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.

unrequited shortcomings

by pictureskew

supported by
huldu
huldu thumbnail
huldu A beautiful collection of sincerity. Excited to see it finally out and have it sit on my phone for melancholic but hopeful days. Favorite track: cartilage delenda est.
Korin Catnip
Korin Catnip thumbnail
Korin Catnip Been waiting for this for a while, and it doesn't disappoint! Heartfelt, anxious, and copious lyrical play. Best listened to while on your way to fight an eviction, to a no-eye-contact date, or to your next union meeting.
/
  • 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.
hello 01:42
hello, good morning nice to meet you please excuse the fact that at the time I wrote that line it was the evening, and there's every chance you're hearing it some other time of day but that moment's passed thank g-d for that I'm glad it's out the way 'cos I'm going round in circles hoping to disguise the fact I might not be so boring if I could just drop the act I'm just so pleased to see you I just can't let you see that all my songs about feeling happy are secretly about misery I didn't want today to be the day that you found out your every little kindness registers to me as doubt and we just met it's early days to whine about my health so I'll hide behind my anxiety say more about yourself 'cos I'm going round in circles hoping to disguise the fact I might be someone interesting if I could just learn how to act I'm just so pleased to see you I just can't let you see that all my songs about feeling happy are secretly about misery
2.
prettier 01:54
maybe it's true that you're prettier but we both came in the same room we clung to the sides, averting our eyes and held tight til we could go home maybe it's true that you're different but we're both here in the same room both brought all our so that we'd have the courage to stay and someone to blame I write to be read but it never occurred you'd write back so you've got sweet nothings? that's sweet, I've got nothing I'm blank the opening line is always the hardest I'll write that one last now I'm still where I started we'll never meet but just know I wrote this one for you we'll never speak but right now it's the best I can do maybe it's true that you're prettier but maybe you still doubt yourself the same way I doubt me is that hard to believe? and maybe it's true that you're different but this voice is much louder it's coming from inside the house I can't shut it out and I write to be read but it never occurred you'd write back
3.
I got so tired, my fingers are numb my eyelids they feel heavy I leave in a week, the boxes aren't packed don't know if I will ever be ready it's my own fault I don't get enough sleep there's enough hours in the day when I get home, I just wake up again those hours seem to just run away so I never write I never call I've got too much to say so I say nothing at all days turn to weeks spring turns to fall if you left me alone I'd forget I was here at all the curtains are open, the streetlight's on it's not quite half past eight remembered the eat? the laundry's done? still feels like it's gonna get late the letters are posted? the bills have been paid? all that's left to do is wait but I can't relax when there's nothing to do the pressure to just do something's too great so I never write... it's my own fault I don't get enough sleep there's enough hours in the day when i get home, I just wake up again I stare down those hours and I chase them away and so I never write.
4.
the song remains the same the words the ones that we sang yesterday and nobody remembers to check the clocks are ticking forwards all hands moving backwards to the things that we said yesterday gesturing as empty as the carcass that surrounds us and I can't help remarking on the most mundane inanities I don't care for breathing it's the loss of sense and taste that gets me I am two steps forward six feet backwards from the glass g-d help me if it cracks we live in a society I didn't just wake up one morning I just didn't wake up thinking I just didn't think on waking I just slept through clarity all hearts beating backwards on the skins that we wore yesterday breath hanging there as heavy as the fog that still surrounds me and I can't help remarking on the most mundane inanities and I can't help embarking on the most tedious fantasies I don't care for sickness it's the emptiest emotion gets me I am two steps forward six weeks backwards in the past g-d help me if it cracks 'cos I can't help remarking
5.
there's a place on the shore that I joke is a front 'cos I rarely see anyone there and they serve ice cream until gone ten o'clock and they don't even break for the winter I've never been anywhere else where I've seen anyone review CCTV and I'm fed up and tired, I don't wanna be watched but right now that's where I wanna be and I have been nervously checking the windows to check on what's going on outside you wouldn't believe how it feels to be hidden to feel like existing is something to hide so I wish you best, I hope you keep safe and your family don't come to harm and I hope that if you twitch that curtain too hard the whole thing comes down on you and breaks your damn arm so maybe instead of calling the cops you can call up your old friends and tell them you miss them and make plans to go get ice cream when this whole thing is done maybe instead of calling the cops you can think for a second and just fucking not 'cos we're gonna need more than police when this whole thing is done there's a man droning on there's drones on the hillside out looking for people on walks the neighbourhood watch have been working from home the twitchers are grounded re-skilling as hawks so I hope that you're keeping in touch while you're keeping your distance keep clean, and keep well and I hope that the ones who keep making reports realise that more violence will not fucking help so maybe instead of calling the cops you can call up your old friends and tell them you miss them and make plans to go get ice cream when this whole thing is done maybe instead of calling the cops you can think for a second and just fucking not 'cos we're gonna need more than police when this whole thing is done maybe instead of calling the cops you can call up your neighbours organise rent strikes and make plans to go get ice cream when the landlords are done
6.
aww beans 01:17
I get my drugs from the table in the corner of the room when I get in in the morning it's the first thing I'll do if I'm really pressed for time I might grab some on the way more concerned with ticking boxes than with how to start the day and if there's nothing on the table I can just go down the street we've got ourselves an industry with culture and routine and if it starts to cause me trouble well they might avert their eyes 'cos I'm good enough at selling what it is they want to buy and if I got up too late it's 'cos I had too much last night and if I say last night I guess I mean the afternoon we don't speak in pounds and ounces we don't wanna cause a scene there's nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room I get my drugs from the table in the corner of the room and when I get in tomorrow it's the first thing I'll do and you know I'm pressed for time I didn't catch much sleep the small things cost a fortune but at least the coffee's cheap
7.
everything is coming up just fine for me I'm glad you asked since the last time that we spoke I've found this castle's made of glass I'm throwing stones I'm throwing bricks I'm throwing mud to see what sticks 'cos every time things start to change it seems to come out in the rain everything was going fine until you had to go and ask as it happens, since you wrote your favourite bridge has burned to ash we're throwing sticks we're throwing stones we're casting lots for who goes home now all that's left for us to do is walk away in dead men's shoes everything is coming to a head I guess it had to pass since the last time we squared off I've found your jaw is made of glass I'm throwing stones I'm throwing bricks I'm throwing up I'm fucking sick of always having to pretend class won't win out in the end I'm throwing stones I'm throwing bricks I'm throwing up I'm fucking sick of always having to pretend this market stall had room for friends
8.
everybody's a comedian the secret police or g-d forbid both of them we corned bentham's market now we're on the run driving down the prices on the central reservation it's cheap and abundant it's abundantly clear sleeping beauty drowning in the serpentine's the only original thing to ever happen round here everybody's an author or saint a curator, or priest of some future renown now the author's lying cold the cops are asking questions the saint and the priest have been run out of town it's cheap and abundant it's abundantly clear sleeping beauty drowning in the serpentine's the only original thing to ever happen round here everybody's gathered in the public square the market's postponed to circle the mast bentham's in his tower all is right with the world they've waited too long for the first to come last it's cheap and abundant it's abundantly clear sleeping beauty drowning in the serpentine's the only original thing to ever happen round here sleeping beauty drowning in the serpentine's the only original thought that I've had all year
9.
chickenshit 03:42
I am making mountains out of molehills in the garden keeping watch out by the bolt holes for the hunters who would harm them the keepers are not keeping to themselves so I am keeping far away anyone's fair game and when we're walking home they're flagging down the traffic try to hold my breath and nerve try not to make things too dramatic but between the shopping bags and my own baggage, I just panic I can't fight I'll see you back inside 'cos like gramsci said I'm chickenshit and when it comes to blows I'd rather read another book I'd rather write another poem sorite's had it wrong we're piling on the blame they've got addresses they've all got names I've been sitting tight waiting to plan out my next move hope when the time seems kinda right we'll still have something left to lose I haven't slept too much this week sitting up just hurts somehow the thought of standing down is so much fucking worse I just wanna call in sick today, to tell the truth but all those coins you toss in coffee cups won't add up to a roof all your prayers and your intentions won't mean shit when it comes time to either rise up on the current or just wash out with the tide and I am making mountains out of molehills in the garden 'cos like gramsci said I'm chickenshit
10.
not today 01:11
I didn't shower today but I did get out of bed I made a coffee, got back in I know that isn't what you asked the pain is real, I realise it's still kind of pathetic so I wrote it down and sang it now it's beautiful and tragic if I wake up today and I can't get out of bed and I can't get out tomorrow well? what then? I'm scared to ask the fear is real, I realise some day I might regret it so I wrote it down and yelled it out it's dangerous, romantic I will never see me like you see me I'll keep wearing my sunglasses inside I still need to hear me like you hear me with my headphones on my hat pulled down I'll make it out alive
11.
I'm not taking the bus today I'm taking the back streets under cover of the trees down where roads and rivers meet I don't want a fuss today I just want to breathe in between the mud and leaves where I can hear myself think and walking is the only thing that comes to me more naturally than shutting myself up inside in spite of all that I believe I'd rather run myself aground or walk right out into the sea sing CARTILAGE DELENDA EST this skeleton's no use for knees I'm not taking the train today I want to see the streets skip the cracks and crack a smile feel the town beneath my feet I'm pushing past the pain today 'cos I just want to be in between the dust and dirt where I can't hear myself speak cry CARTILAGE DELENDA EST this ghost has got no use for knees I'm not taking their grief today I'm taking back the streets where no one knows what to believe so no one need admit defeat scream CARTILAGE DELENDA EST the dead have got no use for knees the dead have got no use for knees
12.
if you wanna talk to me guess I wanna talk to you I don't mean to bore you you can just ignore me I just thought it might be cool there's a hundred green lights on any given night how would you know mine's for you? I know you wanna talk to me I'm too scared to talk to you I forgot your smile yeah it's only been a while but it vanished when you left the room there's a hundred green lights on any given night I could swear yours was blue so if you wanna talk to me I don't wanna talk to you my charm missed a beat now it's playing on repeat I'm terrified of losing you there's a hundred green lights on any given night none of them are shining through none of them are shining through

about

This album is free to download! I'm fortunate to have super stable work outside of music, so if you're feeling generous please pay it forward to someone else.

There will also be a (limited) physical release soon which obviously costs actual money to produce.

However! If you want the album to show up in your collection and have your beautiful faces show up underneath the album cover on this page please chuck in 50p to make that happen đź’•

credits

released January 6, 2023

~ so you've got sweet nothings? ~
~ that's sweet, I've got nothing ~

naming names and explaining jokes always makes me wince a little. this record – even calling it a record feels pretentious – is already my side of twelve stories. it's fun to dissect with anyone who cares, but we just met. if you want to know what the record's about? listen to it. <3

that said, there's a straight line through the story that took this from written (a foregone conclusion) to released (a nice idea).

if kyle hadn't picked "let's get ice cream" off of soundcloud as one of twelve ~ songs from east of the atlantic ~ I'd likely still be hugging the walls of genre anxiety and doing quiet live streams so as not to wake the neighbours.

that momentum put me back in touch with viki who kindly invited me onto one show, and then two, and three. one day I'll return the favour.

all of which landed me on instagram, where alexx found me and proved it wasn't a fluke.

I've not told any of you you're mentioned here, I get weird about this stuff. thank you. these aren't the only things I'm grateful to you for.

that's just the first-order impact; it's always strange hallucinating up a scene/community in other people's liner notes out of disconnected names. far more people shaped this, and everything else.

to everyone who's played shows with me / come to shows / not just told me to shut the fuck up: thank you.

written, recorded, etc by emma.

ione didn't play violin on this record.
(it took long enough as is. next year, I guess.)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

pictureskew Edinburgh, UK

making mountains out of molehills in the garden.

anxious, gay, acoustic, punk.

emma (she/her)

from scotland.

contact / help

Contact pictureskew

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like pictureskew, you may also like: