Far Away Objects

Far Away Objects was my first EP. It's an existential pop journey and clarion call to listeners to live authentically and realize their full potential.

I started work on Far Away Objects before my first singles. It marked my return to writing music after decades of doing something else for a living.

"Begin to become you." - from the song Begin

Download the Far Away Objects liner notes with added photos HERE:

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Scroll down for lyrics and credits

begin

Baby boy or girl, that you were

Never counting the suns as you ran with the herd You woke up in pain to find out one day Your god wound the clock before passing away And although you’re no longer asleep Take a look around…you’re still counting sheep You stand before something

But is that something really nothing at all?

Once you’ve gone within

That’s when you must begin

Walk beyond the world you’re in

Through a door and just begin

You stand before something

That you will make from nothing at all

Born of dusty stars, that you are

Wakeful and wise to your remaining hours You know yourself, and yourself you must be Accepting the past while forging destiny And although you’ll struggle hard now and then You’ll realize the gift before you sleep again The choice is before you

But is your choosing really your choice at all?

Once you’ve gone within

That’s when you must begin

Walk beyond the world you’re in

Through a door and just begin

The choice is before you

From your own will or no will at all

You must all begin

Lost in hopes and dreams

That’s just the way it seems

And once you have begun

The truest you, you will become

You must begin

Begin to become you…

chris sunfield: guitars, midi arrangements, lead & backing vocals

jess leung: backing vocals

elena kapeleris: alto sax

michael hanson: bass guitar & drums

produced, recorded & mixed by michael hanson

I was living in a university graduate residence in 1989 when I came up with the melodic riff for Begin. There was something about it that held a lot of power for me – like a beacon. I came up with a lot of ideas over the years to go with it. They all sat dormant until a May weekend in 2017 when I booked a hotel room in my hometown to finish it. But I didn’t finish it. had become a monster that defied closure. It remained unfinished for another year until another hotel weekend in my hometown. Why my hometown? Because place and nostalgia can drive creativity. I had to reach into my past in order to write a song about going forward. Some people heard it before it was released and felt that there was too much going on in it. But every time I hear it, I remain confident that it became everything that it had to become.

tomorrow's here

(far away objects mix)

We are asleep inside

We are the dreams we hide behind

Who we fear to be

Slumber in a bed of history

Full of scars? Full of stars is what we are

We need just one momentous day

To chase the past away

So make that day today

Tomorrow’s here

Big and bright and clear

Tomorrow’s here

The dawn of everything that you hold dear

Tomorrow’s here

We are awake inside

We will rise to find our truest side

Who we choose to be

Is not what happened to us, can’t you see?

Full of stars, newborn stars is what we are

We need just one momentous day

To make our beds and make our getaway

So make that day today

Make that day today

Tomorrow’s here

Big and bright, the end of night is near

Tomorrow’s here

The light and love we lost will re-appear

Tomorrow’s here

Wake and rise from the darkest night

Walk outside to a future so bright

Rouse yourself from a wounded dream

Live and love in a life unseen

Free yourself from the force of fear

Trust yourself now tomorrow’s here

chris sunfield: 6- & 12-string guitars, midi arrangements, lead vocals

vicky rai: backing vocals

david chester: hammond organ

rob laidlaw: bass guitar

graham shaw: drums

michael hanson: backing vocals

produced by david chester

recorded by justin meli

recording assisted by anthony young

mixed by michael hanson

While many of my current songs were written or half-written many years ago, tomorrow's here is almost entirely new. What makes this song nostalgic for me is that it uses a chord progression that I came up with 14 years ago on a guitar that I bought that same day. I thought this was going to be a ska tune with some breezy lyrics, but on the day I started writing I found out that a long-term mentor of mine (the last of two) had passed away. That changed the direction. I then took a break from writing it for two months until the day I also lost my beloved pet to old age. The only thing that I could do to distract myself from grief that night was to finish writing and recording the demo. The sun was rising the next morning as I finished it. Tomorrow's Here is about moving beyond past losses and challenges and continuing to grow as a person. This is a new mix of Tomorrow's Here for the EP that’s different from the original single.

anton

Anton, you’re simple

Plain and provincial

They said, while sipping their wine

Close to the soil

You troubled and toiled

In your race against status and time

Though short on esteem

You dared to dream

Of your place in a city of dreams

That place where gods go

Was calling you home

Anton, you’re lost

Your calling’s your cost

In this mortal life, passing you by

They counted courtings

While you courted counterpoint

Sounds came together, not lives

Forgone were pleasures

In movements and measures

You sighted your path to the stars

That place where gods go

Was calling you home

All the while

Greatness kills Love while she sleeps

The man’s still a child

Blind to the years as they creep

While the world falls in love

Enduring and deep.

Anton, you’re famed

Your brilliance proclaimed

As your moment has finally arrived

Now allow yourself taken

But no maiden wakens

You’re a boy in your heart, not their eyes

While their love escaped you

Your love gave way to

A passion that’s wed to all time

Before summoned to all that’s sublime

That place where gods go

Was calling you home

chris sunfield: lead & backing vocals, arrangements

david chester: piano

david shewchuk: violins & violas

aubrey dayle: drums & percussion

produced by david chester & chris sunfield

recorded & mixed by anthony young

Anton is a dream song – a gift delivered to me one winter morning at 4am during a three-day migraine. I was delirious from pain and sleep deprivation. I did the cliché thing of falling half out of bed with the song in my head after a few hours of fitful sleep. I pulled myself to the keyboard in the dark and managed to get most of it down while fighting nausea. It was in D flat major, a key that I hadn’t used before. As with Begin, I travelled to a small town (Port Dover, Ontario) and stayed in a B&B to finish the music and write the lyrics. The song is based on the life of composer Anton Bruckner. The third movement of his eighth symphony has always held a special place in my heart. It wasn’t until after Anton was recorded that I realized that his third movement is also in D flat major.

eclipse

In a field with other hearts

Lying, entwined, whispering songs

We waited for an eclipse that never came

The earth ‘tween moon and sun

The rarest of events, begun

Two bodies drawing closer in the void

You saw in me, an energy

I saw you as gravity

You began to wrench me from myself

And days, months, and years they came

In our minds, but all the same

The heavens laid before us in ourselves

This time, my voice is singing

This time, my heart is singing

This time, I can’t help thinking

Why can’t I let go of me?

But the heavens harboured clouds

Like thoughts never said aloud

We never saw earth’s shadow pass before

For time and matters hid from view

My feelings, the truest you

Future overcast with ancient fears

In love, too late, fate decreed

That perigee turn to apogee

Two bodies would eventually drift away

And if time could bend magically

I’d shun heaven for the chance to be

With you again, and bust those clouds away

This time, my voice is breaking

This time, my heart is breaking

This time, I can’t help thinking

Why, oh why… Why am I…?

Who was the sun? The moon? You or me?

And damn to hell that earth between

No answers in the ether all around

For these moments in all time and space

With you then, now alone, I face

Trices too rare and brief to be retained

But the moon goes on, and we'll be dust

To light again on others’ trust

The universe is blind to smaller things

And in those days, months, and years

That pass before you, me, and time disappear

The memories, like the light, will slip away

They will slip away

chris sunfield: guitars, arrangements, lead & backing vocals

david chester: piano

david shewchuk: violins & violas

aubrey dayle: drums & percussion

produced by david chester & chris sunfield

recorded by anthony young

mixed by michael hanson

Eclipse is the song that marked my return to music later in life. I started writing in my teens. I had the usual dream of becoming a rock star but winded up doing something else in life. Years passed. I was comfortable but regretful. Hundreds of half-written songs languished on fading scraps of paper and deteriorating tapes. If I had died suddenly, that big box of music would have found its way into landfill. Then came a period of adversity – a perfect storm. Close friends died. A career change turned out to be meaningless. A move to a remote suburb isolated me from friends. And finally, an accident hospitalized me. I’m normally a happy person, but it felt like rock bottom. Still on crutches, I dug out all of my music gear and recorded a demo of Eclipse as a way of coping. It was my first completed song in years. I had a re-awakening. I sold my house in the suburbs, moved back to the city, and began recording demos and working with producers. Eventually, Begin was recorded and the singles The Little Things, Predator, and Don't Kill Me were released. And now, here we are.

all songs written & arranged by chris sunfield

recorded & mixed at chalet recording studio, altravox studios, & the star party room

mastered by kristian montano at montano mastering

ep design by chris sunfield

front & back cover photos by chan khamphoomee

additional photos by

philipp berndt, daniel mccullough, david von diemar, marek okon, & redd on unsplash

special thanks to david chester, michael hanson, & everyone at khamp media

tomorrow’s here dedicated to the memory of pip

begin to become you

EP Album

Far Away Objects

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