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.

Paper Chains

by Eric Stephen Martin

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    12" Vinyl copy of Paper Chains. Limited to 300 copies. Pressed by Taz Records.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Paper Chains via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $29.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Set of 52 collage art cards in quality hard box. Limited Edition of 100. Art by Eric Stephen Martin.
    ships out within 5 days

      $29.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

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

      $12 CAD  or more

     

1.
Paper Chains 02:38
Shoestrings And flowers too While I sing Down avenues I contemplate the things I hate In Nightmares Walking through gardens Somewhere It's quite bizarre that I can hear the shore from here at all Tree streets and tiny houseplants Mysteries Inside the floor vents I could point the finger so Convince me The joke’s on you so Kiss me Follow the rules or ask how they pertain to you instead Surrounded by the sea There's a row of streets Pull me From little boxes And put me Inside your wallet Cut me on the dotted line So I bind and I admit it Cuz I tried While I was sleeping To sing to you a patient lullaby But on the first of May I pulled the paper chains Ou…
2.
Up ’til now I was dumb Missed the lure of your mysterious love A chance encounter, a vivid vision A familiar spirit in dimension and hum If we’re just versions of the notes Sung at the ceiling into vertigo A tired message, a quick illusion A primal music that an intuition knows Did I brush you in the dark lying with me? I cannot know, I will not know I get the feeling that you’ll always listen When I whisper in my sleep, oh If we're the cut-ups of the stars Bound together in a billion parts We met before recorded time through planetary collisions in the empty sky Did I brush you in the dark lying with me? I cannot know, I will not know I get the feeling that you’ll always listen When I whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I… Did I brush you in the dark lying with me? I cannot know, I will not know I get the feeling that you’ll always listen When I whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I Whisper in my sleep I…
3.
When You Cry 03:32
When the joke’s on you it's hard to get Tossing in my bed with your silhouette Trying to fall asleep but too aware of time With the notes and the tunes I call for you The sky’s behind the ceiling that I'm aiming through Thrown like a card headed for your room tonight Although we're split by some space and land the whole wide world is a grain of sand Our love's star so darling dry your eyes Cuz it breaks my heart honey when you cry When you cry When the light in the evening is an orange glow I'm seduced by believing there's a place to go I don't peek in bars or in windows of cars it's true In the notes and the tunes I hear your voice There's one thing on my mind over city noise I wonder if I see the same twilight as you Although we're split by some space and land The whole wide world is a grain of sand Our love's a star so darling dry your eyes Cuz it breaks my heart honey when you cry When you cry Cuz it breaks my heart honey when you cry Well the joke’s on you (honey when you cry) Well the joke’s on you (honey when you cry) Well the joke’s on you (honey when you cry) Well the joke’s on you, honey, when you cry
4.
Cold as tears on the pavement I'll be here duly waiting I shouldn't feel lonely but I really do Lipless face I've been kissing Behind the eyes there's a distance It doesn't matter what I do I'll be in the world without you Hypervigilant of when you’re right Staring in the mirror when you go by Am I such a fool to wanna be your only baby Oh oh oh oh oh Cold as blood on the pavement I'll be here bleeding waiting Why is it never much about love All I want it someone to give a fuck Hypervigilant of when you’re right Staring in the mirror when you go by Putting too much time in how you look Flirting with the night you've got me hooked Hypervigilant of when you cry Falling on the floor or flying by Am I such a fool to want to be your only baby Oh oh oh oh oh Your only baby
5.
Witches 03:52
Sleepwalkin' in the mystic garden, dry petals on the vine Doing bad has a kinda pull and I'm about to cross a line Blood roses decorate my boots and moonlight marks my path Some people want to bury their fate and some want to take it back I pulled a card and I threw the coins New bad news through a face and a choice I saw the signs but I read them wrong Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Soft whisper in the hallway rising, darkness on my trail Three steps to go lock the door, three more to a cross and nail I'm flipping through The Flowers of Evil with a dagger made of wood Some people do unspeakable things and some don't believe they could I pulled a card and I threw the coins New bad news through a face and a choice I saw the signs but I read them wrong Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Sleepwalkin' in the mystic garden, dry petals on the vine You write the letter then you lick the seal Then you live with the consequences I pulled a card and I threw the coins New bad news through a face and a choice I saw the signs but I read them wrong Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn Raven on the roof, witches on the lawn
6.
Oh la la here I sing I show my hand I deal you in I pull the cards I flip the coins You speak to me without your voice Oh la la such a sight the changes we see overnight I call the names my speech is slurred You talk to me in written words Strange things happen when I reach for your heart I see shadows in the dark they fly, they fly Oh la la here I try To prove to you I’m on your side I hold your hand I watch your back But I can’t quite do more than that Strange things happen when I reach for your heart I see shadows in the dark they fly Strange things happen when I reach for your heart I see shadows in the dark they fly Strange things happen when I reach for your heart I see shadows in the dark they fly, they fly Oh la la here I sing I show my hand I deal you in
7.
Here's a purposed and a planned attack Someone just took another photograph Built-in pop-up flash I didn't want to remember that the past and the present match 2D of me paper packed & thumbtack’d Subtract the Polaroid back this whole stack’s Kodak The playing speaker and clicking track The past and the present match (So if you’re feeling stage fright the paranormal's your paradise It’s like your here but not quite I’ll be whispering through the whole damn night Out of the blurry and blue-ish black Someone just took another photograph Built-in pop-up flash I didn't wanna have to cut it in half "The past is a mirror" fuck that) So if you like to ghost write (I’ll be whispering through the whole damn night) It’s like you're here but not quite (The paranormal's my human right And if you’re feeling stage fright) Cuz every picture's gettin' polarized (The wrong kinda of right) She said (I’ve got other guys), I said baby don’t apologize, (visualize)
8.
Welcome to the new relief Where tension dies a slow release And the pitching down of wild geese Is heard along the shore Nothing really disappears Where could it go from here? The whispered word behind my ears Been there since I was born If I dream before I wake I pray to peek your pretty face Time today is time to waste When I'm not touching you If I’m not touching you today In a flash of light or full decay We’ll meet again denied of space dealt to deja vu These are the beginnings of love These are the beginnings of love Welcome to the talking sleeps The hunted songs and flower streets The paper chains and witches dreams That make me who I am Where nothing really disappears Where could it go from here? The parts of me will persevere And be renewed again These are the beginnings of love These are the beginnings of love These are the beginnings of love Welcome to the new relief where tension dies a slow release And the conscious cut of every piece Builds something on the floor
9.
I can't hear the shore and my language is failing On oceans of blue my words are a-sailing away with the thunder I daydream at the bar Bad lucked and cold on a highway of diamonds Heavy sheets of rain rolling onto my eyelids Have you got the gas and the space for me in your car? Down flower streets I ride Like I have my whole life Everyone turns into be somebody else At the mercy of clocks - in the mystery of self but glory in difference is all that there is Age is a measure our hearts only beating Away out of time pumping blood and revealing that forever young is lie dressed as a wish Down flower streets I ride Like I will my whole life I had a vision was out in the garden A light called the sun came up from the horizon I’ll watched them bloom and I watch them grow
10.
Track back, kick up the dust Some things love following us Ear drums on closed windows Keep still and listen close On every channel the radio plays In grocery stores, in bars and cafes I check my shoulders, I try to stay strong Hunted by a song Count ins to major scales Some licks stay on our trail Big kicks get amplified Loudness gets weaponized Off every hill the radio beams Through every lake down rivers and streams Shaking nature, the spotlight is on Hunted by a song Hunted by a song Hunted by a song I'm hearing something moving outside A steady beat, a poetic rhyme I hold my tongue, I can't sing along Hunted by a song Hunted by a song (but my foot starts tapping) Hunted by a song (and my fingers snapping) Hunted by a song (before I know it I'm clapping) Hunted by a song (oh and I’ve been) Hunted by a song

about

Paper Chains is an album and a collection of 52 collage cards written and designed by Eric Stephen Martin. The album inspired the cards and the cards inspired the album.

credits

released March 1, 2024

Produced by Joel Plaskett
Mixed by Joel Plaskett and Eric Stephen Martin
Recorded at Fang Recording in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Engineered by Thomas Stajcer and Alex Burris
Mastered direct from analog tape by J. Lapointe at Archive Mastering

Featuring the Paper Chains band:
Drums - Jordan Murphy
Keys - Siobhan Martin
Bass - Billy Taylor-Habib
with
Guitars - Eric Stephen Martin and Joel Plaskett
Vocals - Eric Stephen Martin, Sarah Swire, Joel Plaskett, and Mo Kenney
Additional Vocals - Dylan Jewers and Thomas Stajcer
Additional Overdubs - Eric Stephen Martin, Siobhan Martin, and Joel Plaskett

All songs written by Eric Stephen Martin (SOCAN)
*except Hypervigilant, Witches, Down Flower Streets, Hunted By A Song by Eric Stephen Martin (SOCAN) and Joel Plaskett
*and Visualize by Eric Stephen Martin (SOCAN) and Sarah Swire (SOCAN)

All artwork, graphic design, and photography by Eric Stephen Martin

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Eric Stephen Martin Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Eric Stephen Martin is a singer and songwriter from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Together with Rick The Loser, he owns and runs Three First Names Records.

contact / help

Contact Eric Stephen Martin

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Eric Stephen Martin recommends:

If you like Eric Stephen Martin, you may also like: