Many artists have begun adding rock elements to dance music, but few have been successful doing the opposite. A forthright singer/songwriter at home with both a clever phrase and a naked emotion, Paul Kamran brings drum loops, analog synthesizers, and an army of acoustic and electric guitars and pianos to his songs. Their ringing melodies will sweep you away. Combining the dramatic flourishes and musicianship of Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright with the mainstream appeal of Pete Yorn and David Gray, Paul's mix of tradition and innovation brings listeners to a contradiction: Startlingly new, yet hauntingly familiar.

Everything (lyrics)

I've been hanging around, sometimes this place can get so old
I could hate this town, all the sunny days can be so cold
And they don't tell you anything that you don't already know
I've been listening to you, sometimes you make me feel so old
I've been out of touch, but every time I see you I just know
Everything that glitters isn't really gold

So square your shoulders up and hit me as hard as you can
I've waited for so long to capture this feeling again
Everything you touch will turn to gold

I can see it now, so much desperation here
You've been taking it for granted but it's never been so clear
As hard as you close your eyes you just can't make it disappear
You say you're bystanding, but bystanding claims you're innocent
And you're holding in your hands another piece that doesn't fit
So just show me where you aimed and I'll tell you what you hit

So square your shoulders up and hit me as hard as you can
I've waited for so long to capture this feeling again
Everything you touch will turn to gold

So stand up, come close, step into the light
And show me all of those scars that never healed
Draw them all together, constellations in your mind
Spin yourself in the moonlight until your body becomes the sky

So square your shoulders up and hit me as hard as you can
I've waited for so long to capture this feeling again
Everything you touch will turn to gold
Everything you touch will turn to gold
Everything you touch will turn to gold
Everything you touch will turn to gold

Pure (lyrics)

When I'm tired of the double meanings and carrying the weight of the world
When all of the kind words don't mean nothing, and nothing I can give is returned
I can retreat to the harmony of the world that's just you and me
I can close my eyes and just breathe it all in

Pure as the wine we drink together
Pure as the western breeze
Pure as the light you bring to me

When we find what we're seeking, if we find what we're seeking
I wonder if we'll wonder what it is that we were seeking at all
When we finally stop this singing about carrying the weight of the world
I wonder if we'll find the singing was the only thing that kept the sky from falling

Pure as the wine we drink together
Pure as the kiss of spring
Pure as the light you bring to me

Well it's pure as the wine we drink together
Pure as the silence when we sleep
Pure as the light you bring to me

All the things I want you to know before I go
All the strength I wish that someday I could show
All those things that make your life what I'm living for

Everything that you could ever be
All those dreams they could pass us by so easily
So pure they're impossible to see

So pure that they'll all avert their eyes
So much there that I never realized
I never realized

Outlaw (lyrics)

Well, I crashed in through the back door at 3 AM and woke up all the neighbors
I don't feel much like an outlaw but the nighttime isn't doing me any favors
A secret identity is so hard to keep when it's all right there on your face
Wish I could step into a phone booth and strip away any proof of what I am

I can't say it was never true
But these things all get back to you
And you're old enough to think I know better

The stamp won't rub off my hand and my coat smells like I've been out drinking
I don't feel much like a wanted man, yeah, this cold reception's got me thinking
You might say I'm a rock star, but that is no excuse for my behavior
All I want is a warm bed and to rid my head of all of these labors of love

I can't tell you if it's true
That all these wrongs make it right with you
And I'm old enough by now
I've let you down, I've let you down

Saturday, I'm sleeping in
So I don't fall in love again
Saturday, I'm staying close to all my secrets
They're all I have

And Sunday I'll come back to you
Start again find out why you are so lonely

Saturday, I'm sleeping in
So I don't fall in love again

I never said that it wasn't true
If I confess it all to you
Will you give me back your love?
It's all I have
It's all I have
It's all I have

Bio

Arlington's Paul Kamran and his band play songs that are
anything but the typical singer-songwriter fare, ranging from
introspective alt.country to roaring rock underpinned with beatbox and
synth layers, and drawing on themes of lost innocence and the hope in
new beginnings. According to local blog "The DCeiver", he has "a
sound that cuts between analog and digital, that distinguishes itself
from the usual coffeehouse natterings without lapsing into didacticism
or Dido-ism." Kamran's first full-length CD, Constellations, will be
released in early 2006; he is currently booking shows with the band
and as a solo performer.

The band: Seth Brown, a veteran of the DC scene and current drummer for Lianna, Justin Jones, June Star, and the Black Hand, holds down the rhythm. cate, who fronts her own band sugarpill, plays the bass and creates ethereal harmonies. Matthew Connolly, a veteran of the Austin music scene, creates huge textures with his guitar and violin, while also contributing vocals. The combination of melodies, vocal harmonies, beats, and effects-driven guitars lands the sound between the Britpop of Coldplay and Travis, rock-oriented indie music of Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie, and melodic pop-rock of the Finn Brothers or the Pernice Brothers.