“Joanna Schubert saw no point in buying flowers. Why spend money on something so beautiful, she wondered, when she could only watch it fade and disappear? The decision to buy a bouquet of flowers became a symbol of embracing life in all its states by placing a flag in the field of now.
That sentiment is reflected in Schubert's decision to name his musical project Oropendola, after a bird he found in the Peruvian Amazon. The birdsong that filled her mornings and seeped into his dreams was a fascinating and complex mix of textures that seemed to encapsulate all of existence, from the first gurgling of birth to the last breath of death. "Oropendola" means "golden pendulum" which in itself illuminates the oscillation between states of being. With that in mind, shortly before his thirtieth birthday, Schubert took the name of the bird and bought himself flowers.
Faith in these acts of self-revelation echoes through the eleven songs that make up Oropendola's powerful debut album, Waiting for the Sky to Speak. Full of energy and emotion, these tracks go from playful to serious with deft Technicolor brushstrokes. The album is a bouquet of sound and color, a celebration of choosing life despite its impermanence and finding movement even in stillness.
The songs on Waiting for the Sky to Speak were born out of a time of existential and literal immobility. When the world shut down during the pandemic, Schubert expected to feel like his life had stopped for years. He was ready to climb out of the mire of fear and doubt and move on, embracing joy and singing through the static. "Aren't we tired of waiting for the puppet?" she sings on "Chrysalis," expressing concern in the face of stagnation as she acknowledges the invisible growth in these states of limbo. The choice of album title is therefore apt: the phrase, taken from the album's opener 'Rorschach Sky', hints at the missed opportunity to spend your life waiting for something when life is happening all around you. "If you are waiting for some answer from heaven," says Schubert, "you don't see beauty and movement in each passing moment."
Throughout this collection, Schubert's college skills with orchestration and arranging are on full display. The album's sound palette blends the orchestral sounds of clarinet, flugelhorn, harp, and strings with searing synths, grooved drums and bass, adventurous voice manipulations, and emotional piano. The result is a kind of kaleidoscopic chamber pop that pays homage to both Kate Bush's grandiose theatrics and FKA Twigs' digital balladry.
The production enlists the help of the textural talents of co-producer Zubin Hensler, who also served as mixer. Although they had never met prior to their collaboration, the two showed up at Hensler's studio in Sunset Park, Brooklyn at the height of the pandemic and took time to record between 2020 and 2021. The boundary space that traverses a paralyzed world. was created led the two to create an album that sounds like no limits. Songs as diverse as the disco-tinged "Shimmy Up Melt Down," the gut-wrenching guitar rock of "For Winslow," and the upbeat school song of "Flowers On My Front Stoop" are equally at home in this vibrant world of luxurious. In the end, nearly thirty musicians contributed sounds to the album: "At the Edge of It" alone features eighteen additional singers, including Schubert's mother and sister, giving it a prismatic sense of community that grows out of initial isolation. of Schubert and cooperation. guided by Hensler. .
On the lead single "Knocking Down Flowers," Schubert finds life in the unlikeliest of places: a construction site. She and a couple dance on shards of glass, the hum of the road providing the soundtrack to a date that heralds the end of a relationship. "Can two sticky pendulums be happy?" she sings in a dazzling chromatic surge, her voice landing confidently on top as she comes to her own conclusion: she will choose happiness even if the ground beneath her shifts. Borrowing the biological concept of "ecotones," which describes how neighboring ecosystems interact and often strengthen each other at their areas of intersection, Schubert acknowledges and illuminates the power of life at the intersection of contrasts.
The album's emotional core emerges in the soulful ballad 'Trust the Sun' and lucid album close 'When You Carried Me', both of which see the sun, another kind of golden pendulum, as a guiding force. In the first, Schubert is a misinformed meteorologist trying to interpret weather patterns, and in the second, she's an astronaut adrift in the ethers of memory. Searching for an anchor point in her life, she says: "There is this question of whether she is inside or outside of me, where is the certainty?" Much of the rest of Waiting for the Sky to Speak is about black people. Conflict rages, these two songs offer an attempt to lend a helping hand to love, friendship and family, a steady sun in a changing sky, while coaxing her back into the world.
As a lyricist, Schubert ranges from sarcastic quips ("You look so pastiche with your Lipton tea" from "AHFTKC") to vulnerable pleas for clarity ("Should I feel whole now?" from "Trust the Sun") and crafts songs that often It sounds like a wink but it hits like a punch in the pit of the stomach. She cites Miranda July's eccentric writing as an influence on this lyrical approach. "I appreciate the humanity in your writing," she says. "Humanity in madness, humanity in loneliness, humanity in shame." The effect is something like Schubert putting on her own circus, rousing from the sidestage before performing musical feats before our eyes (and ears). It is humanity that dares to dream.
Waiting for the Sky to Speak is an imaginative and colorful chimera of a collection that marks the triumphant arrival of the Oropendola. Ultimately, these songs ask one of the most fundamental questions of the soul: How do you find your footing in a fleeting world? There is no absolute answer, and therefore, as Schubert points out, there is no point in waiting for one. How liberating it is to get out of our own cycles, to be the force that deflects the pendulum from its axis. There's a line in "AHFTKC" that sounds like an underlying mantra: "Memory in the muscles." It's a simple but powerful reminder to get out of your head and face the day, where the sun is high in the open sky, where life pulses in the quietest corners, where flowers bloom beautifully and one day wither."
- written by Nandi Rose
will be released on March 17, 2023
SONGS + LYRICS Joanna Schubert
ARRANGEMENT + PRODUCTION Joanna Schubert + Zubin Hensler
RECORD, MIX, PROGRAM Zubin Hensler
DOMAIN Joe Lambert
Grabado en Brooklyn, NY en 2020-2021
in unceded territory of Lenapehoking
INTERPRETED BY
Joanna Schubert vocals, piano, synthesizer, guitar (8), ukulele (11)
Zubin Hensler fliscorno, guitar, synthesizer, drums (3), vocals (2,3,5)
clarinet Kristina Teuschler
camelia hartman-geige
Ryan Weiner Bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9), Guitar (11)
Katie Battistoni-Guitar
Matt Evans drums, percussion
JoAnne Hyun Bass (2, 5)
Gabby Sherba Gesang (2, 6, 9)
Emma PiersonVoice (5)
Kristen Drymala cello (4)
Rebecca El Saleh Harfe (6)
Landon Peer Bass Clarinet (11)
Boom boom accidental radio transmission (9, 10)
other percussion worlds designed by Zubin Hensler + Joanna Schubert
zusätzliche Vocals em "At the Edge of It"
Abby Ahmad, Shilpa Ananth, Joy Askew, Lauren Balthrop, Lau Barrios
Toby Chaiken, Alexandra Denda, Neha Jiwrajka, Astrid Kuljanic
Julia Mark, Marisa Michelson, Raquel Quiñones, Molly Ranson
Erica Schubert, Sharon Schubert, Elizabeth Ziman
PHOTOGRAPHY Singer Chimera
DESIGN + Layout Lau Barrios + Joanna Schubert
FOREVER GRATEFUL
Zubin Hensler, All Staff On/Off This Album, Unforeseen Time, Silver Lining, Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way", Emily Mure, Marisa Michelson, Joy's Songwriters Hangs, 151 17th Street #1, Mom, Dad, Eri, Moose, family, friends, lovers, go-betweens, the royal orioles, all of that, friends.
M e m ory in den M u s k l e n
FAQs
What does it mean my grace is sufficient enough? ›
What Does My Grace Is Sufficient For You Mean? ANSWER: It means that God chooses to display His power in us by sustaining us in our weakness. Think about all the ways God displays his power. He controls the raging, torrential storms and the crippling droughts.
What does the Bible say about waiting for prayers to be answered? ›Wait quietly — “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, because my hope is in him” (Psalm 62:5 NLT). Wait patiently — “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act” (Psalm 37:7a NLT). Wait expectantly — “I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised” (Psalm 130:5 TLB).
What to do while waiting for God to answer prayers? ›- Believe that the God who saved you hears your cries (Micah 7:7). ...
- Watch with expectancy, but be prepared for unexpected answers (Psalm 5:3). ...
- Put your hope in his Word (Psalm 130:5-6). ...
- Trust in the Lord, not in your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
“Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act.” What does God want you to do while you're waiting on an answer to your prayer? Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act” (NLT). God wants you to wait patiently for him to answer your prayer.
What is the greatest blessing of grace? ›The grace of God brings salvation:
All those who depend on his grace are saved from sin and forgiven eternally. God is the one who saves us, but it is our responsibility to stay in the grace of God, once we have experienced it.
Grace gives us a new life which is not condemned by God. Through God's grace we are forgiven, transforming our thinking, resulting in the renewal of our mind and heart. Through grace we live the kind of life that God would like every one of His children to experience.
How God answers our prayers in 3 ways? ›I've heard it said that God answers prayers in one of three ways. God says “Yes,” and you receive what you ask for. God says “No,” and you have to accept it and move on. Or God says “Not Yet,” and you learn to be patient and wait.
Why does God wait so long to answer prayers? ›Sometimes God waits to answer our prayers because He trusts us to make the right decision. Other times, God requires us to patiently wait for an answer so we can build our faith and trust in Him. And on some occasions, God gives us answers, but they may not be what we'd hoped for.
What does the Bible say about not answering prayers? ›Proverbs 28:9 says this truth in a different way: “If one turns away his ear from hearing [God's] law, even his prayer is an abomination.” If you find yourself treasuring sin and avoiding God's Word, repent!
What stops prayers from being answered? ›- Ignoring God's Word. If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. ( ...
- Loving Sin. ...
- Desiring Wrongly. ...
- Doubting God.
How do you get God to give you an answer? ›
- Evaluate Your Questions. Sometimes I assume that God will simply give me revelation because it's obvious that I need His help and guidance in my life. ...
- Practice Serious Reflection. ...
- Write It Down. ...
- Ask: Is There More? ...
- Invite Revelation. ...
- Move Forward in Faith.
Listening to God
When things seem to be spiraling out of control, it's tempting to bombard God with our concerns rather than listen to him. Take time to sit quietly in meditation or contemplation. It will help you to feel calmer and more relaxed and allow God to speak to you.
First, we need to recognize why God calls us to wait. He does it for his glory and to make us more like Jesus, whose whole life could be called a waiting game.
Why does God keep telling me to wait? ›God wants us to press into his presence and wait patiently before his throne. He's calling us to come before him with thanksgiving even if we're still waiting on a promise. The world has so many things they want to offer us on an instantaneous silver platter.
Does God always give an answer? ›God hears all your prayers (Psalm 139:4, 1 John 5:14–15, 1 Peter 3:12) and, in one sense, he answers all your prayers. But we do not always receive what we ask for. When we ask God for something, the response will be 'Yes' or 'No' or 'Wait'.
What are the 7 spiritual blessings? ›The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are an enumeration of seven spiritual gifts first found in the book of Isaiah, and much commented upon by patristic authors. They are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
What is the spiritual gift of grace? ›The Gift of Grace is Given to Us
The gift of grace has been given to us by God so that we may give it to others, even if we do not think they deserve it. Jesus was sent to the cross and died to save us from our sin when he did not deserve this suffering. However, he did this through the gift of sacrificial love.
We experience three kinds of grace in our life with God — prevenient, justifying and sanctifying. Prevenient grace literally means "the grace that comes before." Prevenient grace calls us into a relationship with God before we are even aware of God.
What are signs of grace? ›Signs of Grace You Are Forgiven
Signs of Grace: You Are Forgiven prepares children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time by revealing that God is indeed “rich in mercy.”
Jesus does not discriminate against any body because the grace of God has a coverage wide enough for everyone; and it does not matter how deep and far you may have been in sin: with Jesus, forgiveness is assured.
How do I receive God's gift of grace? ›
God's grace can only be received through faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace is, therefore, not something we can earn.
Why doesn't God answer all prayers? ›Your prayers do not align with God's will.
Simply put, sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers because we are praying for the wrong things. And we may not be doing this out of malice, either, so much as out of ignorance. Perhaps we don't know enough of God's Word to know his will.
- Know to whom you are speaking. ...
- Thank him. ...
- Ask for God's will. ...
- Say what you need. ...
- Ask for forgiveness. ...
- Pray with a friend. ...
- Pray the Word. ...
- Memorize Scripture.
2721 The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart.
When God seems to delay? ›“God delays because we ask him for the wrong reasons,” says Mackenzie, 11. Our own lusts or selfish desires drive us into temptation. Many of God's delays are simply unanswered prayers from either immature Christians or carnal Christians who are filled with themselves instead of God's Holy Spirit.
Does the Bible say anything about silent prayer? ›But prayer does not always require words. In fact, Jesus cautioned that using “many words” in prayer could become like babbling (see Matthew 6:7). Being still, without using words, can help us reflect on the majesty, power, beauty, love, and other characteristics of God.
Whose prayer did God not answer in the Bible? ›God was not responding to Paul with the answer Paul desired for this prayer. It should be noted: this was a good prayer, a servant's heart prayer, a prayer that hoped to advance God's kingdom on the earth. But still, God was not allowing Paul to preach the Gospel to the Romans.
When God is silent to your prayers? ›“For God alone my soul waits in silence . . . my hope is from him” (Psalm 62:1, 5). If we lean on him while we wait, God will give us the grace to wait and to listen carefully as we pray, go to trusted Christ-followers for encouragement, and keep opening his word and asking him to help us hear him.
What hinders God's blessings? ›It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us.” Fear obstructs you from experiencing a happy life filled with God's blessings.
Does God forgive unconfessed sin? ›But they are serious, because unconfessed sin breaks our fellowship with God, which is why we need to admit our sins and seek His forgiveness. He is willing to forgive us and cleanse us because He loves us and wants us to live in His presence every day.
How do I know when God is answering me? ›
Through the scriptures, we are taught that God will always hear our prayers and will answer them if we address Him with faith and real intent. In our hearts we will feel the confirmation that He does hear us, a feeling of peace and calm. We can also feel that everything will be fine when we follow the Father's will.
How do you hear God speaking to you? ›Finally, and simply, to hear God's voice, ask God to speak. Say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Contrary to what most people think, God wants to speak to us and God is speaking to us all the time. We are simply deaf to what God is saying or not paying attention.
What is the best way to communicate with God give reason to answer? ›Prayer can be considered a more formal way to talk to God because it is primarily rooted in religion. However, you can choose to pray in whatever way feels comfortable to you. While you can pray at any time and in any place, it helps to set aside specific times of the day to pray.
How do you pray for God to speak to you? ›I ask, Father, that only your Holy Spirit will speak to me now as I wait on you for wisdom, insight, and direction. And whatever you show me or direct me to do, I pray that I will quickly obey. In Jesus's mighty name, amen.”
How does God speak to a person? ›Through His still, small voice inside our hearts
This is the best way to describe God's voice in our lives. God's voice is profoundly audible, though it isn't always distinguishable by our physical ears. God doesn't have to speak loudly, because He lives in our hearts. He doesn't want to intimidate us.
May the words of the Psalmist be true of me, "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope" (Psalm 130:5). Help me to remain faithful in this place of waiting. Help me to serve you and live for you even in this crossroad of my life. Help me to wait as long as it takes.
What did God mean when he said to Paul my grace is sufficient? ›#2 “My grace is sufficient for you,”
This grace was first manifested in his salvation of Paul on the road to Damascus. In this case, God is saying that his salvation was all that Paul truly needed, and also that God would give him the grace to weather this “weakness.”
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
What does my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness? ›In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul quotes Jesus who said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God is perfect in every way, giving Him the power to make up for any weaknesses we have.
What does sufficient mean in the Bible? ›Senses of Sufficiency
[4] It means that Scripture is the norming norm for all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. It is the final arbiter of truth for all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. It is the final rule for all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.
What is the overall message of there but for the grace? ›
“There but for the Grace”: Szymborska, a Polish citizen throughout WWII, suggests that “luck” played a significant role in survival during WWII. Her poem essentially suggests that any and everything could have been the reason that she and others survived while 5 million Poles did not.
Who did God tell his grace was sufficient? ›Paul was the Apostle who wrote the two letters to the Corinthians. It was in the second letter that God told Paul that His grace was sufficient and that His power was made perfect in weakness.
What does it mean that God is more than enough? ›The Hebrew word for God Almighty is El Shaddai – the God who is more than enough – more than sufficient. It means that He has the power to complete promises of blessings and prosperity.
Does God's grace endure forever? ›BELOVED, mercy and grace have no value after death. Their value lasts only in this life and if after rapture, you didn't make it, it will be difficult for you to make it by your own blood. Whoever that dies in sin cannot have the opportunity of repentance again from eternity to eternity.
What is the spiritual meaning of grace? ›grace, in Christian theology, the spontaneous, unmerited gift of the divine favour in the salvation of sinners, and the divine influence operating in individuals for their regeneration and sanctification.
How are we strengthened by grace? ›The grace that is in Jesus strengthens us because it is how we were saved in the first place (Ephesians 2:8-9)! It is our salvation. God supplied us faith in the beginning, so we can trust that he will strengthen our faith as we continue to share in suffering as good soldiers of Christ.
What does the Bible say about when we are weak God is strong? ›Paul wrote to Corinth: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Which verse do we find my grace is always more than enough for you? ›But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I'm weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.
How is God all sufficient? ›God's "self-sufficiency is that whereby he has enough in himself to denominate him completely blessed, as a God of infinite perfection." God possesses infinite riches of being, wisdom, goodness, and power in and of himself (Gen 17.1; John 5.26; Rom 11.33; Eph 3.16).
What is a sufficient person? ›able to provide what is necessary without the help of others: a self-sufficient economy/person.
What does it mean to be sufficient in God? ›
The sufficiency of the All Sufficient God therefore is the adequacy of the provisions of the Lord God Almighty that can never be exhausted or run dry. He is the God who is more than enough to adequately handle all the needs of all His creatures without running short of supply.