more from
Spirit House
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Waiting for the Sky to Speak

by Oropendola

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited Edition Vinyl LP of "Waiting for the Sky to Speak"
    Only 250 copies pressed!

    This is a preorder and is estimated to ship late May.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waiting for the Sky to Speak via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 80 days

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waiting for the Sky to Speak via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 14 days

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
I’m simultaneously disturbed and serene Simultaneously unnerved and relieved Shackin up in the middle of a dream Sprawled on a cul-de-sac, squinting up at a Rorschach sky Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? The clocks are doing the moon-walk, the astronauts are unfazed Big mouths are doing their small talk and atheists are pray, pray, praying Children singing life is but a dream Sun-drunk on the cul-de-sac, waiting for the sky to speak Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Row, row, row your boat gently through the clouds Merrily does not depend on the happening Life is but a roundabout Row, row, row your boat gently through the clouds Merrily does not depend on the happening Life is but a round, is but a round, is but a roundabout Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the- Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook? Are we finally off the hook, tell me are we off the hook?
2.
You ripped your shirt to tie my bouquet You took a seat and put your weight down It’s fine I’m tired anyway When I can’t pick a side I lay down Broken off car door Could have been a real eye sore You took out your camera I said let’s break it off now we’re Sitting on the sidewalk kissing Hand over your heart You’re such a good trooper Flowers on my front stoop, they were Still blooming, blooming One rubber band holds all my letters If I could let them dry, maybe I’d feel better I’ll probably feel I will probably feel I will probably feel better I’ll probably feel I will probably feel I will probably feel better Broken off car door Could have been a real eye sore You took out your camera I said let’s break it off now we’re Sitting on the sidewalk kissing Hand over your heart You’re such a good trooper Flowers on my front stoop, they were Broken off car door Could have been a real eye sore You took out your camera I said let’s break it off now we’re Sitting on the sidewalk kissing Hand over your heart You’re such a good trooper Flowers on my front stoop, they were Still blooming, blooming…
3.
Dancing on dying grass To the steady sounds of the highway Swaying left and right, out of time On an empty construction site Sweeping up broken glass Buying flowers at the hardware store Cleaning everything up nice, settling On an empty construction site I don’t know what is best for you and me Can two sticky pendulums be happy? Singing songs with the sun Then we'll drink the moon under the table Staggering around in the dark night On an empty construction site I don’t know why it’s so hard for you and me Can two sticky pendulums be happy? Out on the periphery They are calling out our names Pigeons are circling The time already came Out on the periphery They are calling out our names Pigeons are circling The time already came I don’t know what is best for you and me Can two sticky pendulums be happy? I don’t know what is best for you and me Can two sticky pendulums be happy? I don’t know why it’s so hard for you and me Can two sticky pendulums be happy Be happy, be happy? I knocked down the flowers While you weren’t watching Spinning around and around As the crane is lowering
4.
Did you need me to be steady after I turned into wind? Did you need me to be solid after I turned to liquid? I'm a fake fraudulent reporter, trying to decode changes in the weather, pleading for summer, keeping on my sweater, making predictions without ever going outside Promised a little rain, brought in a hurricane Year after year, can't let it go Why did you disappear after the air was clear Year after year, I still don't know how to trust the sun how to trust the sun Sick and tired of believing all of it is my fault Laying under a willow, weeping stroking her hair softly An image inverted in the water I will jump in, disappearing altogether I'm naked, shivering all over Should I feel whole now, feel whole now? An image inverted in the water Should I feel whole now, feel whole now I'm naked, shivering all over Should I feel whole now, feel whole now? Promised a little rain, brought in a hurricane Year after year, can't let it go Why did you disappear after the air was clear Year after year, I still don't know how to trust the sun how to trust the sun how to trust the sun, sun sun how to trust the sun, sun, sun...
5.
Lay here with me We are cradled, we are new Cupped hands in the sink Running water as we move Phantom feeling On my flesh where you drew If you allow me I’ll sink into you Am I a deep sea dreamer or a floating celestial body? Shimmy up melt down I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now Melt down shimmy up -side down and I just can’t get enough Stars in New Mexico I am falling for the road Cycling through the moons In my dollar dancing shoes Lightning in my bones I don’t know where I’m going Am I a deep sea dreamer or a floating celestial body? Shimmy up melt down I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now Melt down shimmy up -side down and I just can’t get enough Cycling through the moons in my dollar dancing shoes If you allow me to I will sink with you (4x) Shimmy up melt down I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now Melt down shimmy up -side down, oh Shimmy up melt down I don’t know what’s up with gravity right now Melt down shimmy up -side down and I just can’t get enough
6.
Can you feel the season of Demeter Grieving for her daughter Losses carried through the winter snow I’m gearing up to be alone I wanna know how you’re doing Let me back in I wanna know how you’re feeling Ease this suffering I’ve been trying to get clean But I’m craving company Need me or get away A moth longing for a hot flame Swimming through the frozen water Taunted by a fire far away A siren choir singing Drop the stone I know this bird has flown I wanna know how you’re doing Let me back in I wanna know how you’re feeling Ease this suffering I’ve been trying to get clean But I’m craving company Need me or get away A moth longing for a hot… Memories are pretty mermaids Tender ‘til the morning light fades Memories are pretty mermaids Tender ‘til the morning light changes I held you close to my heart Look at me when you pour my tea I held you close to my heart Look at me, look at me I held you close to my heart Look at me when you pour my tea I held you close to my heart Look at me, look at me I wanna know how you’re doing Let me back in I wanna know how you’re feeling Ease this suffering I’ve been trying to get clean But I’m craving company Need me or get away A moth brandishing a hot flame
7.
Walking around old halls I don’t recognize anything at all Faces were clear, pictures vivid I don’t want anyone to see me like this Where is my memory? She seems to flow right through Just like a river Into the mouth of the sea Sometimes I sit at the edge of it Try to reach my hand in Oh but I’m scared I never jumped off a swing Did I ever love anything? If I swirl my finger around Will it come back, come back to me Where is my memory? She seems to flow right through Just like a river Into the mouth of the sea Where is my memory? She seems to flow right through Just like a river Into the mouth of the sea Sea…..
8.
For Winslow 03:11
I’m sorry I never finished your birthday present I got stuck in my head I didn’t know how to measure up to what you got me So I got nothing instead I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my head I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my head I’m sorry I got pissed at you when we played ping-pong I got stuck in my pride I guess that’s why I never held your hand at the cafe You let all my shit slide I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my pride I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my pride I miss you, gonna say it outright ‘Stead of through abstractions and poetic lines I miss, I miss, I miss you I’m sorry I let us both believe that I might choose you I got stuck in my heart And I’m sorry I wrapped my arms around you so tight Though I knew from the start I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my heart I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my heart I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my heart I’m always stuck in my, always stuck in my, I’m always stuck in my heart I’m sorry I keep writing all these songs about you Shoulda told you straight Now I guess it’s too late
9.
AHFTKC 03:34
How ‘bout you meet me at the Motel 6 I wanna smell the smell of strangers on the linen Flippin through the late night TV There’s a pool next to the parking lot Can I use your toothpaste, I forgot mine I heard in the lobby that a D movie was shot here Shit, it’s 8:55 Should we late scramble to the scrambled eggs Bleary-eyed High on memory in the muscles You look so pastiche With your Lipton tea Infomercial TV Where the hell are we? I feel kinda like I’m photoshopped Or a UFO landing somewhere I forgot your charger in the room Ask Harold for the key card, Harold for the key card How ‘bout we dress up like the Shining twins I wanna play pretend and hitch a ride out of this skin Just for a moment Memory in the muscles, memory in the muscles I’m addicted to the almost there The rushy flood on the way to somewhere With no real rush to get there Memory in the muscles, memory in the muscles I’m so sick of going nowhere Memory in the muscles, memory in the muscles You look so alive Fingers wrapped ‘round mine Howling at the neon lights Howling at the neon lights Howling at the neon lights Howling at the neon lights
10.
Chrysalis 03:57
A butterfly landed inches from my face On the rail of the stoop That feeling when a dream is on the tip of your tongue For so long Loitering lovers Loitering lovers Loitering lovers My eyes twitched when I said loneliness Yours were so blue That feeling when love is on the tip of your tongue For so, so long, oh Loitering lovers Loitering lovers Aren’t we tired of waiting In the chryalis? In the chrysalis
11.
If I were an astronaut Floating past the places I forgot I can’t see them no more Ya know life on earth is such a bore Little houses on the shore When you carried me When you carried me home Draped over your shoulder like the sun fading fast When you carried me When you carried me home Sun over the water, the light we knew would always guide us If I were a lonely whale Rising up with each exhale No one’s ever seen me But they’re all listening When the time comes to sleep Will I float or sink When you carried me When you carried me home Draped over your shoulder like the sun fading fast When you carried me When you carried me home Sun over the water, the light we knew would always guide us, ah Can I revolve around the moon (can I revolve around the moon) Can I revolve around the stars if I choose to? At the bottom of the sea (at the bottom of the sea) Can I still feel the sun holding me? Can I still feel the sun holding me? When you carried me, when you carried me home When you carried me, when you carried me home Will you carry me, will you carry me home Sun over the water, the light we knew would always guide us

about

"Joanna Schubert didn’t see the point in buying flowers. Why spend money on something so beautiful, she wondered, if she was just going to watch it wither and expire? But over time, she began to understand the power in savoring something fully while it was still there. Making the choice to buy a bouquet became a symbol of embracing life in all its states while planting a flag in the field of the now.

It’s a sentiment echoed in Schubert’s decision to call her musical project Oropendola, after a bird she encountered in the Peruvian Amazon. The bird’s song, which filled her mornings and filtered into her dreams, was a complex and mesmerizing mix of textures that seemed to encapsulate the entirety of existence—from birth’s first gurgle to death’s final rattle. “Oropendola” translates to golden pendulum, which itself illuminates the swing between states of being. With this in mind, and on the cusp of turning thirty, Schubert adopted the bird’s name, and she bought herself some flowers.

The confidence in these acts of personal revelation rings out across the eleven songs that make up Oropendola’s stunning debut album, Waiting for the Sky to Speak. These tracks ripple with energy and emotion, pendulum-swinging from playfulness to earnestness with deft, technicolor brushstrokes. The album is a bouquet of sound and color, a celebration of choosing life even in the face of its ephemerality, and of finding motion even in the midst of stillness.

The songs on Waiting for the Sky to Speak were born from a time of immobility both existential and literal. As the world went into a state of lockdown during the pandemic, Schubert was reckoning with a feeling that, for years, her life had been at a standstill. She was ready to lift herself from the muck of fear and doubt, and move forward, to embrace joy and sing through the static. “Aren’t we tired of waiting in the chrysalis?” she sings on “Chrysalis,” giving voice to restlessness in the face of stagnation, while also acknowledging the invisible growth in those states of suspension. The choice of album title, then, is a fitting one: the phrase, which comes from the album’s opening track “Rorschach Sky,” points to the missed opportunity of spending your life waiting for something when life is happening all around you. “If you’re waiting for some kind of answer from the sky,” Schubert says, “you’re not seeing the beauty and the motion in every passing moment.”

Across this collection, Schubert’s skill with orchestration and arrangement, which she studied in college, is on full display. The album’s sonic palette blends the orchestral sounds of clarinet, flugelhorn, harp, and strings with searing synths, grooving drums and bass, adventurous vocal manipulations, and emotive piano. The result is a kind of kaleidoscopic chamber pop that pays homage to both the grandiose theatricality of Kate Bush and the digital balladry of FKA Twigs.

The production is bolstered by the textural flair of co-producer Zubin Hensler, who also served as mixer. Despite having never met before working together, the two podded up during the height of the pandemic at Hensler’s studio in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and took their time recording between 2020 and 2021. The liminal space created by a world on pause led the two to develop an album that sounds limitless. Songs as diverse as the disco-tinged sizzler “Shimmy Up Melt Down,” the angst-laced guitar rock of “For Winslow,” and the upbeat school-yard chant of “Flowers On My Front Stoop” all feel equally at home in this vibrant and generous world. In the end, nearly thirty musicians contributed sounds to the album—“At the Edge of It” alone features eighteen additional singers, including Schubert’s mother and sister—which gives it a prismatic community feel, blossoming from the seed of Schubert and Hensler’s initial isolation-fueled collaboration.

On lead single “Knocking Down Flowers,” Schubert finds life in the least likely of places: a construction site. She and a partner dance on broken glass, the highway hum serving as the soundtrack to a date that foreshadows a relationship’s end. “Can two sticky pendulums be happy?” she sings in a dazzling chromatic ascension, her voice landing confidently at the apex as if arriving at her own conclusion: that she will choose happiness, even as the ground beneath her shifts. Reminiscent of the biological concept of “ecotones”—which describes how adjacent ecosystems interact and often become stronger in their overlapping areas—Schubert recognizes and illuminates the power of living at the intersection of contrasts.

The album’s emotional core comes through on roiling ballad “Trust the Sun” and clear-eyed album closer “When You Carried Me,” which both look to the sun—another kind of golden pendulum—as a guiding force. In the former, Schubert is a misinformed meteorologist trying to interpret weather patterns, and in the latter she’s an astronaut adrift in the ethers of memory. In her search for an anchor point in her life, she says, “there is this question of whether it’s within me or outside of me— where is the certainty?” While much of the rest of Waiting for the Sky to Speak careens across black-ice patches of inner conflict, both these songs offer a tentative hand outward, towards love, friendship, and family— the fixed sun in a changeable sky—as she coaxes herself back out into the world.

As a lyricist, Schubert swings from mischievous wisecracks (“you look so pastiche with your Lipton tea,” from “AHFTKC”) to vulnerable pleas for clarity (“should I feel whole now?” from “Trust the Sun”), creating songs that often sound like a wink but hit like a gut-punch. She cites the off-kilter writing of Miranda July as an influence on this lyrical approach. “I appreciate the humanity in her writing,” she says. “Humanity in weirdness, humanity in loneliness, humanity in shame.” The effect is something like Schubert staging her own circus, psyching herself up from side-stage before performing feats of musical derring-do in front of our eyes (and ears). It’s the humanity in daring to dream.

Waiting for the Sky to Speak is an imaginative and colorful chimera of a collection that marks Oropendola’s triumphant arrival. Ultimately, these songs ask one of the soul’s most fundamental questions: how do you find your footing in an impermanent world? There is no absolute answer, and thus, as Schubert finds, there is no purpose in waiting for one. How liberating it is to break out of our own cycles, to be the force that knocks the pendulum off its axis. There’s a line on “AHFTKC” that rings out like an underlying mantra: “Memory in the muscles.” It’s a simple yet powerful reminder to get out of your head and into the day, where the sun rides high in the wide sky, where life thrums in the stillest corners, where there are flowers that will bloom beautifully and then, one day, fade."

- written by Nandi Rose

credits

released March 17, 2023

SONGS + LYRICS Joanna Schubert
ARRANGEMENTS + PRODUCTION Joanna Schubert + Zubin Hensler
RECORDING, MIXING, PROGRAMMING Zubin Hensler
MASTERING Joe Lambert

recorded in Brooklyn, NY, from 2020-2021
on unceded Lenapehoking territory

PERFORMED BY
Joanna Schubert vocals, piano, synths, guitar (8), ukulele (11)
Zubin Hensler flugelhorn, guitar, synths, drum kit (3), vocals (2,3,5)
Kristina Teuschler clarinet
Camellia Hartman violin
Ryan Weiner bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9), guitar (11)
Katie Battistoni guitar
Matt Evans drum kit, percussion
JoAnne Hyun bass (2, 5)
Gabby Sherba vocals (2, 6, 9)
Emma Pierson vocals (5)
Kristen Drymala cello (4)
Rebecca El-Saleh harp (6)
Landon Peer bass clarinet (11)
Bum Bum accidental radio transmission (9, 10)

add’l drum worlds crafted by Zubin Hensler + Joanna Schubert

add’l vocals in “At the Edge of It”
Abby Ahmad, Shilpa Ananth, Joy Askew, Lauren Balthrop, Lau Barrios
Toby Chaiken, Aleksandra Denda, Neha Jiwrajka, Astrid Kuljanić
Julia Mark, Marisa Michelson, Raquel Quiñones, Molly Ranson
Erica Schubert, Sharon Schubert, Elizabeth Ziman

PHOTOGRAPHY Chimera Singer
DESIGN + LAYOUT Lau Barrios

ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO
Zubin Hensler, every collaborator on/outside of this album, unanticipated time, silver linings, Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way,” Emily Mure, Marisa Michelson, Joy’s songwriters hangs, 151 17th Street #1, Mom, Dad, Eri, Moose, family, friends, lovers, inbetweens, the real oropendolas, all of this, all of you.
m e m o r y i n t h e m u s c l e s

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Oropendola New York

golden pendulum.

singer-keyboardist-songwriter-arranger-frolicker.

debut Oropendola album Waiting for the Sky to Speak out now <3

contact / help

Contact Oropendola

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Oropendola, you may also like: