Alt-rock coven VENUS GRRRLS share ‘Carmilla’, the final preview of their forthcoming EP To Die as Lovers May, out 16 October via Killabop.
Drawing on ’80s goth and industrial sounds, ‘Carmilla’ takes inspiration from Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 gothic novella of the same name, which predates Dracula. Vocalist GK explains:
“The inspiration for the song was instantaneous after finishing my first read of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel, Carmilla. The EP’s title, ‘To Die as Lovers May’, is taken from an extract in the novel, which actually predated Dracula. Lyrically, I certainly wanted to capture the contrast of allure and passion with the lethality and confrontation of romance with a vampire. It’s dark and forbidden, but it’s enticing and everlasting. I think this tender balance that exists in between the cracks of love and death is what the entire EP is exploring.
I recorded the vocals at 3am after three glasses of red wine in the Spanish mountains; some even recorded in an abandoned chapel. We all walked in the pitch black to find this chapel with our producer, Brad, in the middle of the night. It felt like some sort of gloomy pilgrimage! It aided us in capturing the atmosphere that’s so masterfully present throughout the novel. An eeriness that’s a bit sexy. It was particularly cathartic to record a song about lesbian vampires in an old chapel.”
The video’s gothic setting takes centre stage, with VENUS GRRRLS teaming up with English Heritage to film part of ‘Carmilla’ at Whitby Abbey. The historic abbey has strong ties to vampire lore, while Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella Carmilla helped pave the way for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published 25 years later.
UK HEADLINE TOUR:
28 Oct – Glasgow – Audio
29 Oct – Newcastle, Cluny 2
30 Oct – Stockton, Georgian Theatre
31 Oct – Nottingham, Bodega
02 Nov – Bristol, Exchange
03 Nov – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
04 Nov – London, The Lower Third
06 Nov – Liverpool, 02 Academy 2
07 Nov – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
FURTHER LIVE DATES:
14 Nov – Network – Stage 2 – Sheffield, UK (Echosound Festival)
27 Nov – Musikens Hus – Gothenburg, Sweden (Viva Sounds Festival)
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