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Anything Can't Happen

by Dorothea Paas

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    Ships Mid-June 2021. Anything Can't Happen - LP

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1.
One 00:30
I’m not lonely now Doing all the things I want to and working on my mind Sorting through old thoughts I go through them One…
2.
Will you ever trust me again? Will you ever believe another word I say? It’s so hard to trust again When you can’t even trust yourself It’s so hard to trust again When you can’t even trust yourself It’s so hard to trust again When you can’t even trust yourself It’s so hard to trust When anything can happen at any time At any time And anything can happen, at any time At any time!!! And anything can happen, at any time..
3.
Of course I want you After everything it makes perfect sense… Why can’t love be like in my dream? Why don’t you show up when I want you to? Why can’t it always be June? Why can’t it be like ‘that one time’? Why do I... why do I have to try? Love should be effortless, shouldn’t it? Or was it ever as easy as I played it back in my mind? I talk about love like I’ve felt it Really it’s just a container for my thoughts It’s something to throw my loneliness and fear into And my thoughts of you and touching you I worry there’s something I could do better Or maybe I just worry… Worry is like water Trying to get to the lowest point Filling any container Always drawn to the lowest point Always drawn to the lowest point And if displaced, it takes the same weight elsewhere Oh no no no no I can’t believe it doesn’t go away Does it evaporate? Will it ever evaporate? Or is it mine forever? Of course, of course, of course
4.
Do you try to fix it or do you leave it behind? Do you try to hide it or do you learn not to mind? Do you learn to love it and put it on display And pretend it was never any other way? I try to respect my body in the shape that it takes I try to respect my mind in the patterns it makes I long for a body closer to mine But I don’t want to seek, I just want to find I need a lover, one who’s perfect for me But I don’t want to search, I just want to see I put the work in to let my love show But will it work out?? I don’t know… I don’t know... I don’t know…….
5.
Interlude 01:48
6.
Waves Rising 03:37
It’s supposed to be easy to love, but I’m finding it hard Defenses go up Tension in the muscles behind my heart So hard to be soft with you So hard to be gentle Tension rising in my body Waves rising in my body All we want is to be seen and heard We want so badly to be loved by each other We built up ideas of one another into something so big it was destined to topple over Oh I know, I know, I know you’re calling out for love But your behaviour is driving me away You don’t tell me what you want, you just act out and hope I’ll read you the right way We don’t always recognize the part we play in pushing the other one away In pushing the other one away It’s so easy to see the fault in the other Especially when that love is taken for granted It takes work Hard work! It takes hard work to stay together It’s not easy, it’s not easy, it’s not easy to love It’s easy to hide and to boil over with rage But it’s not easy to love
7.
Perfect Love 04:18
I hold onto things so loosely, as light as I can So that if it slips through my fingers I can easily start again If I let you into my life, how can I not fear? The closer I get to loving you, the more it would hurt if you disappear But if I deny anything that might be lost I will never love, never hold anything close Oh I know that nothing lasts forever Although it was once said, ‘perfect love casts out all fear’ I think fear is always in love It’s the risk inherent in allowing anyone near But if I deny anything that might be lost I will never love, never hold you close Oh I know that nothing lasts forever
8.
It’s easy to think you have forgotten the way you used to feel about me Everything is different now Our memories are useless now How can I open to love again, like a plant searches for light through a frozen window? Can I be loved, or is it all about control? I will never know until I start again Sitting on your couch, not speaking, I feel you losing interest in me I sense the image you had of me shifting, revealing all of my flaws Yes I love myself, but like a mother, in spite of it all It’s hard to see myself in positive light It’s hard to hear the sound of my voice the way it is in my head… But against all odds, I will open to love again, like a plant searches for light through a frozen window Yes, against reason, I will soften once again! Oh, somehow, I will love again
9.
I’m not lonely now Doing all the things I want to and working on my mind Sorting through old thoughts I go through them one Oh I go through them one at a time Oh one at a time Oh one at a time It’s not very bad Doing all the things I want to and working on my mind Sorting through old thoughts I go through them one Oh I got through them one Oh one Oh one Ah... I don’t have to explain my ideas to you ever again I don’t share the things I love with you anymore Some things you don’t get to see Some things are just for me Some things are just… I used to have your life Running under mine A different tape running under my life all the time What would happen if I kept that image in my mind? What would happen if I kept that image in my mind For more than a moment? It would burn through everything it would burn through everything It would burn through everything

about

Anything Can’t Happen is the long-awaited debut album from Dorothea Paas, one of Canada’s most beloved singer-songwriters. For over a decade, Paas has played her unique, prismatic style of folk songcraft for audiences across North America, and lent her talents as a guitarist and vocalist to artists like Jennifer Castle, U.S. Girls and Badge Epoque Ensemble. The songs on this album have been through a near-infinite number of forms – Paas has played them solo and with a full band, electric and acoustic, at house shows and in sold-out venues. they manage to fit inside each context, like water taking the shape of its container.

All of this makes Anything Can’t Happen feel far more mature and complex than a debut album. It’s a statement of purpose, a next step in a decade-long process of artistic growth and evolution, and a bridge between the DIY style of Paas’s previous cassette releases and a more refined studio sensibility. Recorded in studios in Hamilton and Toronto, and mixed by Max Turnbull of Badge Epoque and U.S. Girls and Steve Chahley, these songs bring a diverse range of musical influences into conversation: inflected with the layered reverberations of Grouper, shot through with the piercing harmonies of the Roches, electrified with the searing energy of Sonic Youth. You can hear Neil Young in the grittiness of the title track’s guitar; Joni Mitchell’s Hejira in the album’s lyrics, Fairport Convention in Paas’s voice. The influence of Stevie Wonder - one of Paas’s greatest musical role models - is present too, in the album’s conceptual foundations. - Emma Healey

credits

released May 7, 2021

All music and lyrics written by Dorothea Paas
Recorded over 2018-19

Personnel:
Dorothea Paas
Liam Cole
Paul Saulnier
Robin Dann
Thom Gill

Guitar, drum and bass beds recorded to tape at Fort Rose in Hamilton with Dan Edmonds, Wayne Petti and Aaron Hutchinson

All vocals, additional guitars, synthesizers, and Rhodes recorded at Palace Sound with Chris Sandes and Maximilian “Twig” Turnbull

Mixed by Maximilian “Twig” Turnbull and Steve Chahley
Mastered by Heather Kirby at Dreamlands Mastering
All art and lettering by Vida Beyer
Design and layout by Steve Sidoli and Dorothea Paas



I could not have made this record without the kindness, talent and generosity of so many friends along the way. Thank you Kritty, Mark and Paul for playing many of these songs with me over the years. Thank you Liam, Paul, Robin, and Thom for lending your artistry and perspective to these recordings. Thank you Hally, Tom and Deragh for ‘mood food and attitude’. Thank you Bethany and Eric for letting us stay at your beautiful home. Thank you Chris for going above and beyond. Thank you Max for living in the songs with me. Thank you Meg for your friendship and guidance. Thank you Amy for bringing the best out of the songs with me in your reference mixes. Thank you Emma and Deragh for being with me through every step of this process, helping me clarify my thoughts and restoring me any time I felt confused or doubtful. Thank you Vida for offering your beautiful art. Thank you Telephone Explosion for bringing the album to life. Thank you Mom, Danielle, Tyrone, Aaron, Haley, and Miriam for supporting and loving me every step of the way. Thank you to every one of my friends who has been a part of my life, and therefore being a part of my music, since music is an extension of life! I love you so much! Thank you to anyone who takes the time to listen to this music. What an honour. Dedicated to my dad Pat Paas.

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Dorothea Paas Toronto, Ontario

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background art/lettering/album art by Vida Beyer

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