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Fit The Fourth

by Tom Slatter

supported by
Liam Smith
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Liam Smith Talented songwriter firing on all cylinders. Beautifully constructed album. Exciting narrative songs. Gives me that same melancholy feeling that Alice in Chains and Opeth manage but no one seems to be able to convey. Favorite track: Some Of The Creatures Have Broken The Locks On The Door To Lab 558.
jeric
jeric thumbnail
jeric This is a really great prog rock album. Reminds me of 70's prog rock like Kansas and Genesis. I love concept albums, and while I not sure if it is one or not, it definitely feels like an album full of concept songs, if that makes sense. Great stuff! Favorite track: Some Of The Creatures Have Broken The Locks On The Door To Lab 558.
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs) thumbnail
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs) After Tom Slatter recently announced the release of his promising new album "Murder And Parliament", due out here on December 1st, I recalled that I still have some of his back catalog items on my wishlist. So I decided to remove "Fit The Fourth", which is already in the queue for much too long, elegantly by purchase. Oh well, shouldn't have waited so much time... what a great album. It's kind of a paradigmatic work, showing how to create prog the right way... prog for the human mind, not for the Guinness Book... ambitious, but not exaggerated... epic, but not megalomaniacal... offbeat, but not annoying... come and listen! Favorite track: So Far From The Shore.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Fit The Fourth compact disc in a Digipak with booklet. Design by Joe Slatter.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Fit The Fourth via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP 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

      £2 GBP  or more

     

1.
Isn’t it funny, there’ve been so many tales Of lights and strange shapes in the sky When finally something Devastating happens They come from below Not on high I’ve heard the official stories. But that’s not what I believe. I believe the man, with the burned ragged clothing Who stumbled from the fire to tell the tale. He’d didn’t know where they caught them don’t know when. But he knew they’d grey skin And too many eyes. Their venom had burned him And all his friends. But he choked out the story ‘fore he died. We kept them kept them in cages, In a low level lab. Proof against force but not for sound. And too late it was realised Their buzzing and their clicks Was how they spoke How they way they made their plans. Some of the creatures have broken the locks on the door to lab 558 Somehow their venom ate through the wires, Alarms didn’t sound till was too late From the third to fifteenth floor, they’re infected. With the spores of the creatures that broke through the locks on the door to lab 558. And that’s why the sky’s falling down That’s why we’ll never see sunlight And why our lungs will fill with the ash of the innocent dead It’s not the future you wanted Sure is the future you got Our skin will crack with the dry heat of nuclear winds
2.
We’ve heard the accusations, We’ve heard the counter claims I say you’re guilty sir, The evidence is plain The blood upon your clothing, The powder in your hair, The looking glass smashed to shards, And no-one else was there, Tell the truth, Say it plain, There’s not a jury in the land would clear your name We’ve heard the accusations, We’ve heard the counter claims No matter what you say, your guilt is plain Your honour what you’ve heard here, It makes a saucy tale The truth is I’m not a saint, My good intentions fail, On the night in question, I was on the train it’s true, But not in the lady’s cabin, Past the hour of two, Don’t believe the things they say Don’t believe the deeds attached to my good name Your honour what you’ve heard here, A travesty, a joke I’m honest as a summer day is long, I’m honest as a summer day is long. Come read the latest news of the villain Seven Bells, Murder on the locomotive, a journey straight through hell, Three shots fired and one shot struck, pistol to the head, The only alibi that could get him off free from a witness who has fled A criminal who claims that he has changed the way he lives, Previous convictions of the kind you don’t forgive Says he met the lady for an honest tete tete Left her in her rooms before the hideous event. Come read the latest tale of a twisted murderer Innocent girl shot to death just because she turned him down Pay no mind to his stories or his wicked lies, The only path to justice: Seven Bells Dies You’ve heard the sordid details, You’ve heard the saga through, The evidence presented, The verdict’s up to you A woman left for dead, on crowded midnight train the killer fled into the night, But we all know who’s to blame So say it right and say it true, Guilty is the verdict you must choose We’ve heard the accusations, We’ve heard the counter claims Now Seven Bells has got a price to pay, Seven bells has got a price to pay.
3.
Went to sea in a sieve or say they say Where the devil fish roll in the boiling waves Coming home is such sweet joy Coming home a man, the boys that went to sea stayed away Went to sea, Sharpening a blade There were serpents to hunt, there were monsters there And the black waves rolling in Come to drown and come to sink Oily graves for us all We’re men of the world, But is this the world that we were men of? Oh how it’s changed has nothing stayed the same? As if we could tell. As if we could see what time had wrought The scales on our eyes In our minds Islands in the dark Islands in the blue sea Islands in the dark Islands in the blue sea
4.
Maybe the stars that come out now are the ones that smile on us and guide us home If that's case put your sunshades on, pull the shutters down we won't see them Drink the sea water, dive down taste, it's fresh deeper down below, below the keel And the sirens sing with each lapping wave, we're driftwood, sunbaked salt and burning tongues So far from the shore, from the place we used to call our hearth, our home We'd sleep and we'd dream and the monsters found they couldn't roar So far from the shore From the warm embrace of the all our families We'd drink and we'd sing and our songs would rise up with the sun This device that we use to map our way, gathered dust and rust, it clinks and clanks at night Makes a fine sound as we throw it out to sink to swim to find it's own way home Have the mermaid's come do they sing to us, with their sweet and rotting fishy lullabies? Tie me to the mast again and we'll dive into the belly of the beast! Thirst is just dim memory There are scales beneath my skin Don't want to the be the last man overboard Wet my gills and slip away Oh oh oh.... So far from the shore, from the place we used to call our hearth, our home
5.
I. Flight from Blackwater II. Find Your Gods in alleyways You have to find a way, that's what you do There's no path written out in front of you You have to find a way you surely do There's no path written out in front of you You can find your gods in alleyways On every single street You can find a saviour anywhere And there's a thousand left to meet You can find your gods in alleyways Or amongst the river mud You can choose to hear or turn away We all do what we must Someone finally came for me At Blackwater's rough edge Someone finally came for Could have left me drowning Someone finally came for me And damned me still to live III. Hope for the Damned Started out with little gifts Pennies to beggars Finger on his lips Don't say a word Don't say it's me Don't know my name You didn't see And oh oh is there no hope for the damned? Oh oh is this man, all I am Who will help Seven bells? Rumours started Dismissed as lies Seven bells redeemed Seven bells retired Donations given ALms for the poor Ill-gotten gains What else are they for? And oh oh is there no hope for the damned? Oh oh is this man, all I am Who will help Seven bells? IV. Murderer Murderer, you're gonna die the way you lived Murderer, You're gonna pay for all your sins Tell us where Tell us where the last one is Criminal, the trail of hurt you've behind Criminal, there's no salvation for your kind Tell us where, Tell us where the last one is Murderer, oh murderer, you're going to hell where you belong Your bloody hands, Your bloody soul The empty space where once your heart was Never free, we'll follow you until you're dead Never free, we'll hound you every step you tread Tell us where, Tell us where the last one is Murderer, oh murderer, you're going to hell where you belong Your bloody hands, Your bloody soul The empty space where once your heart was V. Breath slow Breath slow, let go, only one little step left to take Promised, Promised, only one little chance to be saved Rumours started Dismissed as lies Seven bells redeemed Seven bells retired Donations given Alms for the poor Ill-gotten gains What else are they for? "For those who'd repent, For those who would change Know that the liar can never be saved We've all got our pride we've all got past" Let these things go VI. Clamouring Crowds VII. The Papers Say Poor Thing Saved From the Cold Night Young Girl all right, now rich Strangers sudden gift in the night Just one in a series of small gifts Gifts are given dole out to the poor Criminals dumped at the courthouse door Whirlwind of kindness and good Past wrongs made right made pure Parents of dead child woken Taken to young boys lost grave Seven Bells steps out to confess Will this help to ensure a soul saved He told us where the last one is He told us where the last one is He told us where the last one is VIII. Seven Bells John Confesses All Instrumental - Contemplates theme IX. Gods in Alleyways You can find your gods in Alleyways Or in the river mud There's thousand lies to tell yourself To wash away the blood Something finally came to me After years of dark and filth I'll say it plain, and tell it true The only option, the only thing to do You've heard me called a monster And you've heard me called a saint But there's one word for criminals like me Murderer

about

Bad Elephant Music is proud to announce ‘Fit the Fourth’, the new album from respected singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tom Slatter

Tom weaves complex and fantastical stories throughout his music and this new album is no different. Dark deeds and dangerous characters litter the narrative, including the continuing tale of Seven Bells John. The story of this menacing character and the vivid steampunk world he inhabits has been interwoven throughout Tom’s music from his first appearance on Slatter’s debut album ‘Spinning The Compass’. With ‘Fit the Fourth’, John’s journey comes full circle with his eventual fate revealed in twenty-minute epic, ‘Seven Bells Redeemed’.

credits

released June 1, 2015

All instruments and vocals by Tom Slatter except:
Tracks 1 & 4 - Bass by Jordan Brown

All music and lyrics by Tom Slatter
Mixed, engineered and produced by Tom Slatter
Mastered by Kevin Feazey – www.kevinfeazey.com

All concepts and artwork by Joe Slatter

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

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about

Tom Slatter London

A latter-day Victorian street-theatre barker with a guitar promising tales of mystery, imagination, ‘orrible murders and bloody great waving tentacles’ is how Tom Slatter has been described. Since 2010 he has been scaring audiences with six albums and numerous EPs of storytelling songs. ... more

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