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Music For Listening To Music To

by La Sera

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1.
A little girl pulled me aside and said I wouldn’t make it through the night Well thank you darling this I know I threw a look over my shoulder towards the guys who look dissatisfied I’m sorry, is this song too slow? Well I can’t sing it for you just the way you want me to I might be tall but I’m not half the man you thought you knew Who knew? I’ll hit the high notes, wink as you walk by I’ll sing a sad song, smile as you cry Taking the high road, look me in the eye Time waits for no man, old man, I’m saying goodbye I feel it deep inside my chest that I just don’t fulfill you’re appetite And that’s the way that this will go Another band will play and you’ll still be the kind of guy I wanna fight I shouldn’t let my feelings show Well I can’t sing it for you just the way you want me to I might be tall but I’m not half the man you thought you knew And if I choke then you’ll be gone to find somebody new Who knew? I’ll hit the high notes, wink as you walk by I’ll sing a sad song, smile as you cry Taking the high road, look me in the eye Time waits for no man, old man, I’m saying goodbye I’m saying goodbye. I’m saying goodbye.
2.
Eyes can meet a thousand ways, heart might skip a beat But don’t be afraid of my love, stay here with me always You can see my eyes in the dark, these eyes have seen a lot But don’t walk away from my love, stay here inside my heart Finally I found a love that is strange, it will take you down Love can be cruel, gone and wrecked this town Love can do all of these things Falling through the alleys at night, my mind has seen a lot But don’t be afraid of my love, stay here with me always Eyes can meet a thousand ways, heart might skip a beat But don’t walk away from my love, stay here inside my heart Finally I found a love that is strange, it will take you down Love can be cruel, gone and wrecked this town Love can do all of these things Finally I found a love that is strange, it will bring you down Love can be good, it can save this town Love can do all of these things Finally I found a love that is strange, it will take you down Love can be cruel, gone and wrecked this town Love can do all of these things Finally I found a love that is strange, and it won’t back down Love can be real, it can stick around Love can do all of these things
3.
One true love, she said she’s running away, she’s running away One true love, she said she’s leaving me, she’s leaving me today But I can not take, no more none of this heartache So I’m running away, I’m running away too And I will follow, I’ll be right at your heels, wherever you might go And I won’t bother trying to set things right, I’ll let you be alone The woman I love, she said she’s running away, she’s running away The woman I love, she said she’s leaving me, she’s leaving me today But I can not take, no more none of this heartache So I’m running away, I’m running away too And I will follow, I’ll be right at your heels, wherever you might go And I won’t bother trying to set things right, I’ll let you be alone It’s been lonely nights without you, yeah and lonely days without you, and the sky’s gone grey without you And I will follow, I’ll be right at your heels, wherever you might go
4.
Drove past your house while on my way to town Heard that you are angry now, my love Last time I saw you you were heading out Going on tour to make it now, so young But we are not the same as we used to be Our faces start to change, we hang up all of those dreams We can’t be afraid of the future, we have to hold our heads up when the sky begins to rain Standing for hours right outside your house Knowing that you’ve gone without, my love Learning to live again without my hand Trusting that you’ll thrive again, so dumb But we are not the same as we used to be Our faces start to change, we hang up all of those dreams We can’t be afraid of the future, we have to hold our heads up when the sky begins to rain Help me understand, be my only friend, love me till the end That’s my mistake, that’s my mistake, that’s my mistake
5.
Start up my heart now, it’s the only way Take all my love, close your eyes and say Do you believe in me? Do you believe in me? Make up your mind, you can be so vague Can you do better by my side these days? Do you believe in me? Do you believe in me? It’s the only way up, it’s the only way I know to live It’s the only way up, it’s the only thing I have to give, to give Take my heart, take my heart, take my heart… Pick up the pieces, they’ve flown away Lift them up gently in your arms and say Do you believe in me? Do you believe in me? It’s the only way up, it’s the only way I know to live It’s the only way up, it’s the only thing I have to give, to give Take my heart, take my heart, take my heart…
6.
Heaven help me, say a prayer for me You don’t love me, don’t love me no more We were money in the bank till the bank got robbed Cruising easy street till the wheel fell off Down on any street where the train stops stop Hear them all crying for me, hear them all crying for me Heaven help me, I need an angel, I need a miracle Cause I’ve tried all my luck in this world, I would do anything for you to love me I need an angel, to love me, I need an angel, to love me, I need an angel See what’s left of me, nothing but shreds to me I’m way out to sea, you’re the rising shore The safest bet, no risk of a loss, till the other foot dropped left to pay the cost The mess you left is all I’ve got Hear them all crying for me, hear them all crying for me Heaven help me, I need an angel, I need a miracle Cause I’ve tried all my luck in this world, I would do anything for you to love me Heaven help me, I need an angel, I need a miracle Cause I’ve tried all my luck in this world, I would do anything for you to love me I need an angel to go ahead love me, I need an angel, to love me, I need an angel, to love me I need an angel to go ahead love me
7.
Time To Go 02:00
Oh the night holds the fondest memories Why are you taking that from me? The last thing that you said, burned on my way home The bike ride to my bed, fell on the asphalt, now it’s time to go Oh the lives that we have are dangerous Oh how can you escape us? The last look that we shared, filled you with envy You got into your car just to rear end me, now it’s time go Oooooh now it’s time to go
8.
Stick to the stones, going with what you know Came to me like a vision in the night Pedal steel plays, like always Are you with me now, have you ever been? Pedal steel plays, always Are you with me now, have you ever been? Nothing grows, nothing grows in the shadow of your love Heading home, playing what I know Came to me like a message in the night I turn away, like always Are you with me now, have you ever been? I look away, always Are you with me now, have you ever been? Nothing grows, nothing grows in the shadow of your love Shadow of your love, shadow of your love, shadow of your love
9.
Nineties 03:20
Watch the kid staring out the window Who thinks he thought he might of seen his mom But the woman he knows to that he knows to well is gone So you can go ahead and blame the nineties Start blaming them for just bein' cruel But if you start blaming them then blame the other years too I found a picture in a stack in the box and thought “She hadn't really looked this good in years” I'll start looking like you when I stop looking in a mirror Yeh, I'll start looking like you when I stop looking in a mirror So you can go ahead and change your idols I'll start acting like this kid I knew in school Talkin' shit real quiet, selling smokes, and stealing booze Lyin' 'bout my family and the reason that I moved I ride around starin' at the houses only see the ones I never will afford Same with my memory of you and all the times I felt ignored So I'm-a go ahead and say I been a saint and I'll tell it to you till I get through heaven's doors When I crumble to dust leaving dirt and a dull sword Yeh I'm-a go ahead and say I've been a saint and I'll tell it to you till I get to heaven's door When I crumble to dust leaving some dirt and a dull sword When I crumble to dust leaving some dirt and a dull sword.
10.
A dear man told me once, always find the voice you love Follow it until it fades A blind man told his son, never find a face to love Sight will only lead you astray When it’s too little too late That’s when it starts to make the most sense, sense to me When I look back on my life That’s when I start to cry, my failures come to be It kills me Staring at the sun, until my will was done Long enough to feel the heat And I’m not the only one whose dying on the run We all feel so incomplete When it’s too little too late That’s when it starts to make the most sense, sense to me When there’s one song left to sing That’s when the devil brings you closer to me It kills me, it hurts me

about

The title of La Sera's fourth album says a lot by saying so precious little: Music For Listening to Music To. So, in other words, "music." After the punky heft and wildness of 2014's Hour of the Dawn, an LP that thrashed against expectation, Katy Goodman returns with a set of songs that double down on solid simplicity — the power of wry lyrics, glorious guitar, driving backbeat, and the occasional pump organ groove. And as the record cover gives away, Goodman isn't alone.

La Sera is a duo now — that's guitarist/cowriter/new husband (!) Todd Wisenbaker standing up there. And Ryan Adams joins to produce the fruit of their union, La Sera's first live-recorded analog album, featuring 10 tunes about good love, bad love, dead men, and confused kids.

Music For Listening to Music To opens on "High Notes," where rollicking guitar and punk drums chugga-chugga beneath Goodman's assured coo. Her lines deftly wrap the snark of Morrissey inside the sneer of Johnny Cash, and if you ask her what her favorite parts of the new album are, she'll tell you it's the scrappy stuff. "Time to Go," which hurdles out the gate on a rocket of slide guitar and elastic bass, is another one aimed at settling old accounts — just 'cause our heroine is happily married doesn't mean she can't take swings at those who came before.

For a glimpse at the album's genesis, though, pull up duet "One True Love." When it came time to write her fourth full-length, Goodman wasn't sure where she wanted to take the music. One night she and Wisenbaker (a Jenny and Johnny touring alum who joined La Sera in 2012 and produced Hour of the Dawn) did something they'd shockingly never done before: wrote a song together. That upbeat jangle-pop cut was the result, and the rest poured out. Wisenbaker sings on two others as well — the coiffed malt shop blues of "I Need an Angel" and bittersweet rocker "Nineties," which features synth by Adams and Greta Morgan (The Hush Sound, Gold Motel). Nate Lotz (Halsey, Madi Diaz) drummed for the weeklong PAX-AM studio sessions.

As a testament to the chemistry that happened in that space, Music For Listening to Music To spawned another fruitful relationship: Adams and Wisenbaker hit it off and decided to start their own band. Instead they wound up recording a bunch of Taylor Swift covers, which became the 1989 album. These days Wisenbaker's doing double duty — you might've seen him backing Adams on Jimmy Kimmel or The Daily Show.

Goodman says Adams' excitement about taking La Sera into the analog realm inspired her to embrace the back-to-basics approach. Considering that, it's the slower, more spacious tracks — like the spare and moody "Begins to Rain" or the grunge-kissed closer, "Too Little Too Late" — that best illustrate how far La Sera's come since 2011's self-titled bedroom-pop debut and 2012's brighter (if still emotionally overcast) Sees the Light. Goodman's knack for swoon and gloom, first heard via Vivian Girls, is only enhanced by the addition of Wisenbaker's voice. As she sings on "A Thousand Ways," arguably Music For Listening to Music To's dreamiest song, "Love can do all of these things." Knowing Goodman there's a sly wink in there, but it's easy to imagine, if only for a beat, that the carefree flame of the oldies La Sera hold so dear still burns here.

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released March 4, 2016

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La Sera Los Angeles, California

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