Louise Patricia Crane releases Cinematic third Single from Netherworld

When other worlds and exploring the human condition are the overarching theme of Crane‘s album Netherworld, Celestial Dust this time sees us gazing skyward, to the cosmos, to seek perspective here on earth.  A nostalgic, sentimental, shimmering epic, Celestial Dust‘s cinematic expansiveness draws upon the traditional Irish music of Crane‘s heritage blended with her own brand of art rock sensibilities and intrigue. Lyrically poetic and with a disarmingly intimate vocal performance, Crane ponders our place within the universe. 

“Carl Sagan’s ‘The Pale Blue Dot’ reminds us of our ephemeral place in the universe, and puts in stark perspective the minutiae of our problems here on earth, within our own little microcosm” ponders Crane.  “Writing Netherworld took me to parts of my own past and psyche that I couldn’t have foreseen when I set out to write it. Not all of those discoveries were good — but they informed the path my songwriting took — in a fundamental way that had a huge ripple effect on my daily life. I’ve always been introspective even as a child, and I think that can be overwhelming when you encounter past trauma or attempt to overcome emotional hurdles on your own. This notion of stargazing and daydreaming about other worlds far off in the vastness of space, of possible other lives lived and loves lost, is to me, romantic and also comforting.It appeals to the fatalistic part of me a great deal! And it gave me an opportunity to try and refocus the self-destructive aspects of my personality and put things into perspective to better cope with how that was affecting me at the time“.

Accompanied once again by her co-producer on this album, Jakko M. Jakszyk, this time with an instantly iconic sounding lead guitar solo — Crane is also backed by a dream team rhythm section of Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, King Crimson) on bass and Gary Husband (John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension, Allan Holdsworth) on drums. Traditional Irish musician John Devine returns with a haunting whistle performance, complementing Shir-Ran Yinon’s romantic violin/fiddle playing.

In a deeply nostalgic reverie, Louise Patricia Crane invites us to the place where her real-life childhood dreams were discovered and her imagination set ablaze. Once again directed by Crane herself, the video for Celestial Dust is set, fittingly, in the 1930s Art Deco Strand cinema from her native East Belfast, where she pays homage to the faraway detached lives and loves of movie starlets played out on the silver screen. Other worlds are projected and performed behind red velvet curtains, a tale of a daydreaming projectionist stepping into another dazzling world for a time. Celestial Dust pays homage to the cold glamour and romantics of Old Hollywood, with a touch of David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ dark surrealist allure. The stars of the screen versus the stars in the cosmos, and the unattainable essence of both distant worlds.

Netherworld marks a considerable step onward from the territory that Crane explored on her debut long player Deep Blue, crafting audial landscapes that go further into both inner and outer space; hallucinatory and surrealistic yet also grittier and more direct. For all that this stemmed in part from early Genesis and The Beatles, Netherworld also sits in alignment with the luxurious but oddly intimate realm of modern classics, by the likes of Tears For Fears, Tori Amos, and Joni Mitchell, with passionate intensity set in a bold, cinematic vista.

Musically, the widescreen sweep of these songs and their range of influences knows no bounds. Is evidenced right from the outset, with first single Dance With The Devil which takes inspiration from Irish folk and mythology of her heritage to tackle her own self-destructive past head-on, amidst a fantastical panorama that can’t help but evoke the transporting realm of Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love and The Sensual World.  While the digital “b side” Toil And Trouble forms a disarmingly beautiful moment of sobriety on the album—taking its cue from Shakespeare in depicting the turbulent and often terrifying political landscape that Louise grew up surrounded by, in Northern Ireland.

“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 recognize a part of me that romanticizes 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.”

As with the entirety of Netherworld, Crane co-produced Dance With The Devil with King Crimson’s Jakko M. Jakszyk, who also lends backing vocals and a searing lead guitar performance throughout. Trad Irish musician John Devine elevates the mythology even further with his masterful Uilleann pipes, while another previous collaborator, Shir-Ran Yinon’s captivating violin weaves its magic throughout. The rhythm section is a force of nature, led by Gary Husband on drums and Nick Beggs on bass guitar.

Mercurial singer-songwriter & musician Peter Blegvad appears as a very special guest, lending his voice to ‘The Wolf’, the devil in our story.

Yet, in as much as Netherworld is a work that exists on a lineage of progressive music and the visionary artists who’ve expanded their boundaries of exploration to form sound worlds as big as their imagination, it’s also a work of magical realism in the tradition of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Company Of Wolves or the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Haruki Murakami—in which the supernatural and otherworldly, lead to a shortcut to the essence of being human. In this World, Louise Patricia Crane is our Storyteller. 

Netherworld is 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.

All are available for pre-order now at THIS LOCATION