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Above All Else, Be Kind

from As It Grows Dark / Light by AJIMAL

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    As It Grows Dark / Light is my second album, produced together with my friend Guy Massey (Spiritualized, The Beatles, Bill Fay). I'm immensely proud of what we've made and hope you like listening to it. I've pressed a run of 500, which come wrapped in the incredible artwork created by Drømsjel for the album. Digital download is included and the vinyl edition includes a bonus track which you won't find anywhere else.

    **Pre-orders are at special price of £20 and will be shipped for release day on 26th June 2020.**

    Includes unlimited streaming of As It Grows Dark / Light via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      £20 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £1 GBP  or more

     

about

‘Above All Else, Be Kind’ is about valuing kindness, compassion and caring. I wrote the song on the day that Trump won the US Presidential election, feeling bereft. It felt like the world had just taken a big step in a dark and unnerving direction. It compounded a growing feeling that we only seem to be aware of our own individual circumstances; increasingly intolerant and suspicious of others; too busy to engage with people around us and unwilling to recognise that they might be struggling. I had been feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the rising level of homelessness in the UK, the lack of support services available and how easy we find it to walk by when we see it in front of us. There’s a sense of compassion fatigue, so it’s easier to switch off. When you speak to people who are homeless, it’s clear that it could easily affect any of us, if we encountered a set of circumstances that cut our income and severed our social ties and safety nets.

Watch the video, featuring friends, musicians and medics, paramedics, nurses and physios from across the UK and world, filmed in isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic - youtu.be/Dkyurn562H8

ajimalmusic@gmail.com
www.ajimal.co.uk
@ajimalmusic

lyrics

There is a wind of spite that chills
There is a song-less sky of still
If I were struggling for breath, who’d clasp me close?
Who’d bear my breathing
As I gasped in death?

There is a dark that light can’t kill
Within the blinding fear it fills
If I were huddling for warmth, who’d clean my clothes?
Who’d share their blankets?
Or would I freeze alone?

This is not difficult or radical
This is fundamental. This is pivotal.
This is the most important:

Be kind
Be gentle
Be mild, be simple
Be patient, be peaceful
But above all else, be kind

There is a thirst no substance can quench
There is a hunger that will not be silent
If you were famished, your children unfed
Who’d sit you down to share their table?
Who would share their bread?

This is not difficult or radical
This is fundamental. This is critical.
This is the single most important:

Be kind
Be gentle
Be mild, be simple
Be patient, be peaceful
But above all be kind
Be humble
Show mercy, show caring
Don’t hate or hide,
Don’t let fears divide

Above all else,
Above all else,
Be kind

credits

from As It Grows Dark / Light, track released April 20, 2020
Written and performed by Fran O’Hanlon (AJIMAL)
Produced by Guy Massey and Fran O'Hanlon
Artwork by drømsjel.
All rights reserved.
ⓟ & ©AJIMAL 2020.

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AJIMAL UK

“Soporific, pianistic folk...displaying a charmingly earnest approach.” The Fly

"A new benchmark for sensitive pop in 2013"

Ajimal is the solo project for Newcastle’s Fran O’Hanlon – a collaborative ‘in-ear experiment’ with the aim of writing about the interplay between ideas from music, medicine, art, ideas, literature, science and stories. ... more

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