Given where Black Tape for a Blue Girl began over a quarter of a century ago with founder Sam Rosenthal\u2019s exploration of brooding, extended electronics and strings meshed with deeply revealing lyrics and darkly textured, melodramatic vocal performances, it\u2019s striking to see his muse and inspiration reach a new peak on their 11th album, These Fleeting Moments<\/strong>. The ethereal, gothic and darkAmbient stylings that made them one of the originators of American darkwave are offered on this release which coincides with the band\u2019s 30th anniversary. Rosenthal reinvigorates their classic sound with the return of original vocalist Oscar Herrera, absent from music for 17 years. <\/p>\n
A quick review from Black Tape For A Blue Girl fan Sean, in Scotland: S<\/strong>am – you do not disappoint! The album is just simply stunning. Beautiful, powerful, melancholy… incredible. Having Oscar back really links it to the past and, although certainly a more “classic” sounding BlackTape album than 10 Neurotics<\/strong>, there is still the continuing evolution of the music and vision – no backwards movement here! Anyhow, I just had to say that!<\/I><\/span><\/em> <\/p>\n
The band emerges from the studio with 70 minutes of powerful, gorgeously yearning tracks born from the same place as their 90s classics Remnants of a Deeper Purity<\/strong> and A Chaos of Desire<\/strong>. Sam\u2019s lyrics explore the existential predicaments of time\u2019s passage, choices questioned, and loves lost. Oscar\u2019s darkly dramatic vocals are complemented by Dani Herrera\u2019s emotional and heartfelt voice, Nick Shadow\u2019s visceral viola, Brian Viglione’s (The Dresden Dolls) driving drums, and Rosenthal\u2019s pensive electronics and revelatory songwriting.<\/p>\n
Director David Lynch, former pornographic actress Sasha Grey and writer Poppy Z. Brite are some of their more well-known fans. <\/p>\n
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LONG BIO<\/p>\n
On their 30th anniversary, Black Tape For A Blue Girl returns to their evocative ethereal, neoclassical, gothic roots with an album exploring the existential predicaments of time\u2019s passage, choices questioned, and loves lost. Original vocalist Oscar Herrera rejoins the band after a 17-year absence. His darkly dramatic vocals are complemented by Dani Herrera\u2019s emotional and heartfelt voice, Nick Shadow\u2019s visceral viola, Brian Viglione\u2019s driving drums, and band-founder Sam Rosenthal\u2019s pensive electronics and revelatory songwriting.<\/p>\n
These Fleeting Moments<\/strong>, their 11th studio release, is 70 minutes of powerful, gorgeously yearning tracks born from the same place as their 90s classics Remnants of a Deeper Purity<\/strong> and A Chaos of Desire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
“For this album,\u201d Sam says, \u201cI picked up threads of our 90s sound. I wrote those intense, passionate songs that Oscar delivers so wonderfully. Adding Nick\u2019s breathtaking strings atop my synth-horn and electronic textures, and writing 25 minutes of instrumentals, really brings this album back to the essential Blacktape sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oscar\u2019s involvement is more than a nostalgic appearance \u2014 he sings seven songs. Accompanying Oscar is his daughter Dani, who was not even a year old when the band recorded their 1986 debut, The Rope<\/strong>. Her lead vocals on four tracks bring an absorbing intermingling of voices to this release. At times Dani\u2019s singing carries a youthful, breathy softness, such as on the brokenheartedness of \u201cShe\u2019s gone.\u201d \u201cShe wasn\u2019t the first girl to dump me, but she dumped me on the phone, and it brought out all these old feelings. Who would love me and just drop me unless I didn\u2019t deserve love. Unless I didn\u2019t deserve love.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band boldly opens the album with \u201cThe vastness of life,\u201d a 17-minute five-part epic reminiscent of Remnants<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cFor you will burn your wings upon the sun.\u201d It\u2019s an expressive track \u2014 powerfully solemn, stirringly elegant and evocative \u2014 drifting between defiant, resigned and striking vocal sections and floating ambient passages. The lyrics explore the album\u2019s theme: questions about life choices, our personal story, and if we have the courage to live in service to our ideals. <\/p>\n
The album\u2019s lyrics range from emotionally wrought to delicately sensitive, detailing fears of revealing the true self, betrayal of one\u2019s body in the hands of a lover\u2019s promises, contemplating our interconnectedness to others, or poking fun at mankind\u2019s belief that we are more important than other animals.<\/p>\n
Sam continues, \u201cThe fleetingness of time has become part of the questions I am asking. We are finite in our being but infinite in our hopes and longings. Life will pass us in an instant, and I ask myself if I am courageously living my true self in the world? Or are we all a bit hunched over, hiding from the possibilities?\u201d <\/p>\n
After three decades recording music and running the Projekt record label, Sam drew upon internationally-acclaimed talent to record the album. Guest musicians include The Dresden Dolls’ drummer Brian Viglione, SoulWhirlingSomewhere\u2019s vocalist Michael Plaster, and electronic solo artists Erik W\u00f8llo and Mark Seelig. Newcomer Chase Dobson adds guitars and bass. <\/p>\n
In the catchiest track, the luxuriant \u201cLimitless,\u201d Oscar sings, \u201cI shine, I glow, I venture into the darkness in search of the essential.\u201d Sam\u2019s thought-provoking lyrics invite self-examination without becoming too weighty \u2014 the earnest themes explored on the album have a palatable sense of optimism in the face of adversity and are buoyed by the ebb and flow of the band\u2019s superb performances. Indeed, These Fleeting Moments<\/strong> finishes on a high note, a song sung from father to son on the elder\u2019s death bed; even in that, there is the suggestion that a way through can be found by remembering that \u201cthe most beautiful moments remain so dear to us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Release date: November xx 2016<\/p>\n
\nClick to Join, hit send, and I’ll add you to the list. – Sam <\/p>\n
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