Love Spirals Downwards’ debut album, Idylls (1992), stands as a transcendent blend of historical, cultural, and musical influences, evoking a timeless sense of mystery and beauty. Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry combined ethereal soundscapes with vocal abstraction and poetic lyricism to create a work that feels both ancient and otherworldly. Tracks such as “And the Wood Comes Into Leaf,” “This Endris Night,” and “Drops, Rain, and Sea” immerse listeners in themes of nature, spirituality, and transformation, while abstract pieces like “Ladonna Dissima” and “Dead Language” transcend traditional song structures, transforming the voice into a purely emotive instrument.
The album reflects both the duo’s artistic vision and the broader musical landscape of the early 1990s, when ethereal acts like Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins were exploring similar intersections of abstraction and atmosphere. Yet Idylls carves out its own distinct space, layering medieval, contemporary, and transcultural elements into a sound Ryan Lum once described as “eclectic.”
Inspirations and Influences: A Diverse Musical Palette
In a 1993 interview with As If fanzine, Ryan Lum explained the eclectic foundation of Love Spirals Downwards’ music, stating, “I believe that all the different types of music that I have listened to throughout the years—such as ethereal, ambient, East Indian classical, psychedelic ’60s, and tribal percussive—have been blended into our eclectic sound.” This convergence of styles is immediately evident on Idylls, where Indian classical motifs, medieval poetic themes, and lush, ambient production coexist harmoniously.
Lum’s fascination with mystical and spiritual experiences also played a significant role in shaping the album. Reflecting on an Indian sitar and tabla performance he attended, Lum remarked in 1993:
“The music took everyone on the same ‘trip.’ It was impossible to be there experiencing the performance and not have your consciousness taken on a journey by the power of the music.”
This transformative experience inspired Lum’s approach to creating immersive soundscapes on Idylls, where cyclical structures and hypnotic rhythms draw from Indian classical traditions.
Similarly, Suzanne Perry’s approach to lyrical abstraction reflects her interest in both historical texts and imaginative expression. Perry noted in a 1993 interview with Fond Affexxions:
“Some of [the lyrics] are in English, and they make some sense, and some are in English and they make no sense. And there are others that are in a make-believe Italian. And then there’s kind of a make-believe Latin, but I don’t know Latin or Italian. And then there’s some French, and some Indian too, make-believe Indian. And then the last song, ‘And the Wood Comes Into Leaf,’ is an anonymous poem. It’s olde English or middle English, an anonymous poem done verbatim.”
This imaginative use of language mirrors the groundbreaking vocal techniques of ethereal pioneers like Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, whose glossolalia transformed lyrics into abstract emotional expressions. Perry’s integration of invented languages and adapted medieval texts situates Idylls within this broader tradition while lending the album a deeply personal, idiosyncratic quality.
Medieval and Poetic Resonances
The medieval influence on Idylls is most evident in tracks like “And the Wood Comes Into Leaf” and “This Endris Night.” Perry’s statement that “And the Wood Comes Into Leaf” is “olde English or middle English, an anonymous poem done verbatim” reveals its grounding in the lyrical tradition of Middle English poetry. The track’s archaic language and cyclical themes echo works such as Now Go’th Sun Under Wood and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where nature’s cycles serve as metaphors for spiritual renewal and transcendence.
Similarly, “This Endris Night” draws inspiration from a 15th-century carol, capturing its devotional themes and timeless yearning. Perry’s ethereal delivery, paired with Lum’s shimmering guitar and layered production, channels the reverence and mysticism of medieval music, while echoing the celestial atmospheres of Dead Can Dance’s early work.
The use of alliterative verse and romanticized imagery throughout Idylls evokes the cadence and beauty of medieval poetry. On “And the Wood Comes Into Leaf,” phrases like “Goeth sun under, groweth sed bloweth” mimic the rhythm and linguistic style of Middle English, blending historical influences with modern ethereal abstraction.
Nature and the Cosmos
Themes of nature and cosmic imagery are central to Idylls, as evidenced in songs like “Drops, Rain, and Sea” and “Stir About the Stars.” In “Drops, Rain, and Sea,” water is personified as a transformative, mystical force, while Perry’s vocal delivery flows in rhythm with life’s cyclical patterns. Lum’s instrumentation on this track draws inspiration from the dreamy, textural soundscapes of the Cocteau Twins’ Victorialand era.
“Stir About the Stars” shifts focus to the vastness of the cosmos, situating human imagination within an infinite universe. Lum once described its lyrics as “nonsense poetry,” stating:
“It’s not supposed to mean anything… but I liked how I could interpret it in many different ways, all of which were interesting.”
The dreamlike imagery—“Make castles when you want to / And fill them with sights”—reflects the album’s overarching themes of creation, wonder, and transcendence.
Abstract and Transcultural Soundscapes
Tracks like “Dead Language” and “Ladonna Dissima” explore the boundaries of vocal and musical abstraction, incorporating transcultural elements into Idylls’ ethereal framework. Perry’s mantra-like vocalizations on “Dead Language” reflect the duo’s exposure to Indian classical music, which they experienced during concerts at Occidental College. The repetitive, cyclical structures and hypnotic rhythms of Indian traditions informed the meditative quality of this track, while references to Hindu deities such as Varuna and Vishnu in the lyrics further underscore these influences.
“Ladonna Dissima,” on the other hand, transforms the Italian phrase “la donna più bellissima” into a chant-like refrain. Its repetitive, meditative quality evokes themes of feminine divinity and beauty, drawing parallels to the ritualistic compositions of Dead Can Dance.
A Tapestry of Timelessness
Idylls is an extraordinary synthesis of historical, cultural, and musical traditions. By blending Middle English poetry, Indian classical influences, and ethereal abstraction, the album offers listeners an immersive experience that feels both ancient and forward-looking.
In drawing from the innovations of Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and their contemporaries, Lum and Perry honored the ethereal music tradition while carving out a unique space for their artistry. As Lum described, Idylls is the result of “all the different types of music” he had encountered, seamlessly blended into a sound that remains as enchanting and timeless today as it was in 1992. Through its meditative exploration of nature, spirituality, and abstraction, Idylls invites listeners to lose themselves in its lush sonic worlds and rediscover the enduring beauty of human creativity.
(article written with assistance from OpenAI)