"Convalescence EP" by Andrew Cos Band

Welcome!

2007-10-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings! Thanks for visiting the site of "Convalescence EP" by Andrew Cos Band (formerly "Debtor").

This site serves basically as the liner notes for the "Convalescence EP."

Click around to view lyrics, behind-the-song-writing info, and behind-the-recording info.

Also, enjoy this music video for "Having Trouble."

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Album Biography

2007-10-28T11:52:00.001-07:00

Reverse-wave, off-tune guitar creates a subtle aura of brokenness, not unlike sounds from an aged garage-sale accordion. Thus begins “Convalescence” (meaning “recovery” or “healing”), for every healing must begin with the need for it.

Andrew Cos (formerly Debtor) brings yet another EP project to the table. As usual, he wrote, performed, engineered and produced everything for this EP.

“I love working in bands because of the community feel,” he says. “But this project allowed me to craft everything from start to finish so it feels like a personal diary of sorts, where almost every lyric, note, and rhythm come from a specific point in the process.

“Instead of a group of people working simultaneously, it’s the same person along a stretch of time, so each decision comes from a different point along that stretch, a slightly older or younger version of me.”

Like his last EP “Sand and Sentiments,” the “Convalescence EP” works from a concept—a “concept album” if you will—and the concept du jour stems from thoughts of restoration, of convalescence (ah, the title).

Listeners experience an out-loud thought progression, from the intro line “Welcome to our modern age” (“Starving for a Restart”) that decries present era issues where “progress” seems like “regress” in many ways, to final ponderings on a coming Day of ultimate restoration with the closing lyric “Convalescence is waiting,” (“Having Trouble”) a double entendre, characteristic of his work—multiple depths of meaning.

Musically, this EP takes an indie pop/rock approach, with touches of Ben Gibbard’s (of Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service fame) harmony-laden hooks, and a strong reference to John Mayer-esque bluesy-funk (“In Spite of Me”). To his credit, Andrew Cos has managed to make each of his projects stylistically diverse from anything he’s done earlier without losing his overall unique writing feel.

The “Convalescence EP” asks questions, like “Will it ever change?” (“Eleven Tries”), and “Do you believe that one day we’ll be set free from this?” (“Having Trouble.”) The overriding feel of the project is very hopeful, however, as we come to realize that every healing must begin with the need for it.

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1-Starving for a Restart

2007-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Behind the Songwriting:
Working title was "MM155," referring to part of the name given by my MP3 player, into which I sing or hum a lot of my song ideas, including all the basic music for this EP.

Behind the Recording: (forthcoming)

Lyrics:

Welcome to our modern age/Though the innocence was nice/
Now we have turned the page/and stare down the city lights/
I know the past feels so clichéd/but denying the blood that soaks our hands can’t be
a better way/

(=)
I am not impressed/with the kind of lives we live/

(*)
I want to run away, run away/
Back to what we had/
But I know a better way, a better way/
It’s in feeding the hearts, starving for a restart/

Welcome to relearning phase/It seems humanity needs learned/
“Past that bridge” I heard us say/as we fools all watched it burn/
But then our conscience caught the flames/We misunderstood accumulation and building
for a better tomorrow---- that’s now a worsening today/

(=2)
We’ve slowly digressed/’cause we’re married to our wealth and profits/

(*)

We mixed all our needs with all our wants/
Forgiveness and peace/
Just how far are we are we off?/
Is civil war what we really want (if it’s not so civil at all)?/

(*)

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2-In Spite of Me

2007-10-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Behind the Songwriting:
Working title was "But I'm Okay."

Behind the Recording: (forthcoming)

LYRICS:

I’m in love with somebody else/I wish I could say it was just you/
But you see, baby, I’m in love with myself/and everyday I hate that truth/
And I don’t know what I’m s’posed to do/

You were telling me about your day/but all I heard was “la-de-da’s”/
‘Cause you see, baby, there’s a monster in me/that sings to me the selfish-est of
songs/
And the worst part is it don’t always feel wrong/

(*
Come on, what’s my deal?/What’s broken in me/that’s needing fixed desperately?/
Darling, please forgive every time I’ve failed to love you in spite of me/

(*)

This is a sorry state I’m in, but, darling, now you see/
I’m learning how to love in spite of me/
God’s helping me learn how to love you in spite of me/

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3-Eleven Tries

2007-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Behind the Songwriting:
Working title was "Landsailors," and the initial inspiration for the "Landsailors" project, which is basically a side band idea.

Behind the Recording: (forthcoming)

LYRICS:

Wouldn’t you like to be told that what they won’t tell you you already know?/
Well, maybe I could be so bold/
It’d be nice to know that what they’re tryin’ to sell you you already own/
So you could keep your wallet closed/and not hassle with impulse/

(*) You came to far to leave it all behind/now you know/
And you want a second try/
So you hitch-hiked it home on trucks and motorbikes/contrite for now/
You’ve got a second try/It ought to change your life/

Wanting your life to own, you knapsack packed and smacked that open road/
And all this after coming home/
Mesmerized by pyrite gold, you took a bite of the much too Big Apple/
Solace lost on the East Coast/and it’s the same scene as before/

(*) (“seventh” instead of “second”)

‘Got to the Port of Kaohsiung/ Then you got thinking ‘bout your home/
And all the people there who love you just the same/though you run away/

Will you ever change?/

(*) (“eleven” instead of “second”) (“so you hitch-hiked it home on boats and things that fly…”)

Will it ever change your life?

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4-Having Trouble

2007-10-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Music Video:

Behind the Songwriting:
Working Title was "Carried Farther Along" before any lyrics came.

Behind the Recording: (forthcoming)

LYRICS:

It’s a language we don’t speak too often, but we pen too much/
It’s a combat boot we wear to show off, but never don for war/

(=)
Maybe ---- we’ve seen it frequently, but we’re scared to count the sightings/

(*)
Do you believe that one day/we’ll be set free from this?/
‘Cause I’ve got a good imagination/but I’m having trouble seeing it/

It’s a blanket tightly held to as we suck our thumbs/
It’s a race we’ve signed up for, but have yet to run/

Oh please, give me something, something besides our clever empty lines--/

(*)

We’re weak, looking for pay dirt/in the corners of our cells/
They bleed, these cuts from Paper/Soon our hands and hearts rebel/
'Cause we're looking for convalescence/

(*)

Still/I will believe/as I’m waiting for convalescence/

And convalescence is waiting/

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