Writing to say that after much delay, the Ghostmaker EP is finally out. You can find it wherever in the slipstream you choose to enter.
I call it a song set of rememberings. A handful of songs you will know from Peacemaker, re-recorded as they came to me when I first wrote them, before I got my hands on strings and synths and cast them out into the wide, wild yonder. Theyāre smaller, these ones. Not quite acoustic. But smaller.
The final track āWaiting (Again)ā featuring the Milk Carton Kids is some of my favorite work Iāve ever made. The swiftest making, for sure. The song itselfāmelody, lyrics, chords, guitar solo and allāfell to me from the ether in about 15 minutes. And then the bulk of this recordingāguitar parts and 3 part harmonyāwas arranged and tracked live in under two hours. So there is something very different and direct about this one.
In honor of the release, we recorded a special Spectraphonic Session of the song.
(NB: all effects are done in real time āin the boxā, no after effects. Song and visuals recorded live, together.)
I hope these songs bring you solace or catharsis at the opening of this strange and difficult yearāas they have me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMHDX...
13 - 1
āThis is life, in all its wonder and terror.ā
ā¤ļøāš„šļøPeacemaker is out.šļøā¤ļøāš„
As it goes, the past couple of days have brought the beautiful synchronicities that only come with the completion of a cycle. I woke up in Nashville this morning for the first time since I made this record all those years ago. Last night I found myself by chance at a bar surrounded by many of the people who made this piece what it isāloved ones I hadnāt seen in all this timeācelebrating a great milestone in the career of Kenneth, my partner and co-producer on Peacemaker. And I left the bar at 2am and looked up to see I was across the street from the parking lot that gave me Iām Lying, right there on Pillow Street. This is life.
Itās a twisted feeling, to hold something so close to your heart for nearly five years, and then finally open your palms to set it free. Iām trying to give space to this complex well of relief and anxiety, joy and sadness, buoyancy and heaviness, so I wonāt say much more right nowāthough there are dozens and dozens of people to thank. This is life.
With the completion of one cycle comes the beginning of something new. Today marks the second half of Imbolc, the Celtic celebration of the return of the sacred spark, emergence from the void, the feast day of St. Brigidāthe goddess of fire and poetry, fertility and healing.
It is beyond fitting then, that today would be the release day of this record. For me it is just thatāthe return of the spark, emergence from the void, a record of fire and poetry, fertility and healing.
So Iāll leave you (until my next few dozen posts about this record) just as we started. With the closing line from the Loud and Quiet review of Peacemaker:
āThis is life in all its wonder and terror.ā
Listen in headphones, listen loud. Laugh and cry and scream and dance and roll around on the floor. This is life. It is a miracle, however wonderful and terrible. Weāre lucky to be here. Iām lucky to share it all with you. ā¤ļøāš„šļøā¤ļøāš„
Listen here: VeraSola.lnk.to/PeacemakerYD
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ā¤ļøāš„Bad Idea, the final offering ahead of Peacemaker, and the opening track of the album, is out now. This was always intended to be the introduction to the world I built with this record, and Iām so happy to finally release it to you all.
None of my songs are ever about just one thing. As much as this is a hymn on wildfire in California, it is a sorrow song for the destruction of the Amazon, it is a dirge inspired by the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral, it is a metaphor for illicit relationships. To sum it all, it is a meditation on manās short sightedness and generally fantastic ability to sacrifice the future for an ill-advised quick hit. āTake tomorrow out on loan,ā as I put it here.ā¤ļøāš„
šļøCheck out the full song. Itās wild. Iām tremendously proud of the arrangements. Listen wherever you listenāpreferably on headphones or big speakers. The bass on this one is REAL. Accompanying video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ug-1...
Peacemaker is out this Friday 2/2/24
//
Directed by Maximilla Lukacs @maximilla
Produced by Maximilla Lukacs and Linda Beecroft @maximilla @linda.beecroft
Edited by Vera Sola @vera.sola
Cinematography by Oliver Lukacs @oliver_lukacs
Steadicam Operated by Osiris Larkin Nascimento @olarkinn
Additional B-Roll by Kenneth Pattengale @themilkcartonkids
Visual Effects by Kenneth Pattengale
Wardrobe Stylist // Jesse Lynn Dell @jessedellstylist
Key Grip // Michael Gerner
Make Up // Salma Vir @salmavir
Special Thanks:
Raquel Allegra and Many Feathers Ranch @manyfeathersranch
Petecia LeFawnhawk @maisonlefawnhawk
Jane Booke @janebooke
Behida Dolic @behidadolic
Todd Weaver @toddweaver_
Bryn McKay @bryndian28
Jo Jo James @jojojames
Michael Dwyer @bydwyer
Jim Martin and Grace Sheridan Share @3345_arts_international
City Slang @cityslangrecords
Shot on location in Taos, New Mexico; Angeles National Forest, California.
//
I also want to shout out my old friend Jonathan Kolby @myfrogcroaked, who posted a short essay on Facebook long ago that would sow the seed of what would eventually become this song. His conservation work is super inspiring. Check him out šø
20 - 2
ā”ļøATTENTION:: After a long time in quiet Iām hittinā that old dusty trail!! EU/UK headline shows will feature a monster of a full band. NY/LA album release shows will be even bigger superband spectacles. US tour supporting the brilliant El Perro Del Mar (@epdm) will be in a smaller (solo/duo) configuration but nonetheless special and gorgeous.
ā”ļøHighly suggest you get tickets ASAP, these are small shows and my band is stacked with actual legends. The album release shows in NY and LA will be packed with sounds unheard as yet and probably never heard again! Welcome me back on stage with a bang Go! Go! Go! VeraSola.lnk.to/TourYD
ā”ļøHere you go:
14 Feb - Brooklyn, NYC @ Public Records
22 Feb - Los Angeles, CA @ Gold Diggers
19 Mar - Seattle, WA @ Barboza^
22 Mar - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill^
25 Mar - Chicago, IL @ Old Town School Of Folk Music^
27 Mar - Philadelphia, PA @ The Lounge at World Cafe Live^
08 Apr - Dublin, IR @ The Workman's Cellar
09 Apr - Glasgow, UK @ The Hug & Pint
10 Apr - Manchester, UK @ YES Basement
12 Apr - London, UK @ Chats Palace
13 Apr - Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
16 Apr - Berlin, DE @ LARK
18 Apr - Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus
21 Apr - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Upstairs
23 Apr - Antwerp, BE @ Rock Lobster
25 Apr - Paris, FR @ Pop Up
27 Apr - Nyon, CH @ La ParenthĆØse
29 Apr - Vienna, AT @ B72
^ supporting El Perro Del Mar
Tour Poster by @5pt5panoramic
Photo by 1/2 of @themilkcartonkids
Illustrations by @danielmartindiaz
11 - 1
The day has come. And it is utterly surreal.
Iām here to announce that my sophomore album āPeacemakerā is to be released 2/2/24 on City Slang, in partnership with Spectraphonic Records. Pre-order: VeraSola.lnk.to/PeacemakerYD
The first official single, The Line, is available now wherever you find your music, and an accompanying video is out now. Watch the new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaG5n...
Thank you for hanging in with me these past many years. This turned out to be a truly insane undertaking. If anything, I am confident that thereās nothing out there like it.
It took a loving, patient village to shepherd us hereāthere are many people to thank. That will come. Today I celebrate myself. I did this. It is uniquely me and uniquely mine. For that, I am wicked proud.
As a final note, I wanted to say that I feel conflicted about beginning promotion in the midst of such heavy, heartbreaking current events. However: this record, while not overtly political, is in many ways a chronicle of war; of human error and hubris and short-sightedness; sacred rage and righteousness.
And something unexpected happened in the act of making it: with the expression of such intense anger and sorrow came a deep transmutation. I went into this process with blood in my eyes and emerged to the symbol of the dove. I offer it now as a prayer for peace.
In that way, maybe itās fitting that itās launching this week. This is to say: Make art. Of any kind. Especially in the midst of war. Itās important. Most of all, though, take care of yourselves. And take care of each other.
With endless love and in prayerā
šļøVšļø
8 - 3
It is my great joy to offer you, finally, some music. Desire Path is far and away the most unhinged song I have ever madeā¦a descentāor better yet ascentāinto madness, borne on the twisted back of 13 violins, 1 cello, a bunch of basement synths, and a nasty guitar slowly being dragged away by an ambulance. I hope youāre moved by it. It is the first little window into something bigger, wider and somehow wilder yet to come.
Iām also overwhelmed to share that my little sonic enterprise has fallen into the loving arms of āŖ@CitySlangā¬. The fact that they were so thrilled to hitch such an announcement to this particular track gives me great confidence that Iāve made the perfect choice in partnership.
There are many people to highlight and more to thankāand that will come laterābut for now, I give you Desire Path. āļøšŗāļø
Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeP2y...
8 - 1
āPeacemakerā is out now on City Slang/Spectraphonic Records.
Alternately cast as the "lost love child of Leonard Cohen and Nancy Sinatra" and "PJ Harvey at her most irate, teeth-baredā Vera Sola makes timeless, time-bending sound.
'Peacemaker' is at times bold and orchestral while retaining the dirt and grit that was present under the fingernails of Shades, realising a whole world while managing to find remarkable detail in snapshot vignettes. "If one were to unroll the mind, and watch as the moments that coalesce into memories rise from the map into relief. Itās a collection of stories stitched together with that particular dreamlike quality which allows for disparate spaces to converge into a single scarcely knowable vastness".
"An utterly singular talent"
Sunday Times āBreaking Actā
"Vera Sola twists the singer-songwriter rulebook in fascinating directions"
DIY