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Venus Smile

by Alpha Cat

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1.
Venus Smile 02:53
Venus Smile These days it doesn't seem it ever mattered if your sea was green or eyes were blue last time I looked my eyes were clear and you were wiser than you knew you hide behind your irony and words that mock your depth and when at last your heart is broken know there's more to you than this Everyone asks the same question When will Venus smile on me? Too bad it took so long to find your voice it still hides now and then but if you keep on showing up then you have found that you can trust those words to something baby, that ain't you You told me in another world you needed something more then you asked for me to wait for you and you didn't even come Gotta believe that you called me for a reason you bust into my world swing that carrot on a string if everyone believes in fate then what is taking it so long to finish what it started then and bring you home to me So I ask myself why do you shadow me? I didn't ask for this a long time since I've had to love, well, anyone but me then the cards say it is matter secret forces leading those whose lives belong together but it's so hard to believe Everyone asks the same question when will Venus smile on me? Everybody wants to know the answer when will Venus smile on me? You told me in another world you needed something more and then you asked for me to love you and you didn't even come you hide behind your irony and words that mock your depth and when at last your heart is broken know there's more to you than this Words and Music by Elizabeth McCullough © 2021 The White Peacock (ASCAP)
2.
Wichita 03:53
Wichita Somewhere past Wichita that girl caught up with you invisible wire with no strings to bind floating past mountaintops I fell in love with them hearing them in your voice reflected in mine A cellular connection electricity finds you that girl from Wichita using up your time Two days from Wichita your past caught up with you you heard your own cry sing in the wire A cellular connection electricity finds you that girl from Wichita using up your time and the horoscope spoke of a new kind of lover seeing the world through another one's eyes back then I'd hoped there was still a chance you would see the mirror she broke but she never did lie as April snow drifts down you spoke two thousand miles weeds tumble back again you just roll by weeds tumble back again you just roll by Words and Music by Elizabeth McCullough © 2002 The White Peacock (ASCAP)
3.
Orbit 05:55
Orbit What I wouldn't give to be closer than this I fall from dreams to covers that are drenched in tears and sweat ten light years or a lifetime if we could only see how dark is the space between us not so far now as then We roll 'round the same sun reflecting the same moon you're in my orbit you're circling my head why I wouldn't choose to stand there in your shoes we close our eyes to complications both generous and true At first I didn't see you and you there all along I wind my watch the wrong direction and pray we'll meet again We roll 'round the same sun reflecting the same moon you're in my orbit you're circling my head it's an infinite rotation whatever time you bend can we be in the same place as we are of the same mind as opposites can mend there's a curious appeal the shock of something real a hazy picture of promise wasted we’ve tried so to forget synchronous engagement the physics of attraction something greater separates us and pulls us back again We roll 'round the same sun reflecting the same moon you're in my orbit you're circling my head © Written by Elizabeth McCullough 2021 The White Peacock (ASCAP)
4.
All In Your Head Be quiet now pay attention you do know how to break the tension it’s underground it’s on the surface so elusive so pervasive It’s all in your head, it’s all in your head No reality it’s what you make it no future only the present It’s in front of you It’s beside you It’s your mother It’s your lover It’s all in your head, it’s all in your head It’s a crooked road it’s a mountain it’s a riptide it’s a river It’s all around it’s all inside you so mixed up so perfect It’s all in your head, it’s all in your head It’s all in your head, it’s all in your head Written by Elizabeth McCullough The White Peacock Publishing (ASCAP)
5.
Armor (Live) 03:32
Armor I guess I see no reason for you to trust me and to be honest I wouldn’t trust me either But I think now might be the time to start I guess now’s as good a time as any now our armor gives us no protection don’t you see now - might be the right time You say that something’s missing and you give no good reason you think you know what love is… but that’s a misconception Don’t you see now it wasn’t what you thought? think it’s time you changed your definition now our armor gives us no protection don’t you see now - we’ve got a good thing Always on your guard for any imperfection you push so hard - for me to keep my distance I’ve got a few good questions - for which you have no answers is that an indication - it’s time to change your position? Don’t you see now it wasn’t what you thought think it’s time you changed your definition now our armor gives us no protection can’t you see now - might be the right time might be the right time might be the right time? might be the right time © Written by Elizabeth McCullough The White Peacock 2021 (ASCAP)

about

Alpha Cat - Venus Smile

The new Alpha Cat EP Venus Smile is due to be released on indie label Aquamarine Records June 24, 2022. It will initially be released worldwide digitally, and CDs (!) will also be available.

Elizabeth McCullough formed the band Alpha Cat to support a notable success with the first Alpha Cat record, Real Boy, which was produced by Fred Smith of Television. But as often happens, the band fell apart after recording the follow up, Pearl Harbor; but the Alpha Cat name stuck.

This new record, Venus Smile, began recording in Reseda, California in 2007 at Bright Orange Studios, and the final touches were added from March to May of this year with everyone working remotely from home. This record was written and produced by McCullough, with Jason Harrison Smith on drums, Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, John Mayer) on every guitar but acoustic (exception: “Wichita”) Reggie McBride on bass (Stevie Wonder, Parliament Funkadelic, and Elton John, for a start) and Jane Scarpantoni on cello (REM, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beastie Boys, Lou Reed…) All but this year’s mixing and mastering was done by the late Brett (Cosmo) Thorngren. The sound of the songs vary, ranging from rock to pop to Americana, and shades between…

“Opposition is actually the natural prerequisite for union. As a result of opposition, a need to bridge it arises.”  ~ Confucious (The I Ching or Book of Changes: Richard Wilhelm translation)

McCullough explains: “Having lived my life as an ‘artist’ I am fully aware that once a work enters the public domain, it can take on any number of meanings for as many people who may experience it. And this is how it should be.

My take on the overall theme of this record is one of redemption and exhaustion: exhaustion with the all the anger and the fighting, exhaustion from the division that has so greatly impacted our world. But we all live on a planet of which every single one of us has more in common than not. So while not every song is about this specifically, each one of them is in some way about separations, and the healing of these separations. Some address my sense of optimism that they can and will be healed, others aren’t quite there.

But I have myself survived a total separation from myself; with a well documented depressive episode that took me out for over a decade. And I have not only recovered to continue this life of healing, but thrived. I believe we are all meant for and capable of the same. But I have made the choice to move beyond being defined by past trauma. So yes, I still do have hope in a time when hope, and healing, are in such short supply. Of course I myself am not fully “redeemed” but I have certainly moved further on the path than I would have ever dreamt. It is my belief that this is possible for all who live in this world, whether I personally agree with their belief systems or not. Our promise, whatever that may be, for as long as we are alive, need not be wasted. No one is powerless.”

credits

released June 24, 2022

Vocals: Elizabeth McCullough
Acoustic Guitars: Elizabeth McCullough and Doug Pettibone
All other guitars: Doug Pettibone
Electric Guitar (Armor): Angela Babin
Percussion: Manuel Quintana (Wichita)
Bass: Reggie McBride
Cello: Jane Scarpantoni
Pedal steel guitar (Wichita): Rich Feridun
Drums: Jason Harrison Smith
Written, arranged and produced by Elizabeth McCullough
Mixed and mastered: Brett Thorngren
(With additional mixing/mastering E. McCullough)

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

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Alpha Cat New York, New York

How do you take the image of a black hole and make it positive? According to Alpha Cat, "When I wrote the song I'd read how astronomers had determined that you could escape a black hole, but only by going all the way through and out the other side. And that leads to this worm hole theory, where not only do you avoid annihilation, but you arrive at a place you might never have reached otherwise. ... more

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