Fans of the darkwave mainstay Lycia were quite depressed - even more depressed than normal for darkwave fans - a few years back when Lycia released the beautiful and haunting Estrella, only to then announce the end of the band. At that time, Lycia had essentially burned down to the core duo of the married couple Mike VanPortfleet and Tara VanFlower (although Tara was not a member of the band in the earliest days). Due to personal issues and health problems, Mike decided upon retirement from the music industry. Tara followed with a very nice solo release, but it still did not have the depth and longing that Lycia came to embody.
What a pleasant surprise, then, to have the duo back unexpectedly, releasing a more acoustic and minimalist effort, but still with the Lycia trademark sound. Mike expresses his emotion beautifully in the songs he vocalizes, and Tara has perhaps never sounded so polished and perfect. Whereas past releases ranged from all-out dark walls of sound in the early days with crashing drums and electronic white noise to the aforementioned smoother Estrella, the acoustic nature of this release takes the band in a different and entirely successful direction. It is not totally without electronics, but much more organic than ever before.
Tara is a professing Christian and talks about this in interviews without much hesitation. Mike is less vocal about his spiritual leanings, and seems to be so due to a fear of being walled into the evangelical ghetto. The Projekt label where Lycia finds their home is far from being a haven for Christian music, but is indeed a safe harbor for the darkwave sound, and the perfect spot for the band.
Supposedly the songs tell of the couple's journey from Ohio back to live in the desert of Arizona. Flashes of spirituality can be found, but are never overt, as in "Give Up the Ghost":
Spirit - wound,
Spirit - move,
I don't know, I don't know,
Where you go, where you go.
Lycia triumphs again by showing music fans that dark does not equal evil. Painful emotion and deep feeling can be conveyed with a few minor chords, some beautiful vocals of poetic significance and loads of talent in composition.
5 tocks
Similar sounding releases
2002The Gloria RecordStart Here
2005TitaniaTitania
2004The Great DepressionUnconscious Pilot
2004Nanook of the NorthThe Täby Tapes
1993SlowdiveSouvlaki
1999The World InsideRoobrik
