for a drink 
showed me the heart on his sleeve love is a daily good thing
i see it in your smolder
 but i can’t feel it in my hands
 and I’m wringing them more now i’m older remember when i went down running down took the B61 across town
 to where you were waiting at the ice house wish it was my house you took me out back for a drink showed me the heart on your sleeve like ships in the night
 we go down without light we burn up all our anthracite and try to make a spark find a crack, let it in 
it’ll come, it might be dim 
adjust your eyes i know you can you’ll find me in the dark how will i know if i’m the last one alive? for forty one days and as many nights i’ll be standing where we stood 
under an indigo sky
 watching flames jump from firewood
3.
Phoenix 03:30
time’s not the villain 
coming up behind you is a marigold sun love if you’re willing take a little more time i smell fire
 it’s coming from the flames that are dancing on my wings i’m a bird on a wire 
killing time fever’s got me shaking 
it rises up like a road to meet me fever’s got me quaking 
like san andreas fault just put a cloth to my brow 
i’ll soar like a phoenix from the ashes put a pretty blanket down 
i’m ready now looking for forgiveness 
looking in every cupboard in every room i’m bearing witness 
to the passing time but the clock is ticking 
like an old man singing at the top of his lungs and the light is flickering 
we’re running out fever’s got me shaking 
it rises up like a road to meet me fever’s got me quaking 
like san andreas fault just put a cloth to my brow 
i’ll soar like a phoenix from the ashes put a pretty blanket down 
i’m ready now everybody’s looking for somebody to blame 
the stages of sadness how many can you name i stopped at anger, never felt the same they say it’ll fade my scars
 my tears will dry and i’ll lie under 
the stars again, not wondering where you are fever’s got me shaking 
it rises up like a road to meet me fever’s got me quaking 
like san andreas fault just put a cloth to my brow
i’ll soar like a phoenix from the ashes put a pretty blanket down 
i’m ready now
4.
let’s take a ride 
i know you love the taconic at twilight go east on 23 
past the farms and the festival memories listening to the hudson valley breeze oh to be born in the age of apathy 
when nothing’s got a hold on you
if you need someone to hold you can hold me under the shade of a quaking aspen tree 
we came for new england’s party 
but the colors haven’t started so it’s just you and me when did you start to change? 
was it somewhere up along the coast of maine? or when we drove back down 95 
we got stopped at the border but we made it out alive radio played “yellow moon on the rise” oh to be born in the age of apathy
 when nothing’s got a hold on you 
if you need someone to hold you can hold me under the shade of a quaking aspen tree 
we came for new england’s party 
but the colors haven’t started so it’s just you and me hold me like you held me on the day the towers fell 
when we stumbled over to the christian science center pool
 was it the end or the beginning? 
all i remember is the singing and the music trying to drive away the fear i’m still here somewhere down the line 
i let go around 2009 
lost the feeling in my hands
 guess it’s one that no one understands radio plays “my old man...........”
5.
Elevators 03:35
looking out the window 
feels like I’ve been here before 
the shady patch of green behind the big box store ‘round another corner past the swinging light 
in the back of a cutlass ciera one night in America 
America 
i’m just pulling out my hair trying to remember where i was in America 
i swear i saw you
 running for the back door i followed you like breadcrumbs out on the county roads where the only thing that mattered was lightening my load at an exxon station i stopped for a drink
 and i washed the memories down the dirty bathroom sink in America 
America 
i’m just pulling out my hair trying to remember where i was in America
i swear i saw you 
running for the back door Elevators
 old songs empty bottles so long after midnight 
when i was young 
the ice melted on my tongue elevators broken glass nothing lasts i finally figured out that everything was lost
 so i climbed in my wagon and started across 
the wide open prairie, headed up to the lake
 where is what’s good here? and what are we going to make of America? 
America 
i’m just pulling out my hair trying to remember where I was in America i swear i saw you 
running for the back door
6.
oh now rosie you come home in the morning got a child on your knee and your mother she looks on says “i don’t know that baby - don’t know you why’d you fail me you left home seven years ago and i wore black for days” prodigal daughter returns like a lamb to the slaughter i know forgiveness won’t come easy, not for you look at the child upon my knee she has eyes of blue she resembles me resembling you mama, listen come into the kitchen pour me some tea, let me sit at your feet and let me cry i need a little money i need love, and i need sunday suppers here at home, don’t want to be alone let me stay prodigal daughter returns like a lamb to the slaughter she yearns for the things that you taught her i know forgiveness won’t come easy, not for me but i’ll try to shut the past behind us, throw out the key give me one more chance to make you see prodigal daughter returns like a lamb to the slaughter looking for something in the water to wash away the the pain she’s drowning in the pain
7.
Galahad 03:33
you’re a white knigh t
i’m a dark horse
 oh galahad, i want to be yours i’ll meet you out behind the oxen’s shed 
and recite thirteen poems running through my head somebody told me you were pure of blood and oxygen that your good knife can cut through anything but i’m alive, I’m alive, i’m alive, i’m alive you got a gold heart 
i got a black one 
baby i sting like a scorpion 
so if you hear a rustle in the old oak trees
an ancient voice hymn humming, hmmm it’s me. rumor has it you are stronger than 100 men but it’s my word against tennyson’s. and I’m alive you muse on joy that will not cease pure spaces clothed in living dreams and lilies of eternal peace i’ll get over it 
when the morning comes 
by then you’ll be slouching towards avalon ride on, the prize is near 
it’s sitting right behind you 
singing in your ear and still you’re looking out into a cerulean sea where up above the gulls like grails are free and i’m alive
8.
i walked away from Mercy 
out to the deepest woods entered by the river
 at the only place i could 
fed a fire and watched the smoke like something climbing free leaning like a ladder and calling after me that i could rise from what may shine keep your place surrender mine 
as if your name as old as time 
waited like a song upon the tongue of all the mercy begging to be sung i’ve made my peace with Mercy as quick as it may be 
to betray my confidence 
in how I choose to see that what had come together 
now are pieces in my hand
 fraying at the knees that buckled long before we stand so i might rise from what may shine keep your place surrender mine 
as if your name as old as time waited like a song upon the tongue of all the mercy begging to be sung the snow flies its confetti
 like the end of a parade leaves a vacant silence knee-deep in the charade 
that here’s the end of hunger this feasting of the soul 
when all the while it’s waited for the light to swallow whole... so i might rise...
9.
Lucky Star 03:02
oh, oh 
in california the summer’s always cold feels more like the poconos in june 
i ran away too soon i’ll come back 
pick me up, be waiting on the tarmac 
why do they pack the airplanes like sardines and millennial queens if i had a little money i would go somewhere just a couple coin in the bottom of a mug would make me feel like i’m almost there August 
it came and went and left us in the dust i know it feels like love but baby it's lust august. now september 
all that we got now is wet hot american summer 
throw it on me like an afghan from your mother stay under it if i had a little money i would go somewhere just a couple coin in the bottom of a mug would make me feel like i’m almost there got my bus fare
go to the corner 
take the lucky star
up the northeast corridor back to boston you’ll be waiting there 
meet me at the lizard
 get a drink and stumble home i, 
i’ll die if you tell the world about my third eye i wanna keep it a secret til july 
my funny third eye... if i had a little money i would go somewhere just a couple coin in the bottom of a mug would make me feel like i’m almost where i thought i would be by now
10.
happy go lucky in the afternoon 
i can do anything i want when i’m with you it’s how i spent my 37 years around the sun in 33 more i’ll be an old woman
 sitting out the back with a beer in my hand i like the cold of the can... what do you want from yourself? what do i want? i want to be what i wanted to be in 1993 when it would snow a dozen times in january
 and we’d grab our sleds go to albemarle
 and we would fly down when do you learn your skin’s not as thick as you thought? when all you thought you had you lost?
 the mornings start to slip away sooner or later you’re gonna catch yourself in the glass looking hard lived and middle class
s mile at the cracks in the pane what do you want from yourself? what do i want? i want to be what i wanted to be in 1993 when it would snow a dozen times in january
 and we’d grab our sleds go to albemarle 
and we would fly down it all comes down to who got a head start and who’s running with a bum leg 
the coffee’s hot now 
how you like your eggs, sir? do you like eggs 
if nobody asks you - do you have a choice? your word’s your will’s your way’s your voice i’m tryin’ to hear you 
through the noise what do you want from yourself? what do i want? i want to be what i wanted to be in 1993 when it would snow a dozen times in january
 and we’d grab our sleds go to albemarle 
and we would fly down happy go lucky in the afternoon 
i can be anything i want when i’m with you 
it’s where i’ll spend my days until they’re done
11.
we are passengers traveling through the afterworld we can’t know where we come from 
and pasiphae’s just another moon jupiter he’s by my side and we watch galaxies collide my apathy is losing ground open my mouth and make a sound someone’s in the rear view mirror i see them pulling up beside me humming like a throated sparrow i wipe an old tear from my eye just take the wheel and drive you’re listening to the songs of celestial kings coming down you look for me
here i am, reaching perigee someone’s in the rear view mirror i see them pulling up beside me humming like a throated sparrow i wipe an old tear from my eye someone’s in the rear view mirror stay in your lane you’ll be fine mercury is stuck in scorpio and the little dipper’s dripping dry take it in, open your heart, they’re smiling
hold on take it in, open your ears, they’re laughing
hold on take it in, open your mouth, they’re singing
hold on we’re passengers and the road is long

about

Produced by fellow GRAMMY-winner Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens) and featuring guest appearances from Allison Russell and Madison Cunningham, Age Of Apathy finds O’Donovan’s gift for poetic imagery and unconventionally alluring melody in full bloom as she confronts the sense-dulling barrage of the digital age. Amid symphonic arrangements that reveal a stunning mastery of her craft, Aoife puts forth a statement of defiance and radical love — one that reaffirms her as one of our most vital songwriters today.

O’Donovan recorded Age Of Apathy through a unique arrangement with Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, logging daily hours on-site at their studio with GRAMMY-nominated engineer Darren Schneider (Deep Purple, Koryn Hawthorne, Trivium) - who also mixed the album - all the while collaborating entirely remotely with Henry. While her previous albums were composed and recorded in an adrenalized rush between tours, the creation of Age Of Apathy was more deliberate and methodical — a rare silver lining amid the stillness of COVID living.

O’Donovan found the routine freeing. Remote collaborations — particularly with bassist David Piltch and drummer Jay Bellerose — introduced unexpected rhythms and textures into the architecture of the songs, allowing O’Donovan to bend her sound into more expansive shapes. And with the expert guidance of Joe Henry, she was able to develop the dreamy, richly orchestrated — but never overwrought — soundworld that gives Age Of Apathy its distinct and enveloping aesthetic.

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released January 21, 2022

2022, Yep Roc Records

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Aoife O'Donovan New York

my new album “All My Friends” is out March 22

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