With their final single in advance of their new album, the melancholia driven mid-tempo track ‘But Today’, Soror Dolorosa present a different facet of “Mond”.
Illuminated by a visualiser, this song channels classic wave sounds into an expression of sorrow and regret. ‘But Today’ is taken from the forthcoming new full-length of the French post-punk gothic rockers, which is entitled “Mond” (the German word for ‘Moon’), and has been slated for release on October 4, 2024.
“The last advance single ‘But Today’ is also the final song on our new album and one of my favorites so far”, mastermind Andy Julia writes.
“Creating the different phases of the song was the result of a magnificent teamwork. It gave me particularly great pleasure to get my vocals and the choirs into harmony with the keyboards that you can hear in the chorus.
This might well be our most progressive track on ‘Mond’ that also has the most complex structure. We felt thrilled when we noticed that the complexity was not mitigating the efficacy of the groove and the brilliance of harmonies.
Our producer James Kent told us: ‘This reminds me of the Fields of the Nephilim, what a smash!’. All of us in the band were rather thinking about Depeche Mode when we designed the sound and that particular tone of the guitar riffs.
I could hardly visualise this song more efficiently than by unveiling the artistic process behind the creation of the cover artwork for ‘Mond’ that was inspired by my muse. At the beginning of the shooting we had this idea of creating a mysterious character like the myth of the Ancient Greek seer Pythia. Therefore, we began to work with poses of a veiled lady who utters prophecies while having divine visions in a state of trance.
Yet with the passing of each hour, the spirit of the moon goddess came over us and Angélique’s naked body finally reflected the light of the stars that are falling apart somewhere between the flame of the sun and the cold nocturnal light of the moon in a perfect symbiosis.”
Creatures of the night probably miss the 80s of the last century badly. Post-punk and new wave reached glorious heights and their epic explorations of mixing hard guitars and driving electronics dominated alternative dance floors.
The subtle eroticism, the electric excitement, and dark musical pleasure, it is all gone, many nocturnal prowlers sigh – both, those who have lived through this past and long for it but also the ones who were born too late and wish themselves back into a nostalgically glorified era. Fear not! Soror Dolorosa come flying to the rescue on black wings. Their fourth album “Mond” has musical fangs that draw delicious sonic blood on the first listening experience.
The classic dark post-punk and wave elements are all there, and so is the overwhelming enticement to let your feet move in an ecstatic dance under the eponymous moon. Yet Soror Dolorosa are no peddlers of stale snake oil nostalgia. The French band has updated the classic feel with a massive sound fitting for the new millennium. Mix and mastering of “Mond” have been successfully entrusted to Perturbator mastermind James Kent, who has polished this epic album with a lush vibrant power and ethereal coldness.
The remaining founding members, vocalist Andy Julia and bass player Hervé Carles have meanwhile welcomed guitarist Jean-Baptiste Marquet to their fold. It is likely that his fresh contributions as a composer and arranger have had an influence in the strong dance grooves that permeate “Mond”. These are audibly more prominent than on the previous albums “Blind Scenes” (2011), “No More Heroes” (2013), and “Apollo” (2017).
Lyrically, Soror Dolorosa remain firmly on the path they have wandered from the start, when the band was originally founded in Toulouse in 2001 and finally emerged with the “Severance” EP in 2009. Their inspiration has again come in part from poets and writers such as William Blake and Edgar Alan Poe. The romantic and cathartic emotional landscapes are still at the heart of the band.
With “Mond”, Soror Dolorosa are reaching far out of the solar sphere and into deep outer space where the musical past and future become entwined to create an exciting new chapter in the band’s evolution.
Guest contributions:
Nicolas Horvath – piano on ‘Broken Love’
James Kent – arrangements on all songs
Joris Brunet – additional arrangements
Recorded by Soror Solorosa at home studio, Paris (FR)
Mixing by James Kent at Perturbator home studio, Paris (FR)
Mastering by James Kent at Perturbator home studio, Paris (FR)
Cover artwork by Andy Julia
Layout by Hannah Hassouly & Andy Julia
Video credits:
Starring: Angélique Marquise des Anges
Directed by Andy Julia
Band photos by (c) Mathilde Richard
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Nicolae Baldovin
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