While the beautiful sounds of California’s Projekt Records have almost become a genre of their own, it was back in 1992 that I first discovered the label, through a compilation entitled From Across This Gray Land 3. The album’s opener was a lush combination of dreamy, swirling guitar and blissful vocals, and I was instantly hooked. That song was “Mediterranea” by Love Spirals Downwards.

The duo of Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry have since released two successful albums on Projekt, 1992’s Idylls and, most recently, Ardor. LSD is perhaps one of the few bands linked to the ’80s 4AD sound that are actually worth discovering. Knowing how painfully quiet and difficult some ether-celebs are to interview (Mazzy Star, Cranes) I worried a bit about these two. A quick call proved my fears unfounded; they were both delightful and eager to discuss their band. In fact, Suzanne put me at ease instantly with the simple phrase: “Wow, a female interviewer, how nice.” She then went on to recount her memories of beach harassment. But that’s another story.

I began my probe with the most obvious queries about their background, musical and romantic.

“We grew up in the same area of California,” explained Suzanne. “But we didn’t know each other until we started dating. We were both doing music, but I never thought I would make a career out of singing. We decided to try doing a couple of songs together, so we went into the studio and recorded a three-song demo.”

SHORTTAKES LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS

By R. Rusvic

“You know how when you’re a kid and you get out of the swimming pool? This tea smells like that,” explains Suzanne Perry, LSD’s vocalist. She passes the cup to guitarist, Ryan Lum, and then onto myself and we agree, amazed at the purity of her asseement. We’ve gathered in the duo’s comfortable Westside apartment to discuss the release of ‘Ardor,’ their second full length record. Nearly two years have passed since the band’s debut, ‘Idylls,’ and the band has progressed admirably. One thing that strikes the listener as different is an ongoing sense of unity within ’Ardor,’ an intangible, um, concept.

“It dawned on me as I was finishing the album that the way I was mixing the song somehow tied them all together,” says Ryan.

“It has more of a sense of worldliness than the previous record,” reveals Suzanne. “When I was singing, I tried to be more personable.”