{"title":"The Larvarium","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-distaf","title":"The Distaf","description":"\u003cp\u003eMaud the moth, the solo project of Spanish-born and Scotland-based pianist, singer and songwriter Amaya Lopez-Carromero releases her new album, \u003ci\u003eThe Distaff\u003c\/i\u003e, via The Larvarium and La Rubia Producciones.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmaya has long used the mantle of Maud the moth as an alter-ego, a séance-like conduit to explore themes of rootlessness, identity and trauma. \u003ci\u003eThe Distaff\u003c\/i\u003e in particular refers to the stick or spindle onto which wool or flax is wound for spinning, and an object which has historically been used across multiple cultures as a symbol wielded by the “virtuous woman”, an authoritarian ideal around which much of the trauma surrounding the feminine coalesces. The album takes the form of a sort of self reflective and surreal autobiography. It was in part inspired by the poem of the same name written by the Greek poet Erinna, as she mourns her friend's loss of individuality and agency in exchange for marriage - and therefore safety and acceptance in the eyes of society. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album exists in an ethereal but violent world of aesthetic overlaps where time stands still and fictional and reimagined folk sits at the table with Maud the moth’s usual sonic menagerie. It is the result of a lifetime of obsession with sound and music, where glimpses of musical genre offer insight into Amaya’s artistic interests and her participation in the underground European scene for many years, in bands such as healthyliving. Heavier, darker, and more exposed than any of her previous works it features some highly accomplished artists, such as Seb Rochford (Patti Smith, Polar Bear, Sons of Kemet, Pulled by magnets, etc.) on drums, Alison Chesley (Helen Money) on cello, Fay Guiffo on violin and Scott McLean (Ashenspire, healthyliving, Falloch) on guitar, saxophone and synthesiser. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten and arranged by Amaya, with some contributions in the later role from the aforementioned collaborators, the album presents nine tracks originally written entirely on acoustic piano as accompanied voice pieces, in pure singer-songwriter fashion. The album was co-produced and recorded by Scott and Amaya in different studios across the UK between January and July of 2024, in a process that started shortly after the 2020 pandemic and finished alongside the album recordings in a detailed, organic and at times obsessive process aimed primarily at capturing the natural dynamics and expression of free performance. \u003ci\u003eThe Distaff\u003c\/i\u003e was mixed in its entirety by Scott and mastered at Abbey Road by Alex Wharton (Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, Aurora, Kathryn Joseph etc.) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite being born of a very personal point of view, the album lacks a specific narrator and was conceived almost as a sonic trousseau, where the needle point, silks and other family heirlooms have been swapped for out-of-the-corner-of-the-eye memories of rural Spain by the vineyards, family disputes, old tales of wartime pains, generational breaches and finally the conflict of migration and estrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe songs paint dystopian pastoral scenes which evolve throughout the span of one fictional day outside of time and coherent locations and where imagination (often the only account surviving from traumatic events and gaslighting) has become indistinguishable from fact.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Distaff\u003c\/i\u003e attempts to acknowledge past trauma, comprehend and process some of the more difficult aspects which have contributed to our darker self and offer closure and solace through creative catharsis. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Larvarium","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50811895742795,"sku":"2232156","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50812399583563,"sku":"2232157","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50811895054667,"sku":"2232155","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/11a9afca-09da-e4b5-7fc6-7f6466d3c769_aa35c282_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1731338578"},{"product_id":"requiem-1","title":"Requiem","description":"\u003cp\u003eAll Men Unto Me is a project led by Rylan Gleave, composer and vocalist (most notably in Ashenspire and various Paraorchestra projects). \u003cem\u003eRequiem\u003c\/em\u003e, is his second album album and it re-imagines an ancient mourning in a real, contemporary setting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTaking the broad emotional arcs of the Missa pro Defunctis, these structures pave way for new songs, ruminating on patriarchal power systems and the conditions of transmasculinity within these, through the haze of Queer reverence and forgiveness. In Rylan's words, the Missa pro Defunctis \"translates to ‘Mass for the dead’, and refers to the Catholic text taken from the Roman Missal. When set to music, it is called a ‘Requiem’. Requiem masses are usually performed at funerals. I’ve sung in a few Requiems — Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé — when I’ve been in choirs, and felt those dramatic arcs of the structure in my own voice. Writing a Requiem felt like processing my own complex feelings about the Church, patriarchal power within it (and more broadly), and the death of a part of me in a framework that allowed for mourning. The contours of sorrow, light, forgiveness, and reverence made space for these songs to speak to my own identity as a survivor, and use that structure in a way that let me direct an ancient narrative myself.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarrying traditional Anglican soundworlds of electro-pneumatic church organ and stacked choral vocals with heavier sounds, closer to experimental\/noise rock and doom metal, Requiem sits at times near Swans, Kayo Dot, Lingua Ignota, Greet Death, and Scott Walker.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Larvarium","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":51746412790091,"sku":"R0465-0292","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":51746412822859,"sku":"R0465-6525","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/adf6be11-75ef-88f9-4cce-b6637de1f727.jpg?v=1746024712"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/the-larvarium.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}