It’s your lucky day, Spiderfriends! Today we have a brand new Songwriting Scholarship release by the one and only Lorelei K! For those who may not be in the know, welcome: Lorelei K is an alternative pop project created by Dahlia Knowles, an artist based in Denton, Texas. She already released an EP this year (a collab with Paul Slavens), went on a huge tour, and somehow still found time to create with Spiderweb. She spent a winter day in Shiny Sound Recording Studio, collaborating with the usual suspects (Corbin, Conor, and Jacob) and special guest Adam Mahout on drums, combining modular synths, haunting guitars, and intense vocals to create this track, aptly titled Doomsday Cabaret.
Dahlia is an unstoppable force of creation. If you haven’t heard her recent single video release for Lorelei K, I Watched U, you must. Her third studio release, a sixteen track album recorded at Civil Audio by Michael Briggs, is currently in progress and projected for release sometime this year. Lorelei K also just recently knocked out a big tour with The Sound of Animals Fighting, returning just in time to participate in a largely improvisational collaborative set with fellow Spiderweb artists Naomi Schiller and courtney marie at The Electronic Experiment IV this past weekend. We hear her on our favorite radio station, KUZU, all the time. Her eye for visual aethstetics is unmatched, and her music has us constantly bewitched. How perfect to release this beautiful dark energy on the last day of winter?
As far as our Songwriting Scholarship project is concerned, this track is officially the final recording for our first collection, Put a Record On, to be released on July 14, 2019 on vinyl. Check out Lorelei K’s Doomsday Cabaret here, read about her experience recording at Shiny Sound, and mark your calendars to hear all these fantastic musicians live at the release of this epic project.
Lorelei K, Corbin Childs, and Jacob Greenan at Shiny Sound Recording Studio
Tell us a little bit about your journey with music.
My journey in music and the arts has been kind of chaotic. I’m one to hop around and build on different ideas and skills, which seems to work for me so far. I’ve always loved singing and playing the piano. My brother and best friend are also very musical, so I think we kind of build off of each other too.
When you knew you'd have a half-day at Shiny Sound to record this song, how did you feel about it?
I felt excited to try something new. I do most of my recording with Michael at Civil Audio or in my little bedroom studio. It was a refreshing change of pace.
What were your anticipations for recording?
I wanted to create something that broke away from a lot of the flavor of my most recent performance and recording material. I anticipated all of the warmth and openness that I always feel when I’m amongst the spiderbabes.
What was the recording process like for you?
Fucking weird. In the best way possible. I think with each individual’s contributions in the mix we created some type of behemoth. It’s really a massive track.
I got real panicky at one point in concern that we may run out of time or that I was unprepared or something, but I’m kind of always like that. Just looking for something to go wrong. Usually, and most certainly in this case, that anxiety makes its way into the mix as well. I don’t regret it at all. I think the song’s tone is very dark and evil and being able to use this opportunity as a vessel to explore that kind of expression was really exciting.
Can you give us a little background about the song itself?
It’s called Doomsday Cabaret. Conor said it in passing in the studio and it really stuck with me. It’s fabulous, rolls off the tongue, and fits well with the track’s color palette.
I think I wrote the little intro poem about six months ago when I was longing for freedom within a packed schedule I’d designed for myself. A lot of the time I think my writings sound like conversations in between lovers, and this one is no exception. I was trying to communicate this feeling of being so stuck in something made up and it kind of turned into a song that sounds like a break-up.
The middle section is pulled from a separate poem that expresses longing for an unfit partner. Again, I don’t think that partner is a specific person here either. I think the kind of longing I was writing about was for danger or a high-stakes turn of events to occur.
What are your interests and passions outside of music?
I really love to draw and write poetry. I’m also currently a stylist at an Aveda salon in Denton.
What or who are some of your influences as a musician?
Right now I’m listening to a lot of Beth Gibbons, Anohni, Lana Del Rey, Sun Kil Moon, and The Microphones. That changes all the time though.
My biggest influences are moreso aesthetics, like angels and flowers, the sky, water. Big concepts like the relationship between good and evil, perspective and purity. Also gender stuff, because I can’t ~not~ write about gender, right?
Lorelei K with courtney marie and Naomi Schiller at The Electronic Experiment IV
What would you like to accomplish creatively within the next year?
Working on submissions for record labels. My newest album in collaboration with Michael Briggs at Civil Audio is nearing completion. I’d really love to plan a solo tour this Fall, too.
Anything else you wanna share with us?
I think it’s really important to realize the potential of each and every individual. For a long time I felt too scared to share with others what I possess, and ever since I let that go I find opportunity after opportunity presenting itself to me. I’m not afraid of the person. I’m in love with the world. It’s weird and fucked up but it helps to lift the veil of cynicism every once in a while. That might sound crazy or majorly contrarian coming from me, but it’s a recent revelation and I’m really happy with where I’m finding myself right here and now.
Love y’all <3