Tulipomania - I've Been Told - Absolution
Philadelphia-based art-rock duo Tulipomania are back with 'I've Been Told - Absolution', the first offering from their sixth album 'Absolution', inspired by an invitation from acclaimed author Jeff VanderMeer to contribute music as part of the publication of his latest novel 'Absolution', the surprise fourth volume in his award-winning 'Southern Reach' series.
With a pressingly mournful urgency, this single's soundscape resonates with the complex energies enveloping VanderMeer’s novel, the author having invited the duo to create music inspired by 'Absolution' while still a work in progress. Hearing that VanderMeer took inspiration for the 'Absolution' novel from their 'Dreaming of Sleep' album, the duo enthusiastically accepted the challenge.
Alternately categorized as cult synth punks, glam-leaning, post-punk, art-rock and muscular chamber pop, Tulipomania is Tom Murray (lead vocals, synthesizer, electronic percussion) and Cheryl Gelover (synthesizer, background vocals) – they first began their collaboration through projects for experimental film and animation classes. Tulipomania evolved from those experiences. Their new 'Absolution' album includes four new tracks inspired by VanderMeer's new novel, plus ten alternate versions of the songs that originally sparked VanderMeer’s interest, reimagined as a cohesive sonic experience.
It's an exciting development for the duo to be involved in this new chapter of the Southern Reach Trilogy with 'Absolution' being the brilliant, beautiful and terrifying final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time. An instant sensation, it has been celebrated by the New York Times, Stephen King and many others. With each volume climbing the bestsellers list, accruing awards, it was ultimately adapted in a movie - now a cult classic. The trilogy has now sold more than a million copies, securing its place in the pantheon of 21st century literature.
In the liner notes to the album, VanderMeer lends insight into his creative process: "I remember being in the middle of the ecstatic visions that formed my novel Absolution and discovering Tulipomania's music for the first time, around August of 2023 - this very album's doppelganger, in fact. The original mix of 'Dreaming of Sleep'. It felt like a revelation - hypnotic, pulsing music that got deep hooks into my brain, so I couldn't stop listening to the songs. Like a lighthouse's roving light, the songs felt like a beacon, and the recursive nature of the composition, the sense of a beating heart, a thick muscle at the core of them, combined with the surreal lyrics got deep into the novel's DNA. ... So I was really pleased that this opportunity for this wonderful contamination of (novel / album) to go the other way - the Absolution remix of 'Dreaming of Sleep', with four new Absolution tracks! I really love this band so much - to the point I've listened to and recommend their entire back catalogue - that it's an honor."
“It is a thrill to know that our music and lyrics were an inspiration for Jeff VanderMeer while he was working on his latest novel Absolution," says Tom Murray.
A sign of serendipity, the cover for this album was created by acclaimed artist Pablo Delcan, who also produced the artwork for the 10th anniversary editions of the Southern Reach Trilogy.
“Having the author crowned the ‘weird Thoreau’ entrust us with early versions of his newest novel Absolution was enormously enticing – knowing that he believed we could return with him to the world of Area X for the purpose of a cross-pollination is very exciting," Cheryl Gelover.
"We’re so glad we emerged from the journey with alternate versions of the ten tracks that originally inspired him, as well as four entirely new songs directly inspired by our immersion in the Southern Reach series and the latest novel in the series - Absolution. It is quite an honor to share a title on our new album with Jeff's latest.”
Jeff VanderMeer fondly describes the animated video for 'I've Been Told - Absolution': "The dreamlike immersion in imagery from the novel creates a hypnotic and perfect effect for both a beautiful dirge and surge of a song and the atmosphere for Absolution. Gorgeous and evocative". Shot frame by frame, utilizing multiple processes, including thermal printing, to create layered textures, the video features stop-motion animated objects (some frames vibrantly hand-tinted) and glimpses of the duo singing the lyrics. This exploration of various states of disintegration, painstakingly assembling thousands of individual images, evokes Absolution’s themes of dissolution and disorientation.
Described as ‘artistic and inventive’ and ‘gorgeous', Tulipomania's animated music videos have been featured in film festivals worldwide, including the Leeds International Film Festival (UK), StopTrik (Croatia, Poland), AniFilm (Czech Republic) and Tallgrass International Film Festival (USA).
On ‘Absolution', Tulipomania is immersed fully in electronic means of creation – the exception being a sole accent played on electric guitar on the last track. This record involves Executive Producer Howard Thompson, renowned as a record industry executive (Elektra, Island, Almo Sounds), credited for having discovered and / or worked with Adam and the Ants, Billy Bragg, MC5, Mötorhead, PiL, Psychedelic Furs, Robyn Hitchcock, The Sugarcubes and Suicide, among others.
On October 31, ‘I’ve Been Told - Absolution’ will be released via fine music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where the ‘Absolution' album (out November 29 on CD, vinyl and digitally via Sursumcorda Records) is available for pre-order.
