After releasing albums inspired by the works of Rilke, Joan Didion and Ovid, folk artist Brandon De La Cruz’s new record Two Kilos of Blue draws on images and experiences from a spectrum of chapters from his own life. The record brings together songs written over a 10-year period, linked thematically by love, loss, spirits, seasons, shades of blue and the moon. Painstakingly recorded and arranged over two years at the artist’s studio in Kirikiriroa, each track is a balancing act of consideration and spontaneity. Simultaneous unfolding layers of voices, samples and guitars reveal a narrative steeped in longing and mystery. Many of the songs directly invoke Blue, while others imply it through their atmosphere. The album features a spare and haunting cover of ‘I Love You Babe’, a song by legendary folk-singer Michael Hurley, recently unearthed from the Folkways archives. The centerpiece of Two Kilos Of Blue is ‘Disguise’, a meditative, psychedelic reverie propelled along by a pitched sample of Big Boy Cleveland’s ‘Quill Blues’. The title of the album refers to a saying of Cezanne’s: “Two kilos of blue is a lot bluer than one,” which in reference to these songs could speak to the layering of shades and moods in each voice, in each song – compounding to create a dark, plumbless opus.
Tracklist
- Untitled for Ruth
- Francine
- All I Saw Was Blue
- Blue Ghost
- The Moon Is Still Right There
- I Love You Babe
- Disguise
- Forget My Love
- Blue Angel
