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Every song is worth listening to, every lyric is worth reading and the album, as a whole, is undeniably amazing. – Vinyl Noise on Wall of Trophies’ debut album, Heliograph

Semaphore, Wall of Trophies’ follow-up to their critically praised debut album, packs nine intricately dense and emotional tracks into a shotgun-quick 25 minutes—rewarding every listen with new details and discoveries pushing their way through the band’s unique atmospheres. Swirling synths and distorted guitars find their home again around the band’s sonic centerpiece–the voice of lead singer Brittany Jean, sounding here grittier and more intimate than ever.

In the three years since Heliograph, Wall of Trophies has played atop a dragon at the Washington Monument, played their childhood dream clubs on the DC music circuit, been part of a cutting-edge augmented reality app, and–for the first time in years–seen the band briefly writing an album in the same place as Will moved back from Germany to DC, only to soon see Brittany leave for Florida as the duo finished an album remotely yet again. That in-person songwriting in Will’s studio comes across here in an album a bit more spontaneous–and a bit more genre-stretching–with experiments the two might have never tried remotely. Competing guitar parts grew around each other until they becoming one forlorn melody, filter tweaks resonated to reflect the room’s emotion, and songs—as quickly as their message appeared—were allowed to simply end upon conveying their essence.

The approach to fill the songs with no extra verses or fluff than felt needed sees a deeper intimacy in every lyric. The songs on Semaphore run the gamut–from dealing with friends’ suicides, to anger, to heartbreak, to acceptance and hope. The songs are buoyed by their truth and a sincere, raw honesty—often drifting off as a mere thought.

Semaphore was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Wall of Trophies across states and across continents. It was finished in Will’s studio outside Washington, DC. Additional instrumentation on “Girl on a Train” and “Left Behind” was provided by Brian Young.

Tracklist:

  1. Girl on a Train
  2. Something
  3. Army
  4. Left Behind
  5. Not Your Home
  6. The District
  7. Careb
  8. Beyond
  9. Know Me

The first single “Something” will be released on 12 April. It can be seen below.


High-res band photos are available on our Images page.

Contact the band at walloftrophies@gmail.com or (202) 596-5920

Thank you for listening.

Download the album:
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320kbps MP3

Lyrics and Song Meanings:

*Girl on a Train

Don’t say you love me again
Don’t say you love me and then bring me down
Don’t bring me down

You think I’m fooling around
You think I’m fooling around and that I should go
But I’m already gone

And the secrets that we keep here aren’t so small
And those secrets don’t need keepers when they fall

If I could imagine that every single word was written on skin pavement
Safe in someone else’s world
If I could imagine that every single way
Was paved to keep myself in from missing you again

I’ve said as much as I can
I’ve said as much as I can
I should let it go, but I just can’t

I’ve said as much as I can
I’ve said as much as I can
I should let it go, but I just can’t

And the secrets that we keep here aren’t so small
And those secrets don’t need keepers when they fall

If I could imagine that every single word was written on skin pavement
Safe in someone else’s world
And If I could imagine that every single way
Was paved to keep myself in
From missing you again

Brittany:
To me, this song has some kind of “Western mystery” feel to it- whatever that means. It makes me think of saloons and railroad tracks. Aside from the scene I have just described, this song is really about making a choice to build a wall between yourself and whatever addiction might be bringing you down. Whether that addiction is a bad relationship or a bad habit–this song is about finding the strength to steer clear of those old destructive tracks. A risky song to start off an album (something we discussed and deliberated at length) but even more, an incredibly interesting song to start off an album…in my opinion.

Will:
This song sounds like a funeral to me–part of the reason I love starting the album with it. Sets the stage for a new sound and beginning–this album will be different. This is the first album we’ve been able to record Brittany’s vocals in my own studio, and they have this gritty texture you can almost reach out and touch.

*Something

We’re both here for something the cameras cannot see
I’m not here to preach a reason or guess how it’s gonna be
You try to outline the puzzle, every edge still left to find
I’ll just work from the middle, off this piece of peace of mind

If there’s something you wanted, baby
If there’s something you want, then take it
If there’s something you wanted, baby
If there’s something you want, then take it

Brittany:
The lyrics in this song were mostly written by Will. The song makes me dance and it makes my kids dance. It’s trippy and funky and I just adore the break down into that cool piano part at the end. The lyrics I added, “If there’s something you wanted baby….If there’s something you want then take it,” are just a little bit of mischief from a woman who is not in her 20s anymore. Somedays I think- you want something? Just f**king make it happen. No time to waste.

Will:
I wrote these lyrics right after I learned of the suicide of a friend–one who was very supportive of the band. This is exactly the message I wanted to give him and everyone. You don’t need to see the end of everything or the big picture–just focus on yourself and the puzzle will fill out around you. There’s always hope.

*Army

I wish that I could be the one
I wish I could be the one that you call when the lights disappear
I wish that I could be your girl
But there’s no room in your world, but there’s no room in your world
I wish that I could be your girl

Brittany:
This song was written years ago–early 2013 I think. It was a solo song that never really felt complete. It was short- I wrote it in a day, recorded it that same day, and then never sang or worked on it again. Until Will continued to bring it up in conversations about our next album. I’m sure glad he did- Will’s talent for creating a stunning musical atmosphere really brought this song to life. It’s a sweet, sad, longing love song- a song about desperately wanting to be loved.

Will:
Brittany had this song mostly done on acoustic, but it didn’t sound like our band yet. I sat at the piano while she sang and that was it. It didn’t need much after that… the longing in the song needed its own space. We just added some textures to make it denser and give the emotions a little more room to live.

*Left Behind

I can’t say goodbye
But I know I can’t stay
Cause you, you make me feel so
I can’t feel this way

I can’t say goodbye
But I know I can’t stay
Cause you, you make me feel so
I can’t feel this way

So I’m gone
Yes I’m gone
I’m a heart away

Brittany:
The first time I heard this song, I fell in love with it. I am honored that it is on the album as I view it as a work of art beyond any talent of mine. The song makes me feel a longing, a sadness of being “left behind.” It transports me to so many real moments in my own life…and moments to come. The difficulty of saying goodbye is an accidental recurring theme in this album.

Will:
This song is about leaving someone you feel about in a way you’re not supposed to. You can’t tell them why–you just go. I hope the beauty of the song evokes some of the drug-like beauty of living in your own head as your feelings swirl. As for the end, I love early 90s hip hop–groups like Arrested Development–and I love how they’ll change beats or get a new groove going just as a song is ending. It makes the ideas feel endless, and this song and feeling couldn’t have a clear end.

*Not Your Home

Don’t wanna care about it
Don’t wanna think about it
Don’t wanna talk about it
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter

Don’t wanna care about it
Don’t wanna think about it
Don’t wanna talk about it
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter
It doesn’t matter anymore

Brittany:
Don’t you just have some days where you feel exactly like the words in this song? I did. When you feel so tired of something or someone- an emotional drain until you are numb. Despite the nothingness feeling of being numb, I found comfort in the fact that in time particular problems won’t even matter. And that, in fact, right now, it doesn’t matter- not when you put things into perspective and set your priorities straight. It’s a deeply dark song that somehow makes me feel insightful and optimistic.

Will:
I played more with this song than almost any other—we tried building a huge rockout on drums among other things (there are about 10 live drum takes somewhere in my studio). But in the end we brought it back down. It was all about the lyrics and the interplay of Brittany and I each playing acoustic guitar together in my studio.

*The District

Your words are never pretty
That’s how you know we’ll hear
But this is not your city
And we don’t want you here

Brittany:
This song is about standing up for what you believe in and confronting unkindness head on—an extremely emotional journey musically. Eerie layered vocals perfectly sting—making clear our disappointments in the country and world right now.

Will:
The lyrics here are pretty explicit, I think—focusing on the negativity in the press always getting the most run. When you grow up in a city like DC, you witness a lot of people moving in to claim it as their own. Between the military and the politicians, there may be more turnover than anywhere. But this city belongs most to the people that make it what it is. Some of instrumentals here were actually a concept for a solo song–and thank goodness it became a WOT song. Brittany’s vocals were the LAST thing added—opposite of the usual process—and they completely make the song. When Brittany had the idea to chop up her vocals early in the song and we tried it, I got goosebumps.

*Careb

How do you leave it alone
How do you leave it alone
With the words lined up like a gun
How do you leave it alone

How do you say goodbye
How do you say goodbye
Said, “I won’t wait”
But I might
How do you say goodbye

How do you leave it alone
How do you leave it alone
With the words lined up like a gun
How do you leave it alone

How do you say goodbye
How do you say goodbye
Said, “I won’t wait”
But I might
How do you say goodbye

Someday soon, I’ll forget about you
I’ll forget about you, yeah

Someday soon
I’ll forget, I’ll forget
About you, about you

Brittany:
How do you say goodbye. What a powerful word: goodbye. This song starts almost in fear of saying goodbye—of not being able to let go. But by the end of the song, it takes a turn into an almost unforgiving goodbye. I suppose forgetting about something completely would take the sting of that memory away. Maybe it isn’t an unforgiving goodbye at all, but rather a person who has found the power to finally move on.

Will:
The live version of this song has always been much longer—the studio and real persistence gave us the perspective to cut it down to its essence. The synth in the background is partly a 1970s Farfisa combo organ heavily processed. It’s distorted and deep but has this analog air to it—if that makes any sense. The Ensoniq synth samples are maybe the only deliberately digital-sounding ones on the album—it was joyous to bring them in so late in the album to be slightly surprising but in a way that fits. The instrumental struggle here was just buoying the vocals—which are everything here—while staying completely out of the way.

*Beyond

[Instrumental]

Brittany:
The title of this song is exactly where it transports me—Beyond. It is beautiful, wondrous, and uplifting. No words needed to say what is being conveyed here.

Will:
I lost my best friend Terry years ago. This song creates this thundery, stormy atmosphere with the electric guitar splitting through in snippets—parts played just like he would on his electric. It was really emotional to channel him to write the guitar and then chop it so heavily—but the effect is him communicating in snippets from beyond. I can barely listen to this song as it makes me cry before filling me with peace.

*Know Me

You are the girl that I dream about
That I think about, that I think about
You are the girl I can’t live without, I can’t be without, I can’t breathe without

You are the girl that I need to know, need to know me
You are the girl that I need to know, need to know me

You are the girl that I dream about
That I think about, that I think about
You are the girl I can’t live without, I can’t be without, I can’t breathe without

You are the girl that I need to know, need to know me
You are the girl that I need to show, need to grow me

Brittany:
To me, this is a gem of a song. Something that makes my heart smile every time I hear or think about it. It is raw and sweet. I would like to put it in my pocket like a cute little creature and take it everywhere I go. The perfect last song to the album.

Will:
A simple song about a girl I know.

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