chelsea wolfe and mark lanegan - 'flatlands'

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Time to being out the big guns.

chelsea wolfe - 'vex'

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Brilliant stuff from Ms Wolfe.

chelsea wolfe - 'maw'

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I love just about everything about this track. Superb shoe-gazing with 80s Goth mixed for good measure.

chelsea wolfe - 'flatlands'

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Taken from "Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs", it's pencilled in for release on October 16th, 2012.

chelsea wolfe plays rudimentary pen

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This is a brilliant collection of covers from lady of the moment, Chelsea Wolfe. I hope you don't mind my laziness but I've lifted the sleevenotes from the Soundcloud site:

1. A HANDFUL OF DUST

I will show you fear in a handful of dust

2: ECHO

language of agony, torment in sound. weeping of ancestors formed into words. the echo of anguish, primeval sorrow

3: BLACK ON GOLD / SICKENING FOR SOMETHING

lapis lazuli turquoise and amethyst black on gold viridian and jasmine tan and black ruby and cinnabar dove grey puke pink onyx and bronze vermillion and amber jade and amber black on gold 454 Angell Street Black on gold green to feel blue gawd those colors opium madness unleashed! supreme final ecstasy.

give me that decanter, eliot!

4: DISSOLUTION/REHEARSAL FOR MORTALITY

it matters not that i did seek, to conquer fear and vanquish pain, for victory belongs to grief, so into tears dissolve in vain.

in this rehearsal for mortality I learn acceptance and can no longer return with such tenacity to cling to all that is me to all that is me

5: PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN

let us rest in oblivion forever and ever amen

chelsea wolfe in session

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The more I hear of this American chanteuse, the more I become a fan of her work. She's certainly not a by numbers performer and neither is she too generic to get pigeon-holed with (dare I say the word?) "goth". Her music is too varied and complex for lazy tags. Here she is with, admittedly, a dark atmospheric number that showcases her wonderful voice to perfection. It's called 'Movie Screen' and was recorded for Room 205.

chelsea wolfe

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Ms Wolfe is making beautiful music. Moody, gothic, atmospheric, cerebral, beautiful music. It sounds slightly retro but also bang up to date. It's not dance oriented and the guitar is her weapon of choice so it avoids more obvious comparisons with PlanningToRock, Zola Jesus, Austra and other ladies of that ilk. They do all draw a common heritage however with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Sisters of Mercy and fully deserve the gothic tag but I'd say on first listen that Chelsea Wolfe's link is probably the one with least deviation.

She has a particular darkness to her music and her voice reminds me of PJ Harvey but a pre-menstrual Polly Jane with a hangover on a particularly bad day. The similarities so not end there, I must confess on first glance at the album cover that I thought it was PJ Harvey. It's not all gloomy though, she has slightly lighter moments where she strips back the theatrics and presents a calmer picture. Early tracks such as 'You Are My Sunshine' are classic Americana. This lady has clearly studied the classics and shows a maturity well ahead of her young age. It's hard to believe that this sound emanates from LA, what with it being the antithesis of perennial sunshine and superficiality but the facts don't lie. I'm a big fan of this music and I think with the likes of fellow LA resident, Zola Jesus, this is the very best around.

These 3 tracks are taken from her 2011 album Apokalpsis, as an apt an album title as you can get. Ms Wolfe wants you to get the message. She wants it painted black.

As a bonus track here's that 'You Are My Sunshine' to provide some light relief.