In June 2015, Obel worked on her new album with a serial of mixing sessions. She recorded strings with new musicians : Frédérique Labbow, Kristina Koropecki and John Corban.
In June 2016, Agnes Obel has released a new single for her upcoming album. 'Familiar' is available in streaming service. This new song is recorded, produced and mixed by Agnes Obel and featuring violin by John Corban, cellos by Kristina Koropecki and Charlotte Danhier. The video clip is directed by her husband : Alex Brüel Flagstad. Hugo Cassavetti, from Telerama, wrote : "Agnes Obel, while remaining true to her fine style, expands her new musical fields. Percussions with a loud power rhythm a delicately acrobatic melody that the singer performs with a voice that was strangely moved. Yes, Obel, as splitted by technology, duet with her disturbing echoes with a male stamp."
In July 2016, Obel announced her third studio album, Citizen of Glass, to be released on 21 October 2016. About the mysterious title, Obel explains : “The title comes from the German concept of the gläserner bürger, the human or glass citizen. It’s actually a legal term about the level of privacy the individual has in a state, and in health it’s become a term about how much we know about a person’s body or biology or history – if they’re completely made of glass we know everything."
Among violins, cellos, harpsichords, spinet and celesta : Agnes Obel used, for the time, a very rare Trautonium. A delicate, metal-keyed synthesiser from the late 1920s.
The tracklist of Citizen of Glass will be : Stretch Your Eyes (aka Spinet Song), Familiar, Red Virgin Soil, It’s Happening Again, Stone, Trojan Horses, Citizen Of Glass, Golden Green, Grasshopper, Mary.
In September 2016, Agnes has released a new single : "Golden Green". In Dansende Beren, Niels Bruwier writes : “The sound of glass is never far away. The song is about the way we always find other better lives than ours(…)she brings out her dreamy voice, it’s actually just the perfect classic pop song without embellishment. Enchanting, elysisch and paradise-like."
Stretch Your Eyes
Agnes Obel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They dance so sweet and slow
Dug-out from below there
To damn the gods
A grip that will hold
That is so tight and close
Around my throat with
The weight of all our lives
You could give to my heart
Thousand words or more
You could give to my heart
Thousand words or more
The drum you stroke
Damn, that beat so old
In the ground it grows there
To damn the sun
The gates of gold
In your head you hold
A kingdom molten
May the gods be on your side
You could give to my heart
Thousand words or more
You could give to my heart
Thousand words or more
Agnes Obel’s song “Stretch Your Eyes” is a stunning, yet eerie masterpiece. The lyrics of this song are truly poetic, and the meaning is open to interpretation. The atmosphere of the song is haunting from the beginning to the end with deep, dark instrumentals that crawls under your skin. The song opens with the lines “The darkness and the ghost, they dance so sweet and slow. Dug-out from below there, to damn the gods”. This opening line could be interpreted as the darkness and lore of the past haunting the present, reminding us that though time passes, pain lingers. The ghost is a metaphor for the past, and how it remains with us, haunting us in the present. The rest of the lyrics speak to the idea of being held captive, whether by one's own demons or by others, even our own memories.
The lyrics also speak about the weight of life and the desires that we all harbor but don't always acknowledge. The lines, “A grip that will hold, that is so tight and close. Around my throat with the weight of all our lives” can be interpreted as the weight of all our desires and wants that we carry with us throughout our lives. The lyrics, “In your head you hold, a kingdom molten, may the gods be on your side” can be seen as a plea for luck, for a higher power to guide us through the chaos of life.
Line by Line Meaning
The darkness and the ghost
The shadowy elements and the supernatural entities
They dance so sweet and slow
They move gracefully and unhurriedly
Dug-out from below there
Emerging from under the ground
To damn the gods
To curse the divine entities
A grip that will hold
A strong, unrelenting grasp
That is so tight and close
To the point of being constricting and suffocating
Around my throat with
Encircling my neck with
The weight of all our lives
The burden of all our experiences
You could give to my heart
You have the ability to impart to my emotions
Thousand words or more
An abundance of language and expression
The drum you stroke
The percussion you play
Damn, that beat so old
The rhythm is incredibly ancient
In the ground it grows there
It originates and flourishes beneath the soil
To damn the sun
To cast a curse upon the celestial body
The gates of gold
The entranceway to abundant riches
In your head you hold
Within your mind you possess
A kingdom molten
A domain made of melted material
May the gods be on your side
May divine beings offer assistance to you
You could give to my heart
You have the power to impart to my emotions
Thousand words or more
A plethora of language and expression
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: AGNES CAROLINE THAARUP OBEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind