Four years
on from the supergroup's last full-length offering The Eden House
release their third album, 'Songs For The Broken Ones'. With the
band's revolving door line-up of collaborators joining the core duo
of Stephen Carey and Tony Pettitt (Fields of the Nephilim) every
release sees the band's trademark mixture of psychedelic, progressive
and ethereal gothic rock get a shake up and yield new and exciting
elements on every track. Album number three is no exception.
Featuring
guest appearances from: Monica Richards (Faith & The Muse), Lee
Douglas (Anathema), Kelli Ali (Sneaker Pimps), Simon Hinkler (The
Mission), Bob Loveday (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) the album is once again a melting pot of genres and styles.
Kicking off with the Spanish lyrics and Latin atmospheres of
'Verdades (I Have Chosen You)' the band subtly frame these around a
steady gothic rock core that leads nicely into the more ethereal
gothic of 'One Heart' that provides a nice continuation on from
previous releases. Songs such as '12th Night', 'The Ghost
Of You', 'Ours Again', 'Words And Deeds', 'Let Me In', 'Kiss Kiss
Bang Bang', and 'Second Skin' provide the album with it's strongest
gothic credentials with the haunting jangle of guitars paired with
the always identifiable bass style and sinister yet beautiful
atmospheres. But the band still find plenty of room to manoeuvre with
songs such 'Misery', 'It's Just A Death', 'The Ardent Tide' with
their respective heavy incorporation of folk and trip-hop elements
into the mix.
As you'd expect from the band, they've taken
their time to create and put this album together and once again the
production is absolutely on point throughout. Balancing the haunting
feminine vocals with the earthy bass lines and progressive elements
to create a stunningly rich whole.
'Songs For The Broken
Ones' may not delve into desperately experimental waters as the first
album and EPs did. But it doesn't really need to anymore. The band
have found their sound and with the progressive mindset running
throughout every track they can be more subtle and sly with their
playfulness to create a wider scope than putting in say a synth-heavy
track purely for the sake of it.
The Eden House are a band
that all other gothic rock bands should aspire to. The veteran skills
of the core members and their collaborators are beyond repute and the
scope of their work is only matched by their lack of ego. The result
is always something that pushes the limits of what gothic rock can
be, and this is no exception.
“We'll
get a bunch of early ideas together and decide who we'd like to
collaborate with on each... That’s our favourite part - hearing
someone like Julianne Regan’s vocals for the first time on your
song is like being a kid on Christmas morning!”
For
the past five years the super-collective known as The Eden House, led
by Stephen Carey (Adoration / This Burning Effigy), Tony Pettitt
(Fields Of The Nephilim / NFD) and Andy Jackson (Pink Floyd / David
Gilmour engineer), have proven themselves as one of the most unique
and accomplished acts in the UK rock scene. Enlisting a range of
guest talents and favouring a sound that blends trip-hop, psychedelic
rock and goth, the band have been lauded by both fans and critics for
albums and EPs such as 'Smoke And Mirrors' and 'Timeflows'.
2013
sees the release of their second full-length album 'Half Life', which
is already enjoying the same level of praise as it's predecessors.
Intravenous Magazine caught-up with founding member Stephen Carey to
talk about the new album and working in such an incomparable form of
musical project.
Intravenous
Magazine: Where did the idea to start The Eden House originate?
Stephen
Carey: Initially – it was just me and some of the people I knew
doing an occasional song, with no real plan to release it. Then in
2006 I left NFD and started working on it properly with Tony. The
main idea at that point was to explore styles we hadn't done before,
and make something without feeling like it had to fit into a
template. Just to have fun with it really! We decided then to invite
guests in to perform on certain songs – which added to it
enormously, as each guest brings a new element to the sound – and
also gave us the freedom to choose the vocalists that best suited
each song.
IVM:
Initially,
with so many big name bands linked to the various members that come
together to form The Eden House, was there every any concern that the
music may be overshadowed?
SC:
It
can be a pain sometimes. Yes - the associations with other artists
and bands can help open a few doors, but it can also shut a few too.
It gets on our wick when everything is FOTN-this or Pink Floyd-that,
and you can count on record labels and promoters to fling those
references around at every opportunity, which really pisses us off
(If you see that on a flyer it wasn’t from us). It's inevitable
really. Luckily - the project is establishing its own name now.
IVM:
The band's sound incorporates elements such as psychedelia, trip-hop
and shoegaze. Did you intend to set out in that direction or has it
been an organic process?
SC:
There’s
no master-plan - we're not that organised! We just like a lot of
music and its fun to mix things together and see what happens. It's a
mixture of our influences and new things we like put through the lens
of the sounds we like to make.
IVM:
How
does the song writing and recording process typically work for you as
a group?
SC:
Musically,
the best ideas all seem to arrive fully formed. We'll be sitting
around in rehearsal or soundcheck and someone will start playing
something, someone else will join in and it'll build from there.
they're the ones that tend to work out being the best. On the other
hand, the ones where your sitting there banging your head on the
mixing desk thinking "Where should this chord go to" etc. -
they usually don’t make the cut. We'll get a bunch of early ideas
together and decide who we'd like to collaborate with on each...
That’s our favourite part - hearing someone like Julianne Regan’s
vocals for the first time on your song is like being a kid on
Christmas morning!
IVM:
How do you feel The Eden House has progressed as an entity between
'Smoke And Mirrors' and 'Half Life'?
SC:
We're
older and more cynical! Bitter and Twisted! More machine now than
man(!) Seriously though, the main difference is that Smoke and
Mirrors was just Tony and myself as the main decision makers. Over
the last few years we expanded that to include others which had its
pros and cons. Ultimately we've returned to the original set-up.
SC:
It
would have been stupid to try to live up to some of the hype that was
flying around after 'S&M'. We're very aware that things that burn
too brightly very often burn briefly too.. We wanted to give
ourselves time to make the second album, make a few detours with EPs
etc. Its also important to have something to say - we're not on a
release treadmill with Jungle Records breathing down our necks.
They're there if we want to release something. Otherwise we'll just
work away quietly, enjoying the process as much as the end result.
That’s the key thing about this project really. That its enjoyable
for me and Tony to do - if it stopped being enjoyable we'd simply
stop and do something else.
IVM:
You bridged the gap between albums with the EPs 'The Looking Glass'
and 'Timeflows'. What was the motivation behind releasing those as
opposed to heading straight into a new album?
SC:
It's
strange - to other people 'Half Life' is the second album. But
'Timeflows' was a mini-album of sorts. Some songs seem to belong
together thematically and stylistically, and we'd rather put out an
EP where we put them with their siblings rather than water them down
as part of an album. For example - if 'Timeflows' (the song) had to
go on an album it wouldn’t have had the space to run its full 15
minutes... The EP idea lets you run with a particular idea as far as
you want.
IVM:
The cover art for the new album is incredibly striking. How did the
concept come about and how do you feel it reflects the album?
SC:
It's
a piece called "White Guest" by a Russian artist called
Karina Marandijan. When we first saw it the image jumped off the page
at us. There’s a starkness and vulnerability to it, but also an
underlying strength. That related really well to the lyrics being
written for the songs so we approached Karina for the rights to use
the image, which she very kindly granted.
IVM:
As
a collective built around core musicians rather than a traditional
band. In terms of recruitment, do you tend to reach out to musicians
formally or is it a more informal process?
SC:
It's
usually informal - people we'd known or met at gigs over the years.
The only formal channel we went through was when approaching Lee
Douglas from Anathema. At the time their label K-scope was dancing
about us in the strange way that labels do when they're thinking of
offering you a deal. They were keen on artists on their roster
working together - so we pitched the idea of Lee doing a song with
us. She agreed and was fantastic to work with. Such a lovely person
too.
IVM:
You've favoured feminine vocals on all your releases so far, has this
been a conscious decision or would you be open to working with male
vocalists in the future?
SC:
It
started as a reaction to the bands we'd been in where a male vocalist
would do the growly thing. I was heartily sick of it and wanted to
produce something that was the polar opposite of that. We've been
lucky to have worked with so many different styles of vocalist in the
years since, everything from Folk to Jazz influenced. For me
personally, as long as they're Kate Bush influenced - I'm happy! As
far as male-vocals go its a possibility. There’s already one name
in the hat, it's just figuring out how to wear that hat, that’s the
issue!
IVM:
Is
there anyone in particular that you would love to work with on a song
with that you haven’t already?
SC:
Most
of them would need to be dug up first. Maybe a bit of febreeze for
the aroma.
IVM:
For
a band with so much input from so many different people has ego ever
been an issue?
SC:
Not
really – one of the things we look for in a guest is that they're
not an arsehole. It doesn’t matter how good they might be, or if
they're perfect for a song. We have been very lucky mostly.
IVM:
Does having so many guest artists throw up any logistical problems
when playing live?
SC:
It
can do - but these things are usually booked months and months in
advance so we can usually work around it.
IVM:
Ultimately, what would you like to achieve with The Eden House?
SC:
We
want to create great music. Its that simple.
IVM:
Finally, what are the plans for The Eden House for the rest of the
year?
SC:
Gigs
and more gigs... To anyone reading this - If you want Eden House to
play where you live - contact info@theedenhouse.comand
tell us!
'Half Life' is available to buy now from all good retailers. For more
information on The Eden House, including tour dates and future
releases, please visit their official website.
Once again the core of
the band, comprised of Stephen
Carey, Tony Pettitt and Andy Jacksonis joined by a variety of vocalists including
Lee Douglas (Anathema) and Monica Richards (Faith And The Muse) as
well as guest musicians, such as Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) and
Simon Hinkler (The Mission). All of who give the band a uniquely
wide-ranging appeal and talents to really push the boundaries of what
rock music can be.
The album opens with
the lead single ‘Bad
Men’, a trip-hop heavy mixture of driving guitars, grooving bass
and subtly hypnotic feminine vocals which shows the band at their
commercial best. Across songs such as 'Indifference', 'The Empty
Space', 'City Of Goodbyes' and 'First Light' the band bring together
the mystical elements of The Fields Of The Nephilim, the
introspection of Pink Floyd and the avant garde bleakness of
Portishead into a strangely uplifting formula. While the likes of
'Wasted On Me' and 'The Tempest' give the album a rawer edge with
their focuses on strong rhythms.
Though it would be nice if the band
delved more into the ambient electronics of the the B-side of the
lead single, 'Survival Instinct' to add a little more
experimentalism to the track list.
As
you would expect from a band with a pedigree such as this, the
production and mix are absolutely faultless. There instruments and
vocals ebb and flow into each other with such ease and grace that the
whole album feels as though it has been painted rather than performed.
The
Eden House's body of work is fast becoming the mark by which to
measure gothic rock. The collective's scope and ambition is high and
they have more than enough talent with which to realise it. The band
do feel somewhat comfortable on 'Half Life' and the album's formula
doesn't really deviate into any truly experimental directions, which
is a shame as they are more than capable. But having said that, the
band's penchant for creating simply sublime music is beyond reproach.
The Eden House is one of those dream projects that just seems to work on every level. More of a collective than an actual band, it sees some of the most talented musicians and vocalists in the goth scene (and beyond) come together, without ego clashes, to create great art.
Formed around the central trio of Stephen Carey, Tony Pettitt and Andy Jackson The Eden House has seen a host of guests across their album 'Smoke & Mirrors' and two EPs 'The Looking Glass' and 'Timeflows' including Monica Richards (Faith & The Muse), Amandine Ferrari (Banished), Lee Douglas (Anathema) Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) and Simon Hinkler (The Mission). The result each time has been magic. Therefore The Eden Project's latest single, ‘Bad Men (OnTheirWayToDoBadThings)’, has a lot to live up to already.
The band immediately puts any worries to bed though, as it becomes evident from the initial bars of the trip hop tinged, guitar driven A-side that they are only going from strength-to-strength. A mellow blend of hypnotic female vocals, trippy electronic embellishments, grooving bass line and some sublime guitar work give this song a strong, driving pace that is at the same time subtle in it's execution.
The B-side 'Survival Instinct' is again subtle and hypnotic, but instead of the driving driving rock underbelly of the A-side, it opts instead for a more haunting ambient-electronic style for the main bulk of the song before breaking out the guitars and drums for a big outro.
If this single is anything to go by The Eden House's next album, 'Half Life' (due for release in April), will be another classic slice of progressive gothic rock.
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