AÑO: 5 | NÚMERO 47
THE 13th UN A R E V IS TA IM A GINA RIA
THE BLUE HOUR ANTICIPATING THE BLUEST HOUR
[ By Pablo Müllner ]
ANTICIPATING THE BLUEST HOUR A preview of the new album from The Blue Hour On the May issue of The 13th, we talked extensively with the duo The Blue Hour (“Moving Forward through the Flowering Sky” page ….) about their career and whereabouts, they were as charming and eloquent as their own music, which can be warm and soothing, on the one hand but never giving up its intensity and density. There is something transcendent, they are always asking philosophical questions with their sounds and words, even with their paces and silences, they wander through extremes of light and darkness, life and death, eastern and west world, awaken and asleep. As a precious gift for our question, that tried to be insightful, they gave us three new beautifully heart-breaking songs that will form part of a forthcoming 12-song album named, “In Every Breath” Here are some thoughts on the new material of The Blue Hour that feels already like a heavenly present:
Embrace Not the Hand Well, we talked a lot about ethereal, baroque and yes, beautiful vocalizations in the style of Cocteau Twins. In vocal terms, this was the Blue Hour song I felt more Cocteau Twinseque. The expressive, warm voice of Marselle goes up, up, up for her highest register in a way that feels effortless. Off course layers of vocals are here in a true Cocteau fashion, but the main difference is that they are not
manipulated to a degree where the lyrics are unreadable as it happened very often with Liz Fraser´s. Instrumentally some electronic beats sound without taking much attention rather carrying the tune as heartbeats, very nervous heartbeats like those of little birds, and some typing machines in a state of pure inspiration. The guitar of Brian is almost too gently and soft like proving the perfect lily
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pads for the faeries to pose and tell their tale. Marselle: This song came to me by a completely different process than usual. I actually heard the vocal melody in my head so clearly as if it already existed in another realm. All I had to do was coax it into being as I looked for the words to fit what I was hearing, allowing my mouth to just create words. It almost felt automatic. But I just trusted that in the end it would all make sense. So I attribute these lyrics to somethingspeaking through me and producing some interesting images, such as the lyrics,“Love power reflecting beam.” I just love that! Brian: I wanted the song tobe ethereal and as fragile as a cobweb. I wanted it to feel like it could fall away with a breath, insubstantial like a ghost (listen closely and you’ll hear a chain dragging in the background) to support Marselle’s unearthly vocals. The drum beat is meant to be anxious and off-beat, adding to the push-and-pull of the song, giving it a sense of delirium. Knots:
mood and smoke. I was instantly feeling that it needed less vocal layering to really bring out the song’s intimacy and bring the listener to a whole new place. You got the image of the song perfectly! It’s ahazy dimly lit bar on a sultry night, with a hint of stormy humidity in the air. I imagined myself as a torch singer moving languidly across the stage wearinga long sexy gown with matching long gloves seducing the audience with my feminine whiles. Brian: I love David Lynch’s take on cinema noir. The music in “Knots” is a Lynchian take on a torch song, drawing equally from Marc Almond (Open All Night era) and Portishead to create a disorientating but enticingly sexy night club scene. I wanted the music to be simpler than our typical song, so I focused on single note tremolo-laden guitars and a straight-forward beat so that the song swirls drunkenly around a solid base. A fevered dream (Black Heart)
Here beats are much more on the spotlight, sounding as rhythmic as big blocks of ice breaking peacefully and also dangerously over the coldest (bluest) waters. The “nourish” pace of the song probably takes me to a very different scenery this time: Marselle sounds heavenly but this time more in a torch singer, in a otherworldly torch singer way, more like Alison Goldfrapp on early Felt Mountain era, so pristine in a neon lighted nightclub that is truly heartbreaking; “You breath me in, I breath you in…” (deep sight). The keyboards and guitars meld on delicate but turbulent indigo swirl. Stormy night is on the horizon.
Wow! This song is really all that a stormy night is good for! Like a bonfire in cabin during the cruellest of the winter nights. Here is where I feel the Blue Hour compose perfect eastern melodies, dissonant strings and flutes, intertwine with complete grace with the acoustic guitars that carry the tune. Brian and Marselle duet vocally: “Where do you sleep? Where do you dream?” Is there anything nicer to ask to a beloved one than that? I don´t think so. They voices fuse in the contrasts of high and low, just imagine a duet of Nick Cave and Kate Bush, but also imagine the chemistry of those registers if they actually where lovers. A fevered dream, indeed!
Marselle: To me, the music was full of
Brian: “A Fevered Dream” is so simple,
5 but evocative. It’s my attempt at ethereal American gothic. I had been reading H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dreams in the Witch House” and was stricken by how effectively horror stories use intimate imagery to make the reader feel what the main character is experiencing. I decided to write lyrics using some of Lovecraft’s imagery to blur the line between love and horror. The song surprised me at how darkly sexy it sounds, how visual it is, how it gives a sense of time and space. This song really surprised me—I hope it surprises our fans.
Marselle: This is my current favorite. It reminds me of the deep south or a New Orleans style funeral dirge. Sexy and creepy all at once. Moving Forward / The Flowering Sky: We talked quite a bit about both these songs. After the interview we knew exactly which tragic events inspired the lyrics (the mother of Marselle died last year): “How can you be in a better place? When I am here, without you?” It is another level of heartbreak, when you ask yourself questions you already know they do
not have any answer. It is philosophical and raw in emotion at the same time. Brian sounds like playing soothing sitars and hitting little percussive chimes in order to “harmonize” Marselle wistful spirit. The Flowering Sky functions like a perfect counterpart to Moving Foward: they are like yin and yang. Lyrically, she is talking about Springtime, it is an ode to all thing flowering, and you can tell it is also address the day that finally pains decides to let you be. And that kind of days would keep coming as we are alive, thank God! We’re so glad you picked up on the balance between the two singles. The decision to release “Moving Forward” and “The Flowering Sky” back-to-back was intentional,
and very necessary for us. “Moving Forward” is devastating. The pain in Marselle’s voice is so real. Actually, I wound up using her demo vocal takes (recorded on an iPhone!) because she recorded them so soon after her mom’s passing that nothing could replace the authenticity in her delivery. We needed the hazy celebration of “The Flower Sky” to lift our eyes to the sun after such a dark time, we needed to remind ourselves of the blossoming life around us. Thank you Very Much, and Congratulations I am loving the new songs!!! Thank you, Pablo! We’re always excited to get your take on our new material.
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The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA