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Arva

by Ange Takats

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1.
Hotel Napkin 03:09
Wrapped up in a hotel napkin Is a little letter I wrote on the weekend That says I like you, might even love you Sealed with the kisses of a chocolate fondue These days our love’s like an icecream Eaten on a hot day in the middle of spring He says I like you, might even love you I ask for one scoop but he likes to buy me two Maybe this could last a long time If we resist the temptation to clarify This feeling that floats so effortlessly Between you and me Taking the slow boat to the island As the sun is slipping down to the horizon Stars light up the sky I look to my right And he is by my side Waking on a summer morning To cicadas singing and the ocean breeze is Playing with my hair I look to my left And he is there
2.
Infatuation 03:41
Martha says she’s found a new love He’s tall, he’s handsome, he’s charming and divine She can not eat, she can not sleep She’s thinking ‘bout him all of the time She calls it love – not infatuation But I wonder if true love would inflict such hunger And sleep deprivation Nina says she’s met ‘the one’ He’s cute, he’s clever, he’s oh so much fun! She can not eat, she can not sleep It’s the kind of passion that smothers the sun <CHORUS> Jodie says he sweeps her off her feet She’s been spinning for days, he makes her feel dizzy She can not eat, she can not sleep Her work is out the window ‘cause he’s keeping her busy <CHORUS> Frida says he takes her breath away She met him last week and he’s been calling her each day She can not eat, she can not sleep She’s head over heels, she’s hook, line, sinker and sailing away <CHORUS> As for me well, I’ve found a love that’s just right I know, because when I am with him I don’t lose my appetite As for me well, I’ve found a love that feels light It’s a steady kind of love, that lets me sleep all through the night
3.
Arva 03:32
I walked all the way to Arva today Past the cornfields and the hay With a bottle of water in my hand I set off down the highway I walked all the way out of town and then some Tom Rush was singing in my head The sun was shining over the farmhouses The roadside flowers were orange and red Oh happiness, happiness Happiness finds me even when I’m alone Oh happiness, happiness Happiness finds me even when I’m far from home I walked all the way until my legs lay me Down in a field full of green The sky was big and blue The clouds were far and few And I was feeling free Oh happiness, happiness Happiness finds me even when I’m alone Oh happiness, happiness Happiness finds me even when I’m far from home
4.
I’m just fine and dandy I got a man with blue eyes standing by me And his garden’s full of fruit trees Believe me when I say, I’m fine and dandy I’m just fine and dandy My home is a rental by the sea And I got no mortgage hanging over me I’m positively fine and dandy People often ask me “What comes next?” As if I’d been expressing a restlessness Oh what comes next? Well I don’t care! ‘Cause happiness is already here And I’m just fine and dandy I don’t live to work but I work to live And I mightn’t be rich but I sure got a lot to give Believe me when I say, I’m fine and dandy….
5.
Falling for the first time, I remember love With a backpack full of big ideas and rainbow-coloured dreams Falling for the first time, I remember love So young and so naïve I let him call me ‘honey’ Falling for the second time, I remember love With a handful of heartbreak hoping he would fix it all Falling for the second time, I remember love A little older but still hopeful I let him call me ‘sweetheart’ But the ‘baby, sweetie, honey’, well it fell away And he started calling me by my first name again And I was left to think about the woman I used to be Before I became his ‘baby’ Falling for the third time, I remember love With a suitcase full of sorrow and a cynical hat on top Falling for the third time, I remember love I thought I would be safer if I kept my walls up But I let him call me ‘love’ <CHORUS> Falling for the – who knows what – I have lost count But you’re standing here before me and you make my heart pound I know I’m a little bit crazy with all these silly rules Please understand it’s just my fear of looking like a fool ‘Cause if the ‘baby, sweetie, honey’ was to fall away And you started calling me by my first name again I’d be left to think about the woman I used to be Before I became your ‘baby’
6.
I’m the last on his list Below the milk and bread Won’t spare me a kiss Before he goes to bed I’m the last on his list He used to sing and dance for me When he walked through the front door Now there’s no more melody In his heart for me oh lord I’m the last on his list Hand me the salt and the pepper shaker These days have become bland I’m losing my appetite for life I’m losing my man I’m the last on his list And soon will come a day When he picks up a pen And crosses out my name You may ask me why I stay And risk such a disgrace I suppose I live in hope that he’ll Return me to first place
7.
Edna's Song 02:11
The moon is playing peek-a-boo Behind the clouds in the darkening blue And I am thinking about you Though you’re not here with me now I still remember how Life used to feel with you beside me I’ve got family all around But I still miss the sound Of your slippers shuffling on the kitchen floor And Seven years have gone by Since the night that you died But I still wait, expecting to see your face My lovely, my darling, my dear Thanks for all those tender years I’m lucky you’ve left me with so many happy memories My sweetheart, my true love I know that this full moon above Is your way of leaving the light on for me
8.
We may have only emails and long distance calls But I love you now more than ever before I may fall asleep without you by my side But I’m blowing you kisses each and every night And trusting in a little word called love Trusting in a little word called love To carry us on this ride I find myself looking through A box of trinkets and of clues They help me sail back to you I keep your scarf wrapped in a plastic bag Hoping to hold on to the smell of you <CHORUS> And the crosses on the calendar Are like kisses and stepping stones Each day that passes Brings you closer to my arms and home
9.
Minnesota 03:31
I met a boy from Minnesota He took me out on His little green boat and we sailed out to sea Between the rolling tides The who, the what, the why We studied squares of sky And floated towards goodbye I met a boy from Minnesota He took me out on His little green boat and we sailed out to sea In the blackness of the night The moon cast a line Around a triangle of light Then tugged back time We passed the hours by reading books And feasting on sweet nectarines All I can say about the boy who took me to sea is that He wasn’t what he seemed I knew a man from Minnesota I knew a man from Minnesota
10.
The sun is sketching spider webs, among the morning leaves And the day’s so clear and beautiful, that it’s almost make believe It seems to me that the grass is greener right here under my feet And don’t it come a sweet relief Between birth and death – what will you choose? Will you give to those you love and let them give love back to you? Will you understand that rosiness is often followed by blue? And will you begin and end each day with words of gratitude? Today I see the sad clouds, rolling on in But tomorrow I know that the wind will blow and push them out to sea And it seems to be that the darkness is there to teach me Just how bright a little light can be <CHORUS> Oh the afternoon is not the end of the day But just the morning waiting to find her way Back to the sun, back to the sun <CHORUS>
11.
Lately I have noticed that love has lost all of its class All these ‘booty calls’ and speed dating scores Makes for love that never lasts What became of that old fashioned man? Who was happy to hold your hand Who asked permission to kiss your cheek And how the thrill of it would make your knees weak Lately I’ve noticed that love has lost all its charm What happened to town hall dances and slow romances Down the boulevard arm in arm? I’m just looking for a man with an old fashioned passion for me

about

MEDIA RELEASE

What happens when you blend 60s folk with 30s jazz, add a former foreign correspondent turned folk singer with a gift for storytelling, and the genius of Melbourne record producer J. Walker? The answer is songwriter and author Ange Takats’ sophomore album Arva.

With three-part vocal harmonies, lush string arrangements and ragtime jazz instrumentation, the 11-track album is a departure from the Queensland Music Award winner’s folkie roots.

“Strangely enough it was Joni Mitchell who led me to 1930s jazz. I read an article in which Joni spoke about being greatly influenced by the work of Billie Holiday. I bought a Holiday album and fell in love – not only with her achingly honest voice but also with the charm of the era. I went on to discover the Boswell Sisters and began playing around with backing vocal ideas for some of my songs,” Ange said.

To help her weave a nostalgic thread through her second album, Ange travelled to Victoria to team up with award-winning composer and producer J. Walker (Machine Translations) who recorded and produced Paul Kelly’s latest album Spring And Fall.

“He’d just finished composing the music for the ABC TV series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries which is set in the 1920s, so he was in the perfect ‘old world’ headspace to work on my songs. We recorded most of the vocals in an old hall in Gippsland. A few weeks later he was in the same hall, recording Paul’s album,” Ange said.

Walker recorded, produced, mixed and laid down most of the instrumental tracks on the album – playing double bass, piano accordion, violin, cello, piano, vibraphone, dulcimer, banjo and percussion. He also gently nudged Ange outside of her comfort zone with some challenging backing vocal arrangements on tracks like Infatuation, Fine & Dandy, Old Fashioned Man and the opening track – Hotel Napkin.

“We did most of the harmonies on the run in the studio. He was playing these crazy jazz notes on the piano and asking me to mimic them with my voice, which was no easy feat,” Ange said.

In between the old world tunes are a mix of folk and alt-country songs such as Little Word Called Love, Minnesota and the title track, Arva.

“The song is named after a town in Ontario. I moved to North America eight years ago after falling in love with a Romanian Canadian medical student. The relationship didn’t go exactly as planned. The song is about finding happiness in unlikely places and was inspired by a very long walk down a highway,” she said.

Ange has had an unusual journey into the world of music – beginning her career ten years ago in Bangkok where she worked as a foreign correspondent during the day and folk singer at night. In 2011 she released a travel memoir – The Buffalo Funeral – detailing her adventures in Asia. The former journalist’s lyrics reflect a life that has been truly embraced - and contain an honesty that can be confronting. There’s no better representation of this than the track, Last on his List, where J. Walker’s darkly haunting string arrangements prove the perfect match to the raw power and sincerity of Ange’s lead vocals.

credits

released January 16, 2013

All songs written and composed by Ange Takats
Recorded, produced, engineered and mixed by J. Walker at
The General Store in South Gippsland (machinetranslations.org)
Live songs recorded in the old Mawson Hall in Gippsland
Instrumental arrangements by J. Walker
Lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar by Ange Takats
Piano, banjo, dulcimer, double bass, percussion, drums, violin,
piano accordion, cello, dobro, vibraphone by J. Walker
Horns by Colin Chandler
Mastered by William Bowden, King Willy Sound, Sydney

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Ange Takats Australia

One of the purest voices on the Australian music scene – Ange Takats is able to coat with sugar, crush with sadness and cut through to the soul of a song.

Her second album Arva mixes Americana folk with the sounds of 1930s jazz … think Joni Mitchell meets Billie Holiday with the Andrews Sisters on backing vocals. It was recorded and produced by J. Walker (Machine Translations).
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