Dead Can Dance - The Realm Of A Dying Sun 1987 Austrálie
Within, released today back in 1987, houses in a photograph of a dramatic statue: a hooded - or rather, shrouded - figure, with arm aloft, but this time the hand was holding on to the window of a crypt (the family grave of French scientist and attorney François-Vincent Raspail) in Paris' Père Lachaise cemetery. Brendan Perry: "That's where all the old writers and artists of the 19th and 20th century are buried. Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Jules Verne, loads of them. Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun addressed nostalgia for a golden age that had passed. The album was pretty full-on classical, exploring more of a fantasy world, and the sense of a golden age was very much part of classical thinking, like the ages of man, so we were toying with that, and reflecting on ageing and your childhood, those wonderful summers, along existential lines. The album cover reflected a mourning for a memory more than anything, of the person who had departed, and it's such a beautiful sculpture, and an amazing tomb."Lisa Gerrard felt the image was also inspired by the album title. "In the past year, we've come to terms with many losses of friendships and very personal things in our lives, and I think our music is reflected in that. The best example is 'Dawn of the Iconoclast'. It was like a cleaning-out process, of this bitterness and darkness in our lives, and our displeasure with humanity. It's a series of images, and breaking those images that control people, to call on the monster and send it on, to remove it. The implication of intensity and anxiety that builds to a climax which is dispersed by the bass drum, and the overspill of reverb... it's a celebration."The sound of the album built on Spleen And Ideal, with Perry and Gerrard's signature work occupying separate sides of the vinyl (Perry A, Gerrard B allowing for their individual moods to be built and sustained. Trumpet, tuba and oboe were added to the mix, with James Ulrich this time on timpani (and military snare), as Perry reflected his interest in 19th century romantic classical music. "I also wanted to reclaim ceremonial music from the special preserve of religious music," he said - citing 'Persephone (March Of The Flowers)' - as if this was a normal activity.Going by 'Summoning Of The Muse' alone, Lisa Gerrard had been learning too, experimenting with the open-throated technique of the Le Mystère De Voix Bulgares singers, courtesy of 4AD's compilation released in 1986. "When we were heard such an exotic and extraordinary weight of treasure that crossed all boundaries, we realised we had the right to do the same," she said. "When we worked on 'Dawn Of The Iconoclast,' Brendan explained, "I really want this piece to break the image that people have of us, this gothic punk stereotype that has no value".
2024 ©