UMBRELLAS’ ILLUMINARE
(Latin; meaning to light the way or illustrate.)
When Scott Windsor and the timeless yet refreshing band Umbrellas released their debut self-titled record in 2005, they may not have guessed that one year later, they’d find themselves livening-up a drab, abandoned comedy club—recording songs on giant stages and in refrigerators for their follow-up, Illuminare. Umbrellas’ sophomore Militia Group release was recorded in two solid weeks of near fifteen-hour recording sessions, where Scott and his band’s musings were tested and brought to life.
When Umbrellas’ debut hit the shelves, it was recognized as a dynamic, eager offering. The band toured heavily and new ideas began swimming inside Windsor’s head. Those ideas formed icebergs—and the only option was to dismantle and re-conduct the near-avalanche of visions, abstractions, melodies and structures. The debut, birthed in decidedly artistic, collaborative ways, proved to be an even more cautious outing compared to Illuminare.
Hanging blankets across the empty, dusty and evocative shell of an old comedy club, Scott and his Umbrellas started tracking their new record Illuminare. They went forth in unsafe, less-than secure scenarios with nearby ‘06 tornados in Oklahoma. Scott recalls: “The old comedy club had an odd feel to it. Grossly low-lit, strange hallways, off-color backrooms good for nothing—right there in the middle of downtown Tulsa—dodging tornados in the midst of recording. We constantly heard sirens going off, went outside to piss-green skies, sideways rain and I thought to myself ‘maybe they’ll find these recordings someday after we were all carried off.’ One of the band members’ car was stolen during the recording process by homeless people who stole it just to impress their friends. The van got broken into- we had a stolen hard drive. But bad luck could not stop this record.”
James McAlister (Ester Drang, Sufjan Stevens) played the drums, percussion, programming, and added lively, innovative ideas like sampling Scott’s voice as the keyboard parts for the song “Again and Again.” On the song, Scott sings: “Where’s the piano? The big, big bass drum?” Well, in that song, the piano’s right there in his vocal chords—which were adamantly, angelically bared just as they are on Illuminare. “Most of these songs only had one take on vocals—80% of the record. Every record nowadays, it seems you can find some pretty blonde, put auto-tune on it and just go with it.” Scott modestly adds: “I’m not the best singer but at least when you see us live, what you see is what you get and I’m not lying to fans.” And it seems that’s what the general mood and stance of this record: reality, and a sense for the organic, raw, forgotten sentiments. In the song “Tests on My Heart, Windsor sings of ‘getting over the self,’ recording in the aforementioned refrigerator with cold vocal-shadows and a Vaudevillian piano interlude. Illuminare grapples with notions of solitude, life, death, and the plain old blues. Scott sings of realistic love, infatuation, satisfaction, disappointment, life-balance, the letting-go, appeasement, idealism, and grace—all with a backdrop of blustery fall-out tunes with strange swirls of sound, smatterings of echoes and pulsings, huge bass hammerings and bells to chime the gladness in being right there where one’s supposed to be. Weathering the storms, and taking on the shadows and memories of calmer times and warmer rooms.
The players: Chad Copelin (producer, keys, guitar, bass), Nathan Price (drums, percussion), Eric Arndt (bass), Scott Windsor (vocals, guitars, percussion) James McAlister (drums, percussion, programming), Ryan Lindsey (piano, background vocals)
Scott 09 Sep 2006
Taken from their Website:
www.umbrellasmusic.com
We Fall
Umbrellas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your hair was a mess and your face was wet
Your body was trembling
The summer's heat made your clothes stick to your skin
I just didn't know where to begin
I feel like everything, it's all my fault
I just wanted you to know the truth
I'm tired of the silence
I just can't describe what it feels like
To be on the outside looking in
So I'm searching for that song that will make me break down
And fall to my knees in the middle of this broken street
It's like life and death, they're married to each other
It's a partnership that can't be undone
I just wish there was something I could do for you
As we sit here, watching the ashes as they fall
And we fall
We fall
The lyrics to We Fall by Umbrellas depict a scene of a person who witnesses someone they care about in a state of distress, running through fields with messy hair, trembling and with clothes sticking to their skin due to the heat of the summer. The singer feels guilty as if everything is their fault and they express their tiredness of the silence that is so common when things are standing still. They express their inability to describe the feeling of being on the outside looking in and their search for a song that will make them break down and fall to their knees in the middle of the broken street.
The singer expresses a deep partnership between life and death, where they seem to be married to each other, and how it's a partnership that can't be undone. They express a wish to be able to do something for the person who is distressed, but as they both sit and watch the ashes falling, they both recognize that they are falling, as if they are being dragged down by the weight of their despair.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw you running through the fields
I noticed you running through the fields
Your hair was a mess and your face was wet
Your hair was disheveled and your face was covered in tears
Your body was trembling
Your body was shaking uncontrollably
The summer's heat made your clothes stick to your skin
The summer's heat made your clothes cling to your skin
I just didn't know where to begin
I didn't know how to start helping you or what to say
I feel like everything, it's all my fault
I feel responsible for everything that's going wrong
I just wanted you to know the truth
I wanted to be honest with you
I'm tired of the silence
I'm exhausted by the lack of communication
It seems all too common when things are standing still
The absence of movement seems to be a recurring issue
I just can't describe what it feels like
I'm unable to articulate how it feels
To be on the outside looking in
To feel left out and excluded
So I'm searching for that song that will make me break down
I'm looking for a song that triggers my emotions
And fall to my knees in the middle of this broken street
To drop to my knees in the middle of a street in disrepair
It's like life and death, they're married to each other
Life and death are inextricably linked
It's a partnership that can't be undone
It's a relationship that can't be broken
I just wish there was something I could do for you
I wish there was a way for me to help you
As we sit here, watching the ashes as they fall
As we watch the debris drifting down
And we fall
We're collapsing
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: SCOTT WINDSOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind