This Lonesome Paradise released their album, Luna Nocturna, on the Bad Vibes Good Friends record label
Hailing from the high desert of Joshua Tree, This Lonesome Paradise is the brainchild of E. Ray Béchard (vocal/guitar), delivering a sonic palate of reverb soaked retribution, lounge lust, and the enigmatic echoes of western noir. Album instrumentation is filled out by Jordin Bordeaux (keys/vocals), Ivan Garcia (drums), Chris Wilson (bass) and Herb Benham IV (slide guitar). Their dark, moody music cinema evokes the blood thirst of a Cormac McCarthy novel and the poetic surrealism of a David Lynch film.
This Lonesome Paradise is currently a well kept secret who is capturing the minds and imagination of all that come into its contact. Their record, LUNA NOCTURNA is dripping with bits of soul, goth, trip hop and bound together with their distinctive neo-western twang; it is by far their most wounded, raw and creative work to date. They have shared the stage with a wide array of musical talent such as Timber Timbre, The Warlocks, Wand and Spindrift to name just a few.
Luna Nocturna was produced by E. Ray Béchard, and recorded/mixed at Dharma Sound Studio (Landers, CA). Mastered by Michael Rozon (Chelsea Wolfe, Melvins, Ministry). Album art by Saint No. Luna Nocturna was released by Bad Vibes Good Friends on October 18th.
Of this album, Béchard explains: These songs came to me like a fever dream… chord progressions became melody, and melody became song. My job, per usual, is to harbor the inspiration as it flows. I am a conscious observer of the world presented to me, and my songwriting reflects that time and place, much like a calendar of my life at that moment. It is difficult for me to explain my offered reality and often more difficult to explain the music it inspires.
The songs are heavy, wounded, raw, delicate, sparse, orchestral and detailed. “Somehow I hear a late 70’s quality to the record, though I don’t know exactly why,” the band explains. This may be due to the limited amount of, as well as the specific, effects used. And although the album still falls into the western noir/lounge/cinema realm, it has definitely taken a step in direction away from the expected.
Of creating the record: The studio process was much more intentional than in past records; more time in preproduction with tones and capture, as I had a very specific sound in mind for each of the instruments and the part they would play in the overall soundscape. I wanted it to sound close and personal, as though you are witnessing it in a small club of an unidentifiable time period. I think it definitely does that.
Luna Nocturna Track listing:
- Black Monday
- We’re Wolves
- Strange Door
- These Western Roads
- Into the Ether
- Return Home to Bones
- As Cold as Moonlight
- Division Head
Upcoming San Diego shows: December 1st at The Casbah