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This is because not all of the songs were easily translated between the languages and thus, some only exist in their single language version. Otherwise, 9 of the 11 tracks feature “twin language versions” of the material so that Ember’s audiences in both North America and China can understand the lyrics and enjoy them in their respective language of origin. This box set also includes a full lyric booklet as well as a fabric patch featuring the “11:11″ logo.

Musically, “11:11″ is an eclectic mix of jazz (featuring two of Ember’s grandmother’s songs), folk, rock, world-meets-electronic (a re-make of the old favourite “Pek”) as well as Ember’s signature style meld in which single songs possess a variety of feels and styles.”

Track List:

中文版 ／ Chinese Version
1 – 羡慕嫉妒恨 (admiration, jealousy, hate)
2 – 老外 (laowai/foreigner)
3 – 我深深爱上了你 (i’ve fallen in love with you)
4 – 黑色的寂静 （swallow black silence)
5 – 水 （wash water）
6 – 来自空气 (out of air）*英文歌词
7 – 加油 （you can do it)
8 – 我想一想 （i wish i may)
9 – 甜蜜蜜 （oh so sweet)
10 – 时间停留在这儿 （i could stay here)
11 – Pēk

English Version ／ 英文版
1 – out of air (来自空气)
2 – blinding light (使人眩目的光)
3 – i’ve fallen in love with you （我深深爱上了你）
4 – laowai / foreigner (老外) *chinese lyrics
5 – swallow black silence (黑色的寂静)
6 – wash water (水)
7 – i wish i may (我想一想）
8 – jiayou / you can do it （加油) *chinese lyrics
9 – oh so sweet (甜蜜蜜)
10 – i could stay here (时间停留在这儿)
11 – Pēk

The album continues with folk, jazz, rock, and instrumental pieces that weave in and out of each other, and touch on topics such as religion and government’s intersection, the overwhelming nature of love, water conservation, raising one’s voice, being brave enough to leave bad situations, and finding peace and a sense of ‘home’. The album ends with a re-make of the old favourite “Pek,” a piece that has been with Ember since the year 2000 (11 years, fittingly) and has just now found its originally intended Eastern influence in the inclusion of the Chinese traditional instrument, the erhu.”

Track List:
1 – out of air (来自空气)
2 – blinding light (使人眩目的光)
3 – i’ve fallen in love with you （我深深爱上了你）
4 – laowai / foreigner (老外) *chinese lyrics
5 – swallow black silence (黑色的寂静)
6 – wash water (水)
7 – i wish i may (我想一想）
8 – jiayou / you can do it （加油) *chinese lyrics
9 – oh so sweet (甜蜜蜜)
10 – i could stay here (时间停留在这儿)
11 – Pēk

她把差不多所有的她新歌翻译成中文因为她真的认为音 乐是一种特别重要的交流方式。结果她早发现了在中国她的必须要 中文唱歌！（再说她 真的爱上了这个语言！）她希望你们都会喜欢！

She has translated almost all of her new songs into Chinese because she truly believes that music is an important form of communication. As a result, she realized early on that she would have to sing in Chinese when in China！ (What’s more, she has really fallen in love with the Mandarin language). She hopes you will all enjoy it!

Track List:
1 – 羡慕嫉妒恨 (admiration, jealousy, hate)
2 – 老外 (laowai/foreigner)
3 – 我深深爱上了你 (i’ve fallen in love with you)
4 – 黑色的寂静 （swallow black silence)
5 – 水 （wash water）
6 – 来自空气 (out of air）*英文歌词
7 – 加油 （you can do it)
8 – 我想一想 （i wish i may)
9 – 甜蜜蜜 （oh so sweet)
10 – 时间停留在这儿 （i could stay here)
11 – Pēk

Track List:
1 – Hollowed Bones
2 – Eclipse
3 – Heartbroken
4 – So Nice
5 – That’s Right
6 – What Were You Thinking
7 – Float
8 – Stop

Teamed with producer Tim Rideout, this gives her an entirely new and silky set of sonic threads from which she embroiders ambient, dance, acoustic, jazz, pop, rock and Cabaret sheathes for her lyrics. Older fans will find comfort in What Were You Thinking, new fans can drop the digital needle anywhere without regret. In either case, you have to be prepared to be pierced as Ember reveals herself lyrically. Alternating between English and Chinese, she finds her new self and love and catches her breath. Although Lentic means “of or relating to or living in still waters,” her thoughts move. And, contrary to the lyrics in What Were You Thinking, the singer and the song, the author and the book got the words RIGHT. She knows.

Track List:
1 – Hollowed Bones
2 – Eclipse
3 – Heartbroken
4 – So Nice
5 – That”s Right
6 – What Were You Thinking
7 – Float
8 – Stop

Featuring Ember Swift on guitar and vocals (and the first album to see Ember playing electric guitar); Lyndell Montgomery on violin, bowed guitar, backing vocals, and pump organ; and Adam Bowman on drums and percussion, guests on the album were also plentiful. They included Sarah MacElcheran on trumpet, Colleen Allen on saxophone, Andrew Ennals on keys, Mystic & Miranda on backing vocals, Cheryl Reid on drums and percussion, Janine Stoll on backing vocals, and Graham Stairs on tambourine. This record was the inspiration for the bands award-winning bowling website as it featured the rockin’ track “Ten Pin.” It also included a remake of the song that originally released in 1998 (Can’t Corner Me) and again in 2000 (Snapshots)

“Mental Breakdown”. Finally, the song “No Regrets” is a four-way co-write between Ember Swift, Lyndell Montgomery, Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac (of Madison Violet.) Special thanks goes out to Suzy Malik (www.suzymalik.com) for the creative inspiration for the heart diagram on the back of the album as a means to display the track titles.

Track List:
1 – No Regrets
2 – Affluence Disease
3 – Some Fine Day
4 – Bliss
5 – Mental Breakdown
6 – Impossible to Tell
7 – Ten Pin
8 – Thirteen
9 – Intervention
10 – Witness
11 – Ease
12 – Reinforced Concrete

It chronicles their 2005 Australia tour and is complete with interviews, on-the-road footage, and even includes a special features section regarding Ember’s perspective on water conservation and water issues, an issue close to her heart and on that is extremely relevant to Australia as a nation. Special guests on stage include Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac from Canada’s Madison Violet singing back-ups on “Some Fine Day” in Canberra (ACT) as well as Australia’s Mel Watson from Fruit on trumpet during Reinforced Concrete in Melbourne (VIC). Witness also features two pieces that were never recorded in formal studios: “Listen” and Lyndell’s poem “Unlearn.” It also showcases a few pre-glimpses of songs that appear on the 2006 release “The Dirty Pulse.” Recording by Pigfish Productions, this DVD truly gives a glimpse of the band as performers and as people.

Track List:
1 – Listen
2 – Tapped & Wired
3 – Disarming
4 – Include My Food
5 – Pek
6 – Some Fine Day
7 – Ten Feet Tall
8 – Unlearn (Poem)
9 – Boise
10 – Witness
11 – Elle Est La
12 – All in the Family
13 – Reinforced Concrete
14 – H2O

Leading with songs about political corruption (“Tapped & Wired”), media monopoly (“All in the Family”), water conservation (“H20” – a revisit to “Water is the Cure-All” from the 1999 release), and capitalism & accountability (Lyndell Montgomery’s “Sucker Punched” spoken word piece), not to mention the double entendre of “Disarming” in the title track, the need for which intended as both personal and national, this album is ironically most loved for its non-political songs. “Elle est la” (the French song) was featured in the L-word’s 3rd season; Pek, the well-known instrumental finally got recorded in a studio on this release; F.A.Q. is a humorous Q&A about the mysteries behind the band. The first album to feature the drumming talents of Adam Bowman (although Cheryl Reid moonlighted on “Breath”), it was recorded at The Recording House with Sean Gregory at the desk. Guests included Sean on electric guitar and Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac from Madison Violet (backing vocals on “Tapped & Wired). This album also featured a continuous play component wherein each song ends with a hidden insert that leads into the next song. There were two different packages released, a tan-coloured cardboard digipack in the first round and a standard jewel case with the cover image famed in red in all proceeding printings.

Track List:
1 – Tapped & Wired
2 – Disarming
3 – Splinter
4 – Boise
5 – Twist Twice
6 – Sucker-Punched
7 – All in the Family
8 – 14 & Fiery
9 – H2O
10 – F.A.Q.
11 – Elle Est La
12 – Pek
13 – Breath

The album features the title track and “Tram #86,” two songs written in Australia that speak to their international touring experiences. The record was recorded and mixed at Rogue Studios in Toronto with James Paul.

The band, at this time, consisted of Ember Swift on guitar and voice, Lyndell Montgomery on bass and violin, and Michelle Josef on drums and percussion. Michelle only worked with the band for just under two years, but her expertise on the kit shine on this recording. Most popular tracks on this album include “Ten Feet Tall” (featuring Dana Baitz on keys) and “Boinked (the Bride),” a humorous take on attending an ex-lover’s wedding.

Stiltwalking also includes the first ever cover song to appear on an Ember Swift recording: “When a Gypsy Makes Her Violin Cry.” In fact, the song was originally about a male gypsy, but since Lyndell Montgomery was the violinist, they changed the gender accordingly. For this song, Ember invited her Mother (Catherine Swift) and her Grandmother (Helen Spinks) into the studio to sing harmonies and thus it features three generations of voices from Ember’s family tree.”

Track List:
1 – Include My Food
2 – Ten Feet Tall
3 – Stiltwalking
4 – Rubber Bullets
5 – Lick Your Lips
6 – Boinked (The Bride)
7 – Competing? You Choose
8 – Tram #86
9 – Slipping to My Knees
10 – The Underwear Song
11 – When a Gypsy Makes Her Violin Cry

They decided to simultaneously release an EP called “Snapshots” that included three songs that were older songs but had become features of the Ember Swift live show: “Fatty, Fatty”, “There, in Me” and “Mental Breakdown.” Also on this EP is a previously unrecorded song that never was released elsewhere. It was recorded in solo format (guitar and voice) and is called “My Personal Anthem.” John Switzer (producer) and Lyndell Montgomery (violin, bass) lent their voices to the sing-along portion at the end. This is the first and only EP that Ember Swift ever released.

“While covering different styles, from pop-rock to folk to jazz to Celtic, EMBER’s jazzy, at times scat-like vocals give the EP an improvisational, jam kinda feel.”
- Ray Dorsey; Chaos Realm; May 2002

Track List:
1 – Mental Breakdown
2 – There, In Me
3 – Fatty, Fatty
4 – My Personal Anthem

Recorded live across Canada in Edmonton, Victoria, and Toronto, respectively, this album represents over a year of steadfast touring by the trio, with national dates and American dates stretching from Halifax to Vancouver, Boston to San Francisco. At this point, they had become a family and their connection is palpable in each and every track. Produced by John Switzer in Toronto, this album features another band release of “Show Up Outside,” and arguably the most beautifully and elaborate arrangement of the song released to date. It also features the first recording of “Pek,” the song that became an Ember Swift anthem and was performed at nearly every show for nine solid years.

Track List:
1 – CD Intro
2 – 5$
3 – Elbows
4 – Corporate Daddy Intro
5 – Corporate Daddy
6 – Lost in Nanaimo
7 – Goldilox Intro
8 – Goldilox
9 – Happiness Ball
10 – Freestylin’ Porpoise
11 – Band Intros
12 – Watchado
13 – Show Up Intro
14 – Show Up Outside
15 – Pel (Original)
16 – Humility

Also recorded by Karen Kane (producer) at Sound Around Studios in Toronto, the album was the first to identify the “trio” sound that would characterize the Ember Swift project for many years to come. In fact, trio versions of two previously released songs were included on this record as well: “Quickly” (originally on the Self-Titled record, 1996) and “Own It” (first recording on Insectinside, 1997). This album also features guest musicians Dana Baitz on keys as well as John Jowett and Danny Paradise, both on Trombone. The last track on this record, “Water Is the Cure All,” is a collaborative effort by Matt Hall (sequencing and sampling) and Ember Swift, and also features Lyndell Montgomery on violin. This track begins with some Chinese, a reference to Ember’s academic career, and also captures the existence of her dream to visit “eastern shores.” More than a decade later, the 2009 project LENTIC (still waters) that highlights Ember’s time in China, truly realized this once far-off notion of Eastern waters being the “cure-all.”

Track List:
1 – Quickly
2 – Freak
3 – The Army Song
4 – Flashbacks
5 – Voodoo
6 – Not Another
7 – Some Things Are…
8 – Ink
9 – Own It
10 – Make the Mood Light
11 – Cheap Drunk
12 – Water is the Cure-All
13 – Rules

Then, Ember & Lyndell met the Stadey brothers, Russ and Chris, drums/percussion and trumpet/backing vocals, respectively. As a four-piece, they developed several songs and decided to tour that project in the summer of 1998. This was the album they produced before they left for that tour, their first tour to Western Canada. It was recorded by Karen Kane (producer) and Jerry Tupis (engineer) at Sound Around Studio in Toronto. It also features the first co-written track between Ember and Lyndell: Mental Breakdown. Finally, it features a bonus track: the re-release of the solo version of the song “Show Up Outside” that originally appeared on the self-titled release in 1996.

Track List:
1 – Show Up Outside
2 – Nesting
3 – Mental Breakdown
4 – Priv-Ledge
5 – Ridiculous
6 – Bargaining
7 – Rules
8 – 5$
9 – 7-Beat
10 – Argh@#!!
11 – Show Up Outside
12 – Run to the Roundhouse Maggie

This project was also a solo project, but guests were brought into the studio for certain songs. Released in July of 1997 at The Music Gallery in its former Front Street location in Toronto, the release was a multi-media affair featuring film, theatre, costumes and comedy. Ember mistakenly believed that she was destined to only make one CD and so she decided that an eclectic mix of songs and a full-scale production was in order. Little did she know that this approach would define her long career. Also recorded by Chris Leonard (producer) in Toronto, this record features Ember on guitar, piano, and vocals. It also features Lyndell Montgomery on violin, Kieron Daly on hand percussion, and Chris Leonard on hand percussion.

Track List:
1 – Own It
2 – Stop Fighting You
3 – Get Outta My Head
4 – Fatty Fatty
5 – Awkward Lover
6 – Solution in Aggression
7 – Fly
8 – Little Girl
9 – Pass
10 – There, In Me
11 – I Don’t Be Thinkin’ So
12 – Glue
13 – Swooshi, Swooshi
14 – “Chips”

This album is no longer available for purchase in its physical form. It is a solo album—the only one of its kind in the collection—featuring Ember on guitar and vocals (as well as backing vocals). This self-titled release was recorded over an eight-month period in the studio belonging to Chris Leonard, producer, Toronto.

Track List:
1 – Slipping to My Knees
2 – Show Up Outside
3 – Take
4 – Nothing Budges
5 – The Night
6 – Quickly
7 – Ring
8 – String Grate
9 – Under the Whether
10 – Ivory