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The Next Life

by Mike West

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition 180g white vinyl of The Next Life with incredible exterior artwork from Nick Gonzo and a full Ouija board gatefold by Declan Montgomery.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Next Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      £20 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited edition CD of The Next Life with incredible exterior artwork from Nick Gonzo and a full Ouija board gatefold by Declan Montgomery.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Next Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      £12 GBP or more 

     

  • Limited Edition White Vinyl, CD, and Sticker

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Next Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      £28 GBP or more 

     

  • Mike will drive to your house with a bottle of whisky and perform a house show for you and your guests. Limited Edition White Vinyl, CD, Sticker and handwritten lyric sheet

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Next Life via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    1 remaining

      £150 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

      £6 GBP  or more

     

1.
Take my hand and we'll fly Or don't that's fine And I think I see, this ain't about me For all we are, is all we are And all we do, is all we can do. I think we're at a crossroads once again Wish it was with someone other than my best friend 'Cause my head is telling me I have to go But my heart is wishing that it ain't so So you go left, I'll go right and I'll catch you in The Next Life We had a good run, you can't say it weren't fun So why stop there. I know you're in there Don't walk away, I still have more to say You might not want to hear, or you do I fear. I think we're at a crossroads once again Wish it was with someone other than my best friend 'Cause my head is telling me I have to go But my heart is wishing that it ain't so So you go left, I'll go right and I'll catch you in The Next Life There's more to be than what we are, like a pair of uncrossed stars I found you in the cold of space, I'll find you again in the exact same place Because I can't let you, I won't let you, should I let you go? If it takes an eon or an age to get to you, I ain't done turning the same page on you So you go left and I'll go right and sure as day turns into night I can't let you, I won't let you, I can't let you go So you go left and I'll go right.
2.
Work On 03:20
Work on my daughter. Work on my son. Work on like your father Until the day is done. Work until you can't. Work until you bleed. Work until you won't. All for the machine And you ask yourself. Am I free? Think of the money. The one that buys your time. Think of the money. You can't take with you, when you die. And you ask yourself, am I free? Do you work 9 to 5? Do you feel alive? Is it worth all your time? Do you dream of days gone by? Do you have any pride? Do you feel any life? And you ask yourself, am I free?
3.
What If? 03:29
What if we never woke? What if we stayed? What if we spent our lives in a world we made? What if we slept all day, and loved all night? What if we ran away to peaceful life? All I'm asking, all I wonder. All I'm saying, Dont go. What if we just lay here, just side by side? I could be all you need, you could be mine. What if we just lay here? Suspending time. And I could lose myself in perfect eyes. All I'm asking, all I wonder. All I'm saying, Dont go. I know you can't stay. We both have things to do today. Damn the world and all it demands. How dare it mess with all our plans. All I'm asking, all I wonder. All I'm saying, Dont go. All I'm asking, all I wonder. All I'm saying, Dont go.
4.
My eyes been twitching for two weeks I really need to get some sleep. Oh no. No rest for me My body's aching for far too long. I still don't know where I went wrong. Oh no. No rest for me. 'Cause my mind won't let me sleep It blames me for the Company I Keep I tried to drink my dreams away They came back stronger the very next day. Oh no. No rest for me. Psilocybin changed me view. I got trapped in that deja vu. Oh no. No rest for me 'Cause my mind won't let me sleep It blames me for the Company I Keep My body's aching My mind is racing I still don't know why my hands are shaking When insomnia gets a hold of ya You better pray it ain't lasting forever
5.
Away I Go 04:07
I've been watching this rain bounce off my windshield I've been staring at the missed calls on my phone I've been sitting in my car for an hour now 'Cause I can't bare to go back home What if I just drove away right now? Let the rain wash away my tracks Threw away my phone and all that I owned Told a lie that I'll be back That's not my responsibility That's for you, not me I've been watching this traffic driving past me Heading to their husbands and their wives They've got more courage than I do They just get on with their lives That's not my responsibility That's for you, not me I ain't proud of what I am. But I know I have to go Damn my restless heart, damn my reckless mind. Damn me for leaving you No matter what path I take, nothing is set in stone So I close my eyes, leave you behind and away I go.
6.
"Don't do like I've done", said Father to Son "And let this world leave you cold Do what you can and love what you do Or it's a long and lonely road" "Don't do like I've done", said Father to Son "There's a difference between money and wealth It's never the power, it's never the title It's never the money itself" "Don't do like I've done", said Father to Son "Just let the pendulum swing. You will get yours and they will get theirs As sure as this world will spin. This world will always spin" "Don't do like I've done", said Father to Son "I've made mistakes in the past. I am what I am, here lies a man If only these words would last"
7.
Rock Ferry 03:32
I'm not ashamed of where I'm from. But I ain't exactly proud. That young mother on the corner, I think we used to hang around. But as I've gotten older. I can't remember now. Most I forgot on purpose. Rest I forgot with time. Goddamn class of '07. Wasted youth branded lies. I'll make it out if it kills me. I'll see the other side. As I drive through this memory. Of what a town's supposed to be. Boarded houses, broken windows. Reflecting parts of me. This is where I was born. But it's not where I'll die. That's the funny thing about life. That is always goes on. No one gives damn where you're going. Only where you come from. We're all haunted by our pasts. The ghosts that won't leave us be. Dragging us down to dilapidated tombs. Disguised as Rock Ferry.
8.
For Them 03:13
As the fire dies and we say our goodbyes I hear the ghost of me say "All the battles we've lost and wars that we've one Go on to define us some day" We'll let this summer pass and move on at last To the seasons that make us age But at least I will know that the older we grow In a chapter we shared the same page I remember the days we were young and unashamed Immortal at least for a while But as time did march with our bodies now scarred By love and loss in our style The embers will fade but the memories remain Of a youth where we howled at the moon And with no regrets I will clear all my debts And lament we went too soon
9.
No Grave 04:11
When I go, bury me in the sky When I go, take two pennies for my eyes Then my debts are paid I don't need No Grave Where I go, I carry my dead with me I'll see them in the rain before the cemetery When my debts are paid I don't need No Grave I just know, I feel it creep under my skin I just know that when I go they won't me in Till my debts are paid I don't need No Grave I won't hear you crying when I'm dead and gone Pouring your heart out to a heartless stone All I am and all I will be lives and dies with me You don't need to visit my grave to prove that you care As long as you still hear my voice in the air 'Cause this is all we are, this is all we'll be Just one more beautiful memory So go my friend, go and live Know I am with you till that last breath you give I don't need No Grave, no six feet for me All I ask is that you remember me

about

After Rusted comes The Next Life. Personally, professionally and musically, The Next Life shows the evolution of Mike West and the genre defying sound he has been cultivating over the past 4 years.

credits

released August 7, 2020

Mike West - Vocals, guitar, harmonica and bass
Paul Miceli-Fagrell - Harmonica, recording and mixing
Amy Chalmers - Violin
Travis Egnor - Pedal steel, Slide Guitar
Cover Art - Nic Shearon and Declan Montgomery
Interior and back art - Declan Montgomery
Recorded at Kingwood Studios -Liverpool

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about

Mike West Liverpool, UK

Not Country Enough.
Not Blues Enough.
Not Folk Enough.
Too Heavy...

A call to arms for those open minded folks who don't care about genre. They care about music.

Mike West is a Bastard Country Musician from the North of England. His grounded storytelling and existential lyricism with the driving rhythms of his guitar can captivate crowds wherever he plays.
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