Track By Tracks: BELLHEAD - Dead Lights (2021)

1. Mercy:

Like two people having the same fever dream Karen wrote a bit of bass that unbeknownst to her Ivan had also written. Karen ended up writing the part Ivan was missing to complete the music bed of the song. The lyrics were informed by the same feeling of dream tension and nightmare logic. You can see based on the handwritten rough first draft “MO”, and then the second draft “Mercy” the lyric of “Sewing stars to put in the night sky” was always there. The piano and reverse piano was written on bass at the last rehearsal before recording.

2. Nothing As It Seems:

A noir detective tale leaning heavy on the duo’s industrial roots with extensive programming. The song evokes storytelling like the films Dark City and Memento. As the narrator continues to attempt to solve the unsolvable case a dream voice creeps in like an AM radio left on in the motel room next door. This song is the first single from the upcoming EP.

3. The River:

Ivan: I wanted to honor my friend Douglas Balmes musical legacy with a song he wrote but never recorded. I had worked up a sort of Type O Negative and 70's Neil Young version of the arrangement to support the lyrics' brilliant storytelling.

4. Frankenstein:

A frenetic journey into the madness of Mary Shelley’s gothic novel. Imagine Dr. Victor Frankenstein being tried by a jury of his peers. What would a man who brought life to dead flesh say in his defense? What would he pray in his holding cell? Though he may play god he can not cheat death himself. When death comes what horrifying ends could a mind such as Frankenstein imagine? Being brought into the operating theater and amputated only to be rebuilt into someone else's monster? When Victor was only a small boy what did he pray? What did the voice in his mind sound like? What drives a man to try and cheat death by creating life?

5. Dead Letter:

Trapped rowing in the belly of the boat to a slow punishing rhythm. There is no escape. There is no before or after. The song revolves around the fear or regret of running out of time and never getting to say goodbye. The band uses their toolkit of heavy brooding bases, creative programming, and the duo’s unsettling harmonic vocals to create a slow burn erupting to a cathartic resolve.

Dead Lights is available for physical and digital pre-sale on https://bellhead.bandcamp.com/album/dead-lights and will be released on 7/16/21.