Fata Morgana is out now on Historical Fiction Records

Photo: Grace Walker

Fata Morgana, DM Stith’s new LP produced by Thomas Bartlett (Yoko Ono, Florence + the Machine, St. Vincent), out now from Historical Fiction Records, presents a transformed Stith. After a decade in Brooklyn that saw releases on Asthmatic Kitty and Octave Recordings, Stith moved to Rochester, New York in the summer of 2021 trading the familiar density of New York City for fresh perspective on the shores of Lake Ontario.

The experience and resulting artistic clarity is woven through the album that feels as much like a mirror as it does a memoir. The album takes its name from the rare phenomena, a mirage that bends the horizon and allows the viewer to see farther than they could on their own. This is the Fata Morgana – the trick of light transforming, reflecting, a physical representation of grace.

On Doomed!, the album’s first single, Stith declares, “I shed my skin/all over again / All my memories and All they represent” with a playful, reassured tone. From track to track Stith mines his anxieties (I can’t seem to get/ lost in this city / its numbing infinity) and natural surroundings (I’ll take it as proof / the intent of the universe / to show me itself / Ontario blue) for tight pop tunes he refracts through adventurous arrangements and Bartlett’s impressionistic production.

Reflecting on the new release, Stith shares, “I realized I’d have to address the ways my fear of death has manifested as perfectionism; that, in order to understand the function of that death-clutch, I’d have to allow myself to be seen as I am. To speak with my own voice.”

On the album closer, the title track Fata Morgana, Stith pulls back the curtain on the self-exploration that has always been at the center of his creative process, singing, “I’m turning off ambition like a stove / it’s useful but a hazard when left alone.” Stith showcases a new ease with words throughout the record, but here, in the final minute of the album, he makes room for the ineffable; a pair of ascending pianos unlocking, drifting, and realigning in a sort of musical moiré.

Featuring guest appearances by Shara Nova (My Brightest Diamond), Thomas Bartlett, Thor Harris, and Dustin Ragland, Fata Morgana is available now on streaming and Bandcamp.

Listen

Watch

Lyrics

GREYHOUNDS

Lost in this grid

Hunched up against the wind,

No one is around

Sewn in the seams

of my eiderdown sleeves

I hug this to my heart

When the Greyhounds all rush out

desperate laps in the park

Kinetic release or revenge at the dark

Flashing your gang signs at the moon

…I can’t seem to get

Lost in this city

Its Numbing infinity

Dizzy me around

Sewn in the seam is a muffled scream

And it Echoes in my gut

When the Greyhounds all rush out

desperate laps in the park

Kinetic release or revenge at the dark

Flashing your gang signs at the moon

No you can’t make me give this up to you

Flash your gang signs at the moon

This is no time…

I shouldn’t be here

Lost in this grid

Hunched up against the wind

No one is around

And sewn in the seams

I can’t shake the feeling

The earth is not my home

And I’m running this alone

desperate laps in the park

Kinetic release or revenge at the dark

Flashing your gang signs at the moon

No you can’t make me give this up to you

Flash your gang signs at the moon

This is no time…

I shouldn’t be here

hoohoohoohoo

DODGES & FEINTS

Midnight below the tree

The loneliness of hide and seek

And I have counted down and uncupped my eyes

And I have memorized every place my friends could hide

Listen for the heartbeat, the breath,

The whisper and the broken branch

Midnight in theater B

I calm myself and follow my feet

And I kick this empty can down the road

It’s useless to fight against

the earth’s cruel slope

And they’re listening to the echo,

the clang, the clamor of a broken man

Reach for me

Even as I run away

And I will dodge and feint

It’s just how the game is played

Now I know where you hide when

You’re caught in an awkward lie

Blame it on some change in me

And elevate yourself with fortune cookie speak

But the camouflage is incomplete

I see you but you don’t see me

Reach for me

Even as I walk away

And I will dodge and feint

It’s just how the game is played

Did I drop my guard to something terrible

A black hole in a lab summoned like the devil to corrupt me

or am I just slippery

Will you reach for me

Even as I walk away

I’ve been losing sleep

Keeping up this pace

Will you reach for me

Even as I walk away

I will dodge and feint

It’s just how the game is played

IN THE GLARE

Since I hit the ground x8

now I’m in the glare

And I can feeling everything

I know that trick of light

bending in air

And I’ll take it as proof

the intent of the Universe

to show me itself

Ontario blue

since I hit the ground x4

When I’m in your stare

well, I’m not myself out there

fate or phantasm

belief is a natural reaction

But you’re looking healthy

but it’s taken what’s left of me

a moment behind you

Ontario blue

… since i hit the ground x8

DOOMED!

Where am I?

I wandered upstate rising up

Evaporating out of my life

Even when I’m closest to you

You’re a prism and I just pass right through

To a peaceful plain

Calm wind in the grain

Still this hive is churning out again its

Doom

Its doom…

I shed my skin all over again

All my memories and

All they represent

They hug me like a hurricane wheel

Exploring every inch of me

Hug me like I’m doomed…

Oh light like this gets stuck in my eyelashes

And I’m cocooned in my own doubt and fear

I calm myself

I console myself

But I can’t hold myself

Cuz I can’t slow myself

And I can’t show myself

Cuz I don’t know, myself

Maybe its just that I’ve outgrown myself

I’m doomed

I’m…

PARALLEL LINES

Parallel lines in the lawn

Slows natures progress to a crawl

Out here in the west

Out here where the good sun sets

The weary never rest

Do nothing unless you do your best they say

You brushed against my cheek

Bluebell bindweed broadleaf

Like burrs cling to our jeans

That moment stuck all over me

And i’m afraid to move

Afraid of what I might lose

Go on go on without me

I will find my own way

But there will come soft rains

To wash whatever’s left away

Parallel lines in the lawn

Trimming back the overgrowth

Of something I once knew

Something I saw clear in you

I’m a spirit fugitive

I’m running from myself again

I will find my own way

But there will come soft rains

To wash whatever’s left away

THE ORACLE

Time is not an arrow

Time is a grenade and

You’re holding it the wrong way

Feels like moving backwards

Even as you stand in place

Oh, ask the oracle anything

How will I know how will I know how will I know how will I know

A fair fight is a fair fight

Almost, but not quite

So what do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do now

You become a superstition

A symbol of regret

A stone we kiss to make a wish

Permission to forget

And you click your heels together

Have you even tried that yet

You had lightning in a bottle

And a promise to collect

At least that’s what you thought it meant

In a circuit guided vessel

Retracing your mistakes

Everyday is the same day

A merry go round merry go round merry go round merry go round

Just holding it down holding it down holding it down holding it down

You become a superstition

A symbol of regret

A stone we kiss to make a wish

Permission to forget

And you click your heels together

Have you even tried that yet

You had lightning in a bottle

And a promise to collect

At least that’s what you thought it meant

Time is not an arrow

Time is a grenade and

You’re holding it the wrong way

IN THE GLOOM

Steady as you were

Gulp grope ahead

Mute dark and dull as lead

Rime blankets me

Steady as you were

Now I feel your ground

Blank dynamo arcs out

Shock and I am seen

How are you star guided

In the gloom I can’t find it

Steady as you were

Unknot my bow

Untie my throat

How do I unknow

How are you star guided

In the gloom I can’t find it

FIDGET SPINNER

Monday’s dumb

Twirl your hair and suck your thumb

Stay inside

Listen to your neighbors fight

Whatever

Honestly

I’ve never seen myself so clear

Heart on sleeve

I’ve barely changed in forty years

Oooo

Whatever

URANIAN LOVE SONG

I’m knocked out

Frozen for winter

I’ve been somewhere but so far I’m

Unable to remember…

I, I wouldn’t know, I wouldn’t know

My good man

My shadow in his hand

He’s tracing me all around around around

And drawin’ me back to life

Plan for the weather and

Grab some things for dinner

And sprinkle some seeds
around the back yard

A favor to some critter

I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know

My good man

Easy and content

He smiles his surrender

All akimbo on the floor

And distracted by my laughter

I Can’t pull on my sneakers

The failure of my hands to complete a simple task

The wholeness of this power

I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know

Soft ear of the earth

Stretched across the sky

Decide for me these things

I can’t decide

I wouldn’t know I wouldn’t know

FATA MORGANA

I’m turning off ambition like a stove

It’s useful but a hazard when left alone

I never speak about love

It’s a word I can’t define

I don’t understand it

It’s easier than I’d hoped

To live a life without it

It’s easier than I’d hoped

To live a life without it

Let’s try an imagination game

I’m me and you are you

And we don’t see each other

Although we’re in

The same goddamned room

And our bodies are featureless

A pair of plastic tubes

Tell me now do you love me

And would you let me love you

But love is a story part

Love is an afterthought

Otherwise love is a takeover

An activity plan you bought

Let love be its own thing

Like the mystics say

Let it have its own body

Let it walk away…

All songs written by DM Stith

Except “Fata Morgana” written by DM Stith and Thomas Bartlett

Produced by DM Stith and Thomas Bartlett

All guitars, vocals, bass and percussion performed by DM Stith

All piano and synths by Thomas Bartlett

Shakers on “Doomed!” performed and engineered by Thor Harris

Accessory percussion on “Dodges & Feints” performed and engineered by Thor Harris

Drumset on “Dodges & Feints” performed and engineered by Dustin Ragland

Intro and Choir vocals on “In The Gloom” performed and engineered by Shara Nova

Mixed by Thomas Bartlett

with assistance from James Yost, Pat Dillett, Steve Salett and Fritz Myers

Mastered by Fritz Myers

Album photography by Grace Walker

Additional drawing, painting and collage by DM Stith

All songs published by Mutesong

except “Fata Morgana” published by Mutesong and Domino Publishing

Admin by ASCAP

About

DM Stith’s unique voice bridges, in seemingly effortless ways, the expanse between quailing sadness and featherlight joy. A singer-songwriter and visual artist currently living in Rochester, New York, Stith has explored his expressive range on a variety of projects including three solo albums (Heavy Ghost, Pigeonheart, and 2023’s Fata Morgana), a full album collaboration with John Mark Lapham of The Earlies (The Revival Hour’s Scorpio Little Devil), two orchestral song cycles with composers Sarah Kirkland Snider (Unremembered) and Judd Greenstein (My City), as well as a slew of collaborations with Son Lux, My Brightest Diamond and Sufjan Stevens.

As a visual artist, Stith follows the same roaming interior curiosity through pencil, ink and watercolor, forming maps of an intriguing austere topography.

“…Stith creates musical friction in a way that’s brilliantly compelling… shimmering with impressionistic beauty.”

– The Guardian

“Stith orchestrates lush, pitch-dark soundscapes that writhe under his religion-provoked introversion.”

– A.V. Club

“There’s a time between sleeping and waking that’s occupied by DM Stith – weaving our sleep with hypnotic spells, wild chorals, plucked strings and primitive keys.”

– N.M.E.