It's like curling up in a sleeping bag full of kittens.
Janelle B
It makes me feel like I'm in a hovercraft in a Philip K. Dick movie.
Rebecca C
SAILING
Feels like a good day to get out in the cold
take a chance on the weather
the sun may make a cameo
and it's a risky life
are we running out of time
but we won't be denied a chance at the good life
and to our surprise we're sailing the high seas
in the middle of the ocean spinny and me
we're sailing the wildest mystery
and to our surprise we're happy and free
on the crest of a wave is where i wanna be
we're sailing
maybe it's today maybe it's tomorrow
but we have to make a play or the chance will fade away
and though the wind is high
it'll never be a breeze
but we'll fight for the ocean
we'll fight for dreams
and to our surprise we're sailing the high seas
in the middle of the ocean spinny and me
we're sailing the wildest mystery
and to our surprise, we're happy and free
on the crest of a wave is where i wanna be
we're sailing the wildest mystery
and to our surprise we're sailing the high seas
in the middle of the ocean spinny and me
we're sailing the wildest mystery
and to our surprise we're happy and free
on the crest of a wave is where i wanna be
we're sailing
DOUBLE DIGIT LOVE
Superhero, supervillain when you gonna settle in
it's a set up and we love it
and the carrot is dangling
the hooks are hooking
the bait is our desire
we are moths to the fire
and they got you where they want you
will you give it give it give it to 'em
yeah they got you where they want you
it's a childish delusion
you can't hide it double digit love
you know you want double digit love
do you like it double digit love
and can you get it double digit love
it is a limited edition emergency
will you be ready when it's ready for you
the double digit love is all you wanna do
dream lover turning into real life
and we won't put up a fight
double digit love
who's gonna win the double digit love (2x)
and they got you where they want you
will you give it to em
yeah they got you where they want you
it's a childish delusion
you can't hide it double digit love
you know you want double digit love
do you like it double digit love
and can you get it double digit love
double digit love
who's gonna win the double digit love (4x)
double digit love
EARTHQUAKE
we
we make
the earth shake
float
float away
on a seismic wave
be
be good
behave
your heart used to say
but how could you know
that we could dance this way
give
give in
break through
everything you thought you knew
the heart aches
but can you feel the earth
shake
ooh oh oh
the heart aches
ooh oh oh
give it all away
the heart aches
RAGGED DAWN
one more fight before the night ends
there's glory ahead
so we won't give in then
the ragged dawn will warm us again
distant glow is begging to be known
to touch our skin, to heat our bones
one more fight before the night ends
we've come this far
we've danced this hard
let the dawn have its way
this is our glory day
one more fight before the night ends
this is our glory day
glory day
one more fight before the night ends
give us the good fight
the dawn is waking
no mistaking the light
this is all borrowed time
so keep dancing
never know when we're gonna die
let the dawn have its way
this is our glory day
this is our glory day
one more fight...
THE GETAWAY
don't wanna take the highway
wanna go our own way
don't wanna take the fast lane
when we could take it slowly
don't' wanna drink the koolaid
just wanna go the right way
change your name
change your life
run away
save yourself
gotta get on the road to find the simpler times
i won't look back tonight at the lives i've left behind
gotta get on the road to find the light i know is mine
gotta get on the road to find the simpler times
time will only slip away
gotta find the courage
to back up what you say
put the money where the mouth is
wanna take a chance
get out of the rat race
no matter what it takes
it's time to play the high stakes
change your name
change your life
get away
save yourself
gotta get on the road to find the simpler times
i won't look back tonight at the lives i've left behind
gotta get on the road to find the light i know is mine
gotta get on the road to find the simpler times (2x)
CRIME TIP
Got a tip about a crime
that i will commit
you'll show me how to do it
i'll fake my way through it
and i won't put up a fight
i'll be the culprit
i won't even deny it
i'll even take the fall
the body wants what the body wants
and it's not a crime
the body wants what the body wants
and we're runnin out of time
hey! oh!
i've got no ethical code
hey! oh!
you know i'll never say no
hey! oh!
i am under your control
i'm a prisoner of your love
and even if i have to plead
temporary insanity
they can take me happily
i'll go so peacefully
i don't care about security
i'm ready for the consequence
cause i'm a willing prisoner
of your love
the body wants what the body wants
and it's not a crime
the body wants what the body wants
and we're runnin out of time
hey! oh!
i've got no ethical code
hey! oh!
you know i'll never say no
hey! oh!
i am under your control
i'm a prisoner of your love
i can beat the hook and keep it low
i've got no ethical code
i don't mind if i do the time
you know i'll never say no
oh!
i am under your control
i'm a prisoner of your love
BELIEVER
you left home just a little girl
it was your choice to go
you didn't even know what you were looking for
when will you know what you're looking for
they said you're hopeless, hopeless
you want your bed of roses
but once you leave the door closes
but i'm a believer (i'm a believer)
yes i'm a believer (and you don't know what you're lookin for)
and you weren't afraid (no oh)
you traded in your diamonds for nails
you didn't even know what you were lookin for
well will we know what we're looking for
they said you're hopeless, hopeless
you want your bed of roses
but once you leave the door closes
but i'm a believer (i'm a believer)
yes i'm a believer (and you don't know what you're lookin for)
i'm a believer (i'm a believer)
yes i'm a believer (and you don't know what you're lookin for)
escape, don't wait
you never know when your time is gonna run out
escape, don't be afraid
you never know when your life is gonna change
i'm a believer (i'm a believer)
yes i'm a believer (and you don't know what you're lookin for)
i'm a believer (i'm a believer)
yes i'm a believer (and you don't know what you're lookin for)
H.R.P.
this is the human relocation program
your application has been received
human relocation program
you've been selected, it's time to leave
are there trees where we're going?
what color is the sky?
blow a kiss and wish the blue and green goodbye
wake in the night
sail away
now is the time
say, say goodbye
countdown begins
to another life
this is the human relocation program
extraction begins this week
human relocation program
thank you for choosing the H.R.P.
it's ok, it's the natural way
everything has to die
and everything will change
wake in the night
sail away
now is the time
say, say goodbye
countdown begins
to another life
say goodbye, it's the end of the line
say goodbye, say goodbye
wake in the night
sail away
now is the time
say, say goodbye
countdown begins
to another life
Revelation
get loud
i need a revelation
i can't go on faith alone anymore
i got a big hope
that there's a home somewhere
work it out and win me over
win me over, spell it out
bring me closer, through the flood of doubt
i need a revelation
to find a way to begin again
give us the gift of persuasion
to be better men
we need a revelation
we need a better plan
fighting for liberation
the new dawn of man
break out
we want an exploration
a place we've never been before
you gotta shout out
new expectations
so kill the doubt and win me over
win me over, spell it out
bring me closer, through the flood of doubt
i need a revelation
to find a way to begin again
give us the gift of persuasion
to be better men
we need a revelation
we need a better plan
fighting for liberation
the new dawn of man
Dave Hodge—the veteran Canada-born musician (Broken Social Scene & Bran Van 3000..who has also performed with Macy Gray, Feist, Brazilian Girls, and Basement Jaxx), arranger (Janet Jackson/Neptunes, Carly Simon), and composer was sitting in a café that day when he saw an acquaintance walk by: singer and songwriter Leah Siegel (a fixture on the New York scene known for her solo project Firehorse and for singing with The Citizens Band). The two had met while recording for a tv spot a few years prior, and hadn’t seen each other since. Before the storm, Hodge had been writing songs and score for the soundtrack to the indie film Two Hands to Mouth; pleased with the results, he hoped to create a new musical project based on a few of the pieces. Something that day—maybe it was a post-Sandy you-only-live-once feeling—prompted him to run out and say hello, and ask Siegel if she’d maybe want to try writing some music together sometime.
Scheduling conflicts prevented that from happening before March 2013, but when it happened, it happened. After just two months of writing, recording, and mixing, Hodge and Siegel have a band—Leisure Cruise—and their self titled debut album of darkly hypnotic, danceable synth-based anthems.
The name is somewhat ironic. Right before Hodge and Siegel began working together, news broke that astronomers had discovered three new planets in the Lyra constellation that appeared capable of supporting life. In light of the previous fall’s events, Hodge and Siegel got to talking: What if we had to leave earth and colonize a new planet? They imagined “a final leisure cruise for the human race,”—and the fledgling musical project as a sort of soundtrack for it. “We’re sort of living our lives in a state of leisure,” Dave says, “with regards to using up resources and knowing what’s happening and not really doing much about it.” Not that Leisure Cruise is all doom and gloom (or that it could be, with a name like that). “It’s not this apocalyptic thing,” says Siegel, of the concept. “We’d elect to make a purposeful and exciting exit. Try something new. In my head, I see it as a natural progression in the hopefully delayed inevitable.”
So what would play on this spaceship’s sound system? Something sounding like the future as imagined in the past—yet rooted in the now. Imagine the music of a John Hughes film if it had been written by Bowie, remixed by Johnny Jewel, and fronted by a female Prince, and you’ll start to get the idea. Rounding out the sound is an impressive roster of guests (Metric’s Jimmy Shaw, Blondie’s Tommy Kessler, Liam O’Neil from the Stills, Justin Peroff of Broken Social Scene, and Drake’s Adrian Eccleston). It’s at once dark and light, serious and fun, melancholic and euphoric. Ask Hodge and Siegel about their sound and process, and the answer sounds a lot like what happiness researchers call flow. “We weren’t trying to emulate anything,” Hodge says. “We were just making music.”
In fact, Hodge and Siegel see Leisure Cruise as the product of two musical soul mates meeting at just the right moment in their careers to truly savor it. “I’ve worked with some great singers, but it’s really very effortless with Leah,” says Hodge. Chimes in Siegel: “This is just the truest collaboration I’ve ever experienced—it’s a rare pairing.”