Chelsea Wolfe

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

Hey there Lanaboards. Since we are running dry for a time now, I thought I could create a thread for an artist, I personally enjoy a lot, as I'd like to see who else listens to her and I'd love to introduce some of you to her music.

It's Chelsea Wolfe, an american singer/songwriter from Sacramento.

 

 

Chelsea Wolfe has a super power - she can destroy and rebuild your entire emotional constitution in the space of a single song. Her ice-like voice slices through scary seas of reverb, with cryptic lyrics as splintered life rafts of hope. - LAweekly

 

 

She does something she herself considers "doom folk". Very dark, sometimes scary, sometimes emotional music, which has the main goal to create a certain atmosphere/vibe.

 

 

Wolfe started to make music in her youth, influenced by her father. She finished her first record "Mistake In Parting" in 2006, however she felt like it was "trash" and didn't released it. Since her official debut album "The Grime & The Glow", released in 2010, she has delivered many different styles through her discography.

 

 

 

Her record "Apocalypsis" sounds like it is the soundtrack of a Horror movie, "Unknown Rooms" delivers acoustic songs with a dark undertone and an ongoing topic of self-doubt and "Pain Is Beauty" relies on a very electric sound.

 

 

 

In 2014, Chelsea Wolfe released a short-movie called Lone, which uses music from her album "Pain Is Beauty". The movie, just like the album, is influenced by natural ctastrophes, change and loss.

 

 

In 2015 she released her darkest album "Abyss", which was influenced by her experiences of sleep paralysis and the theories of psychologist Carl Jung. In 2016 she released two B-sides from this album as a single.

 

 

Music Videos

 

 

 

 

 

[Sitar 22,171]

I've been meaning to listen to her ever since someone tried to pass a song of hers as a UV outtake

[comeintomybedroom 8,557]

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

I got "Pain Is Beauty" after somebody tried to pass one of the songs as a Lana song. It was really nice, but I never looked into her more because it was nothing more than background music to me.

Well, I think the best record to get into her music is Apocalypsis or Unknown Rooms.

 

_____

 

 

Kind of funny on how her music was passed as Lana's. They both share a lot of things. Both of them have a big unreleased catalogue, they scratched their first record(s)/EP(s) because they didn't like it, they both use home-videos in the music videos, they both did a cover of a "vintage-song" and they both did a short movie for one of their records. Also, both of them are very "visual" in terms of music and have an eye for fashion (which fits each one's respective genre)

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

 

Chelsea just released this sneak peek of an ABYSS song called "Iron Moon". Sounds like the song structure is a little bit more classic compared to the stuff on her previous records, even though it's definitly something special ... Seems like she went for a more raw, industrial sound this time. (also fits the sound of the instagram snippet she posted a while ago)

[slang 1,509]

Chelsea Wolfe circa 2006.

 

Only heard it once and I think I love it. Lyrically it seems very similar to LDR, at least at times. Love the recent CW too (and somewhat sad that CW "hates" this unreleased work).

 

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

 

Chelsea Wolfe circa 2006.

 

Only heard it once and I think I love it. Lyrically it seems very similar to LDR, at least at times. Love the recent CW too (and somewhat sad that CW "hates" this unreleased work).

 

 

Yeah, I also really think it's sad she feels like this. It's a very good album, however I can see that she doesn't want it to be "out there" because it's not fitting her "persona" at all.

However, I remember she uploaded the album "Soundtrack VHS //" on bandcamp once, an album which she sold during early concerts and which featured some demos/early versions from "Unknown Rooms" (Gold, Virginia Woolfe Underwater, Armour Fell Asleep, The Way We Used To, Hyper Oz) as well as great unique songs (Feel Something, Drums & Heartbeats, A Downfall, Nean Green, Two Sides, Soundtrack VHS)

 

talking about unreleased songs, this one is a wonderful one aswell

 

[slang 1,509]

Yeah, I also really think it's sad she feels like this. It's a very good album, however I can see that she doesn't want it to be "out there" because it's not fitting her "persona" at all.

 

 

I think her "trash" verdict for "Mistake in Parting" is owing to the lyrics. But if she's more into some kind of cosmic dread sort of sadness now (or whatever the "Pain is Beauty"/ "Abyss" albums imply) than some kind of LDR-like relationship sadness back then, maybe she could call the album "Exorcisms are interesting", as I often think artists write about the stuff they don't like experiencing (e.g., Nothing Noone, Mistake in Parting, Your Name, Hallelujah, on MIP). This may relate to the "Pain is Beauty" persona a little (i.e., she makes beauty out of her pain). At any rate, it's interesting that the cosmic dread outlook grew out of the more conventional relationship sadness. I was also surprised at how much I could understand her singing, which is not so true of her currently (for me), though her singing voice does seem a lot better now (and she recently posted lyrics for all her released albums at her website, which is nice; wish more artists did that). 

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

 

 

 

I think her "trash" verdict for "Mistake in Parting" is owing to the lyrics. But if she's more into some kind of cosmic dread sort of sadness now (or whatever the "Pain is Beauty"/ "Abyss" albums imply) than some kind of LDR-like relationship sadness back then, maybe she could call the album "Exorcisms are interesting", as I often think artists write about the stuff they don't like experiencing (e.g., Nothing Noone, Mistake in Parting, Your Name, Hallelujah, on MIP). This may relate to the "Pain is Beauty" persona a little (i.e., she makes beauty out of her pain). At any rate, it's interesting that the cosmic dread outlook grew out of the more conventional relationship sadness. I was also surprised at how much I could understand her singing, which is not so true of her currently (for me), though her singing voice does seem a lot better now (and she recently posted lyrics for all her released albums at her website, which is nice; wish more artists did that). 

 

Well, you can still hear some topics like this on The Grime And The Glow. For example being "a boy inside a girls body" is talked about in Noorus. Unknown Rooms is also quite similar, however this might stem from the fact that many songs from this album are older tracks (see VHS //) which she rerecorded/remastered (although it's strange she seemingly felt comfortable enough about THESE tracks)

 

Pain Is Beauty is definitly hard to get, as far as it's about a topic. It has something to do with the union of nature (mostly catastrophes, as you can see in LONE) and artificiality (the electronic sound and the blue-ish visuals of LONE). It's also kind of about human evanescence compared to "it all".

Abyss on the other hand definitly has both the self-doubt aspects from Unknown Rooms aswell as the surreal world of dreams and sleep paralysis.

I think it's interesting to see that Abyss, unlike Pain Is Beauty, The Grime & The Glow or Apocalypsis, puts the focus on the lyrics again.

 

So in the end, while "mistake in parting" was more like deressive everday-problems, she seemingly aims for a much bigger layer of topics.

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

I see CW is not really a LB artist, but I thought I'd just drop this one here.

Someone uploaded Lone, Chelsea's Tropico, if you want to call it like that, on Vimeo. It was done after her last album Pain Is Beauty and features the songs Feral Love, House Of Metal, The Waves Have Come, Sick and Lone.

 

[slang 1,509]

I see CW is not really a LB artist, but I thought I'd just drop this one here.

Someone uploaded Lone, Chelsea's Tropico, if you want to call it like that, on Vimeo. It was done after her last album Pain Is Beauty and features the songs Feral Love, House Of Metal, The Waves Have Come, Sick and Lone.

 

 

 

Beautifully disturbing, and I can see why it's not on Youtube (and hopefully the artists involved in making it know that it's on Vimeo and want people to see it). At 52 mins, it's the longest album-oriented music video that I know of. The story is by Mark Pellington, though CW wrote the dialog. Here's an article that talks about the film.

http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/lone-wolfe-chelsea-wolfes-surreal-journey-from-music-to-movies/

[expandableclitoris 9,087]

 

 

Fav tracks: Spun, 16 Psyche, Vex & Static Hum

 

Also would love if Lana collaborated with her on a doom metal inspired album

[Lirazel 700]

Seen her live a few days ago as she was on tour with A Perfect Circle. Love her powerful voice and darkness but not sure about the songs - they sounded pretty samey but that's probably cause I heard them for the second time in my life (I gave Hiss Spun a spin some time ago, but did not seriously get into it). I think I will listen to her more. Hopefully I will fall in love in time. 

[UltraHeroin 8,801]

I think I said this to you in the past but I found out about Chelsea Wolfe from you so I'm pretty happy you finally made this thread. She's indeed really great 

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

I think I said this to you in the past but I found out about Chelsea Wolfe from you so I'm pretty happy you finally made this thread. She's indeed really great 

Thanks, always happy to see people get into her stuff

 

I was at one of her HissSpun concerts this summer and it was definitly one of the year's highlights!

 

She's currently working on another acoustic album, which is super intriguing since her last efforts were pretty heavy.

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

Seen her live a few days ago as she was on tour with A Perfect Circle. Love her powerful voice and darkness but not sure about the songs - they sounded pretty samey but that's probably cause I heard them for the second time in my life (I gave Hiss Spun a spin some time ago, but did not seriously get into it). I think I will listen to her more. Hopefully I will fall in love in time. 

Hm, I kind of see where you are coming from. Her music is very cohesive, especially her current setlist.

And looking at her full discography I think she's actually quite diverse. There are those atmospheric horror-tunes sitting next to heavy sludge-rock stuff and acoustic folk tracks. I love that you can hear the "Chelsea Formula", no matter which genre she does.

The Hiss Spun concerts are really awesome, with the dramatic lights and the live version of older tracks like Demons or Ancestors, The Ancient. I first saw her during an Abyss concert in 2015, and while that was great, the Hiss Spun concert left a much bigger impression on me. It was so ... on point.

[Ultra Violet 18,412]

She's incredible. I remember her song Sick being posted on youtube under the name 'Lana del rey - asphyxiation' or some shit. I couldnt find out who it was for like a YEAR. Glad i finally did. she is so raw and entrancing. 

 

She reminds me very much of Nostalghia (and Nostalghia said she loves her so aww), 

 

My favourite of her albums is Pain is Beauty

[Ultra Violet 18,412]

Her new album is definitely my favourite from her I don't think there are any skippable songs, when usually, her music can be so much of a deep ambient mood that I can't tell them apart from the others. This one feels more digestible imo, and I love it.

My favourites are Deranged for Rock and Roll, Be All Things and When Anger Turns to Honey, but all the others are not far behind.

[Thunder Revenant 20,654]

Her new album is definitely my favourite from her I don't think there are any skippable songs, when usually, her music can be so much of a deep ambient mood that I can't tell them apart from the others. This one feels more digestible imo, and I love it.

My favourites are Deranged for Rock and Roll, Be All Things and When Anger Turns to Honey, but all the others are not far behind.

It's definitly a great autumn album. I  love how it feels like it's a new approach to music for her while still being classic-CW-music. It's a bit more "epic folk" compared to the introverted, slowed down sound of Unknown Rooms. Some of the songs remind me of Marissa Nadler alot. Her vocal qualities really show on this album!

 

Can't pin my favourite tracks down yet.

Deranged For Rock & Roll is definitly a strong song, probably the catchiest one she ever released.

American Darkness has this wonderful noire-ish vibe and I loved it as soon as it came out as a single  and it hyped me up for the album a lot (wasn't too impressed with The Mother Road)

I love how Be All Things is so calm and peaceful and how it's sound really embodies its message.

When Anger Turns To Honey is another quite unusual song when looking at Chelseas repertoire. I ike the soft beats and the way she sings on it.

And then there is Prelude To A Dream Play, which has this Lovecraft-ian creepiness and would have perfectly fit on the second half of Abyss aswell.

Last but not least, the title track "Birth Of Violence" is an excellent track aswell.

[Ultra Violet 18,412]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlx44ne4f8o

 

Revisiting this song because I heard the beginning siren vocals in my dream last night