Restless is currently available exclusively as part of the San Francisco Public Library’s Bay Beats service. Anyone can stream it, and SFPL members can download it for free.
Most of the material in this collection was written after I returned to playing live shows following the releases of Sepulchre (2022) and Trepanation (2020). As such, the songs tend to be more playful and live-performance oriented than my recent previous work. The album is a continuation of the trajectory from Sepulchre, doubling down on its best aspects, while taking influences from throwing Perfect Strangers events at the F8 nightclub in San Francisco. These are fully-composed songs designed for both the stage and the DJ booth — a line I can’t help but walk.
Lyrically, the themes expand from usual dance-floor tropes into personal, political, and existential realms — including climate anxiety, dreams of imaginary lovers, and economic insecurity. The title Restless, refers to my lack of sitting still musically, always changing where I’m interested in at any given time.
Thanks and enjoy!
Lyrics
Authenticate
You come in heavy
You leave ‘em hot
I can’t believe the things you’ll say to get on top
It’s an addiction
It’s where you stop
You scroll your life away until it’s time to drop
A simple feeling
A complex thought
Only a moment to convey all that I’ve got
A cup of fiction
A pinch of fact
Double-tapping neutralizing real impact
I’ll show you mine if
You show me yours
A poker match, the prize to win the world’s allure
A pretty picture
An ugly truth
We’re competing for affection, nail and tooth
The times are tighter
The standards loose
All the one hit wonders scattered and diffuse
A rising tide can
Lift all our boats
Help each other up without creating moats
Authenticate
Lose Control
Poor old me
I lie awake at night
A missing sign:
“Have you seen this life?”
Nerves collapse
As the fears relapse
Defensive blows
Anxiety attacks
I want to lose control
But you never want to let it fall
Just leave me alone
‘Cause it’s grinding me down to the bone
Serpentine
This ouroboros mind
These twisting vines
Crawling out of time
The pressure’s on
I’m down and out on fun
It’s a crushing bind
Working 9-to-5
Extinction Rebellion
The spaces in between ourselves
Collapsing in the rain
Little pieces of regret
Dripping down the pane
If I could change the future
And figure out the way
Then perhaps I’d free myself
Correcting troubled days
I want to solve the problems
I want to burn it down
Paralyzed emotions
Freezing out my crown
Cruelty to the fragile
Destitute in streets
The Extinction of our future
Rebellion with our feet
The Trouble with You
You can reach
Deep into the soil and plant a fountain
You can watch
These vines climb up the bricks until they crack
You could feel
The soft bouquet of charges in your satchel
You could hear
Their machinery come grinding to a halt
The trouble with you
You watched the sky turn red
In the air you tasted fields of burning dead
When you suffocate alive
Was it worth it for the currency you mined?
The trouble with you
Signaling the virtues like you do
The trouble with you
Watching the Earth burn out through and through
II Hour Photo
I could see your shape
Dripping from the light
I watch you watch me
From across the night
If we peak inside
Could we find something
To hold on to?
Credits
- All music, lyrics, engineering by Richard Haig
- The Trouble with You lyrics – Devin Smith and Richard Haig
- II Hour Photo music – adapted from Sy’s Theme by Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil