“Ecstasy of Angels: Love Spirals Downwards” By Rossi Dudrick
Winged for an astral Odyssey, you’ll soar on a freed soul fantasia, where elation and melancholy are locked in epoch embrace. A sweet chanteuse’s vocals seem to sweep over misty moors, while guitar chords fall like shimmery sunlight on deep pools of tranquility. The height of your ascension is up to you, for even a modern day Icarus now has a second chance.
Although Love Spirals Downwards’ music seems to flow from a wellspring of divine inspiration, the creators of these soft-focus mood montages have no stigmatas flooding their teacups. Such cameo apparitions burst like soap bubbles upon meeting the diaphanous duo, vocalist Suzanne Perry, and guitarist Ryan Lum. In the midst of a torrential downpour, they look like two fresh-faced college kids on a tailgater’s rush indoors for safe harbor more than members of the ethereal’s exotic elite.
Over a rainy day breakfast in a ‘50’s time warp diner, the pertinent debate of the moment is omelets vs. blueberry pancakes. It’s unanimous; stacks of belly whopping blues all around! Hunger pangs aside, Suzanne and Ryan exude an easygoing warmth and unpretentiousness that sparks candid rapport. “Most people are surprised that we’re down-to-earth, normal people, always joking and really practical; not head in the clouds types,” emphasizes Suzanne. “But what confounds most people is how little time I spend thinking about my music, or think[ing] of myself as a musician.”
Ryan adds, incredulously, “We dated for two years before I discovered that she could sing!” An amazing admission, considering that Suzanne’s angelic voice could lull a king’s army into blissful dreamscapes, thereby calming war torn battlefields.
“But that’s just it,” injects Suzanne, “I do it for enjoyment. That enhances my singing because it takes the pressure off. No one’s putting a lot of expectations on me, and I don’t put a lot of expectations on myself. It makes the music more honest, and not influenced by pressure to perform, get famous, or make money. I think that poisons the music.”
“Walking around with that whole musician/artist persona gets to be a lot to live up to,” adds Ryan.
Insuring a consistent low-pressure climate for their craft, music is only one aspect of their lives. Suzanne has a psychology degree and works for a major research corporation, while pursuing her graduate degree. Ryan has degrees in philosophy and art.
Furthermore, Suzanne never works on music outside of the studio. “I’ve gotten conditioned to only do it in there. I have to have the microphone on, and we make the songs up as we’re recording.” Suzanne equates, “It’s like going to church, and you have this experience.”
Discussing their latest opus, Ardor, Suzanne momentarily blanks out on her favorite song’s title (“Subsequently”)“See, I told you I don’t think about it very much,” she exclaims, jokingly. “I can’t even remember the names of our songs, and I named that one!”
While Ardor is more celebratory and uplifting than their first record, Idylls, which is a dark and mysteriously exotic teardrop pond, it maintains a lingering wistfulness. Ryan attributes their evolving sound to getting older and thinking differently. Stating an additional factor, he says, “It’s not that romantic of an idea for an artist, but getting new equipment is inspiring.” Ryan is excitedly anticipating working with his new sampler for their next record. “I can start doing some wacky stuff I couldn’t do before.”
LSD’s lyrics seem to delve into the recesses of ancestral knowledge, imparting visceral swirls of forgotten languages, especially when Suzanne mimics Italian, creating a Mediterranean ambiance. “Mood and feeling are primary to our music because that invokes the vocal parts,” she explains. “I choose words that express the mood.”
Suzanne delivers other arias in poignant fragments of French, Latin, and romanticized English eloquence. Ethereal elopements abound with mystifying Roman mythological maidens, Parisian paramours or whatever whimsy your imagination encourages you to abscond with.
“Our music isn’t so attached to the world. We don’t talk about politics or…” Ryan pauses, “or much of anything, really. Because of that, you don’t have to intellectualize; you just immerse yourself. You become a creative participant as well.”
“I don’t like attaching much meaning to the music. It really makes me uncomfortable,” confides Suzanne. “I don’t know why I’m like that. I could start writing lyrics, but that would probably be kind of cheesy. That’s not my forte.”
Suzanne and Ryan roll their eyes at the mention of the Cocteau Twins comparisons. “They’re certainly an influence, but if we felt what we were doing sounded so much like the Cocteau Twins there would be no reason for doing Love Spirals Downwards,” states Ryan.
LSD is still debating over performing live with the possibility of touring Germany pending. “It seems so foreign to our style of music,” reflects Suzanne. “Singing on demand is a weird concept.”
“Yeah,” agrees Ryan. “Its easier to have a wild ‘n’ crazy slam fest than to always be captivating.”
Indeed, LSD’s unorthodox musical approach seems to make video obsolete. “It’s like seeing a film before you read the book,” says Suzanne. “It attaches all these other things, like, ‘this is how the fans look; this is the genre they’re in.’ It takes away the sacredness of the real deep experience of music. It cheapens it.”
“Not having a video or playing live preserves the mystery and that’s powerful,” injects Ryan. “That’s what’s satisfying about having the CD. ‘Here; just listen to it and make your own philosophy.’ But was it really just a CD that Ryan bestowed upon me, or an ethereal boarding pass? “Hmm…” I wonder, as my head sprouts wings.
Download a PDF of B-Sides July/Augst 1995 Love Spirals Downwards Interview Feature