Fundamental Shift
If Seven Were A Number
Shift Just Got Real!
Hailing from Adelaide South Australia, our dynamic duo is Andrew Muecke and Andy Rasheed.
“If Seven Was A Number” is an album in the traditional sense. Whilst not a concept album, it has a narrative and dynamic arc. The lyrics sensitively interrogate various aspects of the human condition.
The ten-song album, was created unhindered by the expectation of outcome, a project purely in service to the will of the music. The result is a dynamic and eclectic mix of songs that don’t fit neatly into any specific genre, yet carry a coherent signature. Lyrically these songs traverse love, the folly of greed and despotism, declining mental states, unadulterated joy and the realm of the subconscious. It’s full of curious juxtapositions, it’s music that rewards multiple listens.
Beginning as bed tracks, conceived and engineered by Andrew, the instrumentation is woven around his distinctive and imaginative Bass and Rhythm Guitar. His beautiful production belies the complexity of his arrangements.
Andy's poetic lyrics and lead and harmony vocals bring form and clarity to Andrew's evocative music. The tracks are grounded by Andy's purposeful drumming. In addition to his frequent use of Pedal Steel, Andy designed, built and played a number of the instruments that bring a unique timbre to this recording. These include knee Fiddle, Tanpura, Spider-Bridged Resonator Guitar and Electric Lapsteel.
The accompanying videography is a deep dive into an abstract feast for your eyes. These are works of art in their own right as Andy visually responds to the energy of the music. Each film clip, their own universe, as intricate and considered as the production.
This process has been one of great joy. If this music brings you joy, please be so kind as to spread the word far and wide.
lyrics
You Know Better Know
You know Better Know is the first single from If Seven Was a Number, the debut album. Check out the Film clip and our Fundamental Shift (The Band) Youtube channel.
You know better
You said if seven was a number
it would mean so much to you
but this world is full of lies and filtered truths
So sad you believe, believe with all the rest
their myopia and contaminated speech
eyes carved from the rock rest hard upon me
stoic or stone whatever serves you best
hard is strong can be brittle too
soft can absorb those shockwaves, insulate
you know better now
you know better now
you know better now
open air, an open mind
spread wide as if to fly
The wind will hold you as it has before
shall again you can’t ignore
the ground beneath comes to meet you
not as a foe but as a friend
It's your vision, it’s your right
to stand defiant of the planets might
gravity bends to obey you
who could deny that will of yours
Moss grows over your shoes, ivy around your legs
you say that growth is enough movement
You need to pause to cultivate new limbs
which grow from whence you were pruned
You’ve locked yourself inside
locked the world away
Walls to hold the rain out yet to hold you in
Help me now we can dig through the floor
dig right through to the other side of the world
Its time to move always time to move again
Sift through the clues and realign our minds
If my mouth could talk I’d tell it as it was
My humour looked black until you held it up to the light
you held it up to the light
you know better now
you know better now
you know better now
you knew better then
Andrew Muecke: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andy Rasheed: Vocals, Drums
Film clip by Andy Rasheed All in-camera macro footage, shot in natural light.
Engineered by Andrew Muecke
Produced by Andrew Muecke & Andy Rasheed Drum recording and Final Mix by Lewis Wundenberg (Wundenberg’s Recording Studios) Copyright Fundamental Shift 2024
Just These Crumbs
Just These Crumbs is the second single
Check out the Film clip
Just these crumbs
The way they looked at me
you’d think that I could do no wrong
I might look good from there
but over here it's sticks and stones
Why do they follow me
I’m just as fickle as you there
They seem to think that
I was made of sterner stuff than fluff and hair.
It's not as if I’ve got a million
ways to get along
Down to my last good jokes,
small change and just these crumbs
Make it look good they said
or things could go so bad for you
I didn’t choose to lead
I just stuck to the shiny folk just like you.
The way they look at me
I wished that I had cut and run
From the belief of me
they could not see me come undone
Now it's up to me
to make it look like I belong
If I don’t get this right,
I’ll be singing for my supper without a song
You believed,
you endorsed,
you set me up on
this pedestal.
Look at what's transpired
am I the only one
not surprised
Andrew Muecke: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andy Rasheed: Vocals, Drum kit, Electric Lap Steel Guitar, Drum Programming, Gong, Field recordings
Ariel Rasheed; Drum Programming
Film clip by Andy Rasheed All in-camera macro footage.
Engineered by Andrew Muecke
Produced by Andrew Muecke & Andy Rasheed Recording of Drums and Final Mix by Lewis Wundenberg (Wundenberg’s Recording Studios) Copyright Fundamental Shift 2024
Incandescent Grace
Check out the Film Clip
Prying eyes open the space
within my chest
to where this machine is run
on incandescent grace
Voluminous intent created a state
to blend with the ether
amalgamate with the divine
neither am I here nor in space
Malign extrusion bent my resolve
with the force of a tide
I shall do naught until I do what I am told
An eruption of emotion swelled from within
outdated truth held me captive again
Preconditioning holding court
left to run its course
run thin
Hijacked by the grief yet again
deftly disguise it’s a chameleon
sidles in all conversational
conceals talons,
teeth and venom
Malign extrusion bent my resolve
with the force of a tide
I shall do naught until I do what I am told
Humanity can’t seem to help itself
We’re going to need an etheric rescue party
They could borrow from the now
to make a platform of this
terraform through unity
construct a plateau of bliss
They would slip from the cloud
a complete collective soul
disintegrate through osmosis
shower peace on the ground below
Will they come to save us
Can they save us
Who will save us
Must save ourselves
Nobodies coming to save ourselves
nobody no nobody no
Nobody's putting back the meteorites
Nobody fights against the wind
Nobody’s trying to tame the thunderstorms
the lightning or the rain
Nobodys suppresses volcanos
Nobody stalls the tides
Nobody bosses the moon around
nor the sun and stars in the sky
Lies are our lingua franca
our policies are pure denial
It's never been easier to be terrified
Ohhh, Truth is out of style
Nobody wants to slow what's coming for us
Nobody’s reaching for the brake
Nobody can cool things down a little
Our new mansion is just great
We’ve put a wheel over the edge
We’ve left the kettle on overnight
thrown the kids out of the balloon
in an attempt to get more height
We’ve suckled our young on opiates
We’ve celebrated in the deceit
We’ve manufactured our environs
these poisons are such a treat
We’ve used our blankets to build a life raft
We’ve killed in self-offence
We’ve shattered the sacred timepiece
Oh look, we’ve shat on the fence
The Crux of Potential
We all know
An essence we are born with pure and clear
We all know
that singularity is sullied by the years
We all know
our true selves, dismantled before we left the line
No one knows
what might have been
unencumbered by time
our corners are smoothed
as we are knocked off course
allow the truest version of the self made real
you understand it but have no recourse
be intrinsic with the being you sense and feel
see your vision of splendour
you’ve felt it in your bones
succumb to that feeling you’ve always known
occupy your intent and allow the potential
unharnessed from fear growth is exponential
Our past demands a perpetual audience with the now
an obnoxious voice to which we kowtower
So how can we proceed if fixated on the past
find our true north
the original role for which we were cast
time to sing
time to make
time to build
time to bake
time to find the feeling
time to partake
time for that break
time to expand ideas
time to give
time to say yes
time to say no
time to write
Time to breathe
namaste
time to break
time to grow
time to deviate
time to date
time to step up
time to step around
time of worry is ending
time for love
time for compassion
for there must come a time of ending
time to be what you always should have been
I really should do more dishes
So many years of knowing your love
this feeling of us has seeped into my blood
Crack my eyes open
sunlight more powerful
than my image of you.
spread my arms to meet you
The image lingers
but is no longer true.
Still, I feel you here
feel you beside me.
I can smell the milky softens of you
still feel your warmth
I have to open my eyes to know
If you are with me in my arms
or is it a trick I can play
that allows me to hold you here today
I can still hear the laughter we share
the way you sneeze
my face in your hair
Forgive me, I really should do more dishes
but hope I make up for it
with food that's delicious
You’ve made me better
in so many ways
Helped me see
when I’ve had my ears tied in knots
Held the fort and kept to the course
whilst I bounce down the mountain
claiming I’ve got it all sorted
So many years of knowing your love
this feeling of us has seeped into my blood
We have taken turns
to lose our way
knowing I know that you’re there
You know I’m here to stay
years of stripping the bark away
searching for the truth
to live a better way and understand today
Look at the little folk we have made
such lovelies they are
such fine humans being
Our life's journey,
a trial by fire with
such a wondrous prize
From them, we are still learning
I hope you love me in ten years' time
in ten after that
in ten more besides
I bless the fortune
that has brought us to here
such care, such grace
I might call it fate
Wrap you in my arms, grow old beside you
Wrap you in my arms, grow old beside you
Wrap you in my arms, grow old beside you
Wrap you in my arms, grow old beside you
Broken from the inside
It would seem that he came to speak a truth
but all that he bought was stale and bruised
Why would he think it was worth our time
to listen to him pontificate on crime.
Oh for the time when
he would leave us be
let us gather thoughts
consolidate and heal
Yet there he is
standing tall and secure
broken from the inside
and selling his cure.
While the behaviours of some
seeped out like infection
Oh they look so respectable
so proud of their defection
They wear their hearts and
their filth on their sleeves
Like a badge of dishonour
based on hatred and greed
If I could have one wish for them
it would be that they feel whole again
as change blows in
freedom comes
The fog will lift
where hope belongs
Then it was unsafe
to be unlike him
Narrow minded corrupt and greedy
Such damage has been done
there can be no undoing
only redesigning and hopefully renewing
See the bones he chewed
smell his stench in the bedding
As they pull the dog from within the dog house
he was fussing and complaining
We can scrub, disinfect clean in time
how do we turn a dog house
into a place to raise yours and mine
If we can actually see
the poor and the stricken
If we collectively bend
We can reduce their attrition
For there is enough to go round
it is plain to see
The lie is that you deserve it
more than me
Pack for Mars
Plush and majestic
but being propelled by self-loathing and fear
your veneer of hip, shiny, sexy,
is not a career.
To influence has become
a means to an ends
hollow offerings of love
on which your self-worth depends
What have we done from within
the breakdown of humanity to worship young skin
perversion of youth
corruption of truth
overt indoctrination
mass manipulation
told which gender, race and religion to distrust
told a fine business plan, the ever-lasting war
told that money can atone for the surrendering of your dreams
told that joy is for later for now suffer and shut up
told the poor must die because we need more gazillionaires
told the earth can simmer while we are getting such strong returns
told to pack for Mars
can we be humane again
remember our obligations
see past our vanity
can we comprehend
the need that we all have
the need that we all have
blessed with such abundance
and yet we are swimming in despair
Algorithms orchestrate humanity,
and we are still cavalier.
Egocentric and entitled
as we annihilate our atmosphere
we’ve bestowed our souls
and the future to the auctioneer.
The trap has been set
it waits for us all
groomed for oppression
from the time we could crawl
The forces working the lever
use us as the fuel to monopolise the future
calamity is the target we are sprinting towards
the capitalist lie that can’t be ignored
Greedily hoarding our surplus of meat
only to find we’ve been gorging on our own feet.
Who is the fulcrum what is the lever?
The lever is fear
What are the forces working the lever?
The lever is fear
Humanity must come to realise
that we have no future prospects,
merely obligations to the future
Phantasmagoria
Solid state dreaming is the state that I share, an extension of time and a plethora of other worlds.
It's a far-flung thought that plays on time brought back to the here and now.
Was I dreaming, was I dreaming?
Solid state dreaming is a fearless state of potential and loss that reminds me of divinity.
Breaks my spirits as I am whole, tremors of terror and extracts of phantasmagoria
Solid-state dreaming resembles no life I’ve lived but it seems that it's all that I’ve ever known.
Try to make my way though I’m held back by feet that just can’t get along.
Was I dreaming, was I dreaming?
Solid state dreaming crowds my perception, with a lifetime of trust that’s tied to another self.
Fed with pain I don’t understand, through euphoria, back to the banal.
Was I dreaming, was I dreaming?
Sold state dreaming gave rise to a suspicion of the loss of my pretension towards humanity.
Leading the herd over the mountains worn down by the hungry eyes.
From the Dream to here
Now that we have woken from there
and into this place
How do we integrate
in-between time and space
How do we build on what
we’ve known ourselves to be
A being with vision and grace
mobilised in flight
No, it wasn't accidental
it was fixed with the plan
No, it wasn’t accidental
that you have awoken into this time
How can I feel like me
when I have woken into this self
How do I meld into this landscape
of new and old together
letting go of the dreamscape
How can I open my soul to meld from within
how did we find ourselves
Did we wake from that place
Did we wake from the same place
Did we wake from that place
into this now
The Dream is a river
Why do you wait
when all that you want is right before you
Once it made sense to hesitate
but from here is the time to leap
The fall is too great
the risk to real
no means to venture out
into the openness
Into the future
Perception of self
will hinder or sustain you
Catapult you or leave you bound
The choice is yours
The choice is yours
It’s fear restrains you
fear if you stay
fear if you go
Follow the thread
the dream is a river
Follow the thread
The dream is all you’ve ever needed to know
Follow the thread
The dream is a river
The river will take you to the sea
the dream is a river