Prog singer-songwriter Louise Patricia Crane has announced that she will release her new solo album Netherworld on June 21.
She has also released a brand new video for the epic new single Dance With The Devil, described as "as if Hammer Horror reimagined Kubrick's Barry Lyndon in a surrealist dreamworld", which you can watch below.
"Escapism I think is made all the more necessary or appealing when there are things in our 'real world' that we maybe shy away from, including things within ourselves,” Crane explains. “In my case, I certainly recognise a part of me that romanticises that which is bad for me. The moth to the flame. It can be dangerous to be so fatalistic. It's forced me to think about nature versus nurture a lot in recent years — how much of that stems from an incident in my childhood related to the conflict where I grew up in Northern Ireland, and how much of it is just my nature? I knew that without confronting that part of myself I could never really get away from it.
"Before writing Netherworld I knew I wanted my songwriting to have an integrity and honesty I've previously skirted around, even if that meant facing truths and daring to show vulnerability. Dance With The Devil sets up the album with my opening Irish folk song; beginning with storytelling. I see the song as a statement of intent both lyrically and musically. The music draws on my lifelong adoration of Irish folklore and the poets I grew up reading. In relating to myself I also relate deeply to where I grew up, for better and indeed, for worse. William Butler Yeats summed it up wonderfully when he said, "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy"."
Netherworld features King Crimson's Jakko Jakszyk on vocals and guitar (Jakszyk has also co-produced the album), Irish musician John Devine, violinist Shir-Ran Yinon, Gary Husband on drums and Nick Beggs on bass guitar, while Peter Blegvad appears as a very special guest.
Netherworld will be released on a variety of formats, including double gatefold vinyl LP, CD/DVD Digibook (featuring a 5.1 mix by Jakko M Jakszyk and deluxe limited boxset editions.
Louise Patricia Crane: Netherworld
1. Dance With The Devil
2. Tiny Bard
3. Celestial Dust
4. Little Ghost In The Room
5. Toil And Trouble
6. The Red Room
7. Lady Peregrine's Concubine
8. Spirit Of The Forest
9. Bête Noire
10. Long Kiss Goodnight
11. Thieves Fools And Crows
12. Midnight View
13. 日本人形 (Japanese Doll)
