This year I’m learning to live unapologetically in my own truths, just give me a moment.
This year, I’m learning to live with nosebleeds.
Clearing my mind only takes a second
Usual negotiation only takes a second
It's not a negotiation if you only beckoned
Or if you wielded power overhead
Put your arms
Over my mouth
But keep the pleasure
All to yourself
Asking to do me favours,
Trying to claim something owed
Called me slut,
“I’ll fix you with my touch”
And strung me out until I was stretched
I have lost all my ability to slumber,
Do you still manage
To dream while you squirm?
Couldn’t pretend
that I understand
So let that be reason
to watch me extinguish
Induce whiplash, lion tamer
This year, I am learning not to touch.
All I wanted was a new year
Put your arms
Over my mouth
But keep the pleasure
All to yourself
Another kickass effort from the Toronto punks, steeped in the traditions of straight edge, post-hardcore, and ’90s alternative rock. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 8, 2023
Toronto band Respire deliver a post-hardcore tour de force on the largest scale possible, orchestrally rich and incessantly uncompromising. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 6, 2021