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.

Songs for Nelson

by Alex de Steiguer

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

      name your price

     

1.
Sounds, in order of hearing: -slightly out-of-tune piano notes played in the dark and boarded up lobby of the Oceanic Hotel -footsteps across lobby -lighthouse foghorn -wind/storm sounds -chapel bell -chapel organ -bell buoy ringing/clacking -foghorn of passing ship in a pea-soupa’ -storm wind -snowy owl screams -sea lapping against rocks -Long-tailed ducks - courting calls -wild Canada geese (landing and socializing) -gulls calling -chapel bell -storm -high surf as heard from trap dike -distant surf, gulls, arrival of spring birds (songbirds, blackbirds, lone goose passing overhead) -Alex sings an original song in empty Oceanic Hotel lobby rocking-chair rocking -a walk back outside to greet the rest of the year. (Song Lyrics) Beguiled: Come here and sit and stare awhile And softly hum, and gently smile Rock back and forth, your eyes beguiled For all the world is turning And note the waves as they roll by The blue-reflecting sea and sky As all the cares upon you fly The soul within you burning - For open sky and nature’s trust For simple, pure, uncluttered us You may leave when you feel you must But forever know a yearning.
2.
3.
Gale Force 02:11
4.
5.
High Tide 00:45
6.
Island Birds 03:43

about

In the deeps of winter, on the deserted Isles of Shoals in the north Atlantic, sound has a presence all its own; crashing of seas and moaning wind, the cries of gull and owl, jubilant songs of birds returning at winter’s end… Even the few sounds that echo our tenuous presence become imbued with a haunting quality as the bell buoy gong and plaintive lighthouse foghorn sound their warnings across empty islands, and my ringing of the chapel bell calls to no one but the answering wind. Into the void of our absence, the world continues to sing its timeless song.

While alone on Star Island over the last few winters, I recorded this small album for anyone who likes to close their eyes and imagine a natural place, a season, a time, and timelessness. I called it “Songs for Nelson” because the good and true Nelson Linscott once commented a lovely expression of gratitude for a sound recording I had made here on the island. He is hard-of-hearing and, with no volume control on nature, is unable to know well the sounds of a place he loves so much - though he may be standing right in the middle of it. That got me thinking...

The result are these sound-scape tracks that I hope you will enjoy (most of which are un-edited and just as I heard them). If you're like our friend Nelson, turn it up as loud as you like, and maybe hear things you don't always hear. There's also one original song written on Star Island, previously unreleased and easter-egged into track one.

Cover image was contributed by Nelson E. Linscott, of his beloved dog Baxter on Star Island who (I imagine) was blissfully listening to birds and the sea.

About Alex: For over two decades, Alex de Steiguer has been a winter caretaker in a group of freezing, windswept, lonely islands lying seven miles off the New England coast. She is a fine-art photographer, musician, and author of "Small Island Big Picture, Winters of Solitude Teach an Artist to See".

credits

released January 15, 2022

Credits
════════════════════════════════
"Beguiled" (in track 1): Alex de Steiguer: composer, vocals, guitar.
All sound samples recorded on Star Island by Alex de Steiguer.

Cover image by Nelson E. Linscott

license

Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

tags

about

Alex de Steiguer

Besides being a homesteader, a deep water tall-ship sailor, an island caretaker, and a musician, Alex is also known for her black & white fine-art photography, and is the author of "Small Island, Big Picture", with 69 duotone images, and reflections on solitude, creativity, inspiration and connection with the world we live in. See links for more info about Alex's other works. ... more

contact / help

Contact Alex de Steiguer

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Alex de Steiguer, you may also like: