TULIPOMANIA – “THEN AND ONLY THEN”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
Philadelphia is traditionally known for a whole array of music genres that have come to blossom over the past 70 or so years, but today we turn out attention to an artist who is actually making music in an entirely different realm. In fact, there is also an otherworldly element to their music and, if we could represent this as the sonic output of a famous director, it would certainly be David Lynch.
Today we have the pleasure of presenting the latest single and video from the art-rock duo Tulipomania. Titled “Then and Only Then”, this eerie poetic single previews their new record Dreaming of Sleep, which will be released in mid-November by Sursumcorda Records. Here numerous bands of yesteryear come to mind, including Pere Ubu, Jah Wobble, Talking Heads, Wire, Roxy Music and Wolfgang Press.
And like a good Lynch film, Tulipomania serves up a dystopian atmosphere that is drifting and cavernous, igniting one’s imagination, while the accompanying video is a fantastic shadowplay, involving a series of painstakingly crafted still images.
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), who first began their collaboration through projects for experimental film and animation classes. The duo now known as Tulipomania has evolved from those experiences.
“Memory is malleable – the song explores mutability. Lyrically, it’s an internal struggle – sonically it projects that energy into the external world.
Catharsis. Of course, hat strategy’s effectiveness is debatable – that’s the fun of it for those who can appreciate the irony – “knock yourself out.” We do however believe the ultimate failure is apathy – never give up – the stakes are too high,” says Cheryl Gelover.
Tom Murray adds, “It’s about wearing yourself out trying to answer the unanswerable. Dealing with endless, groundless self-serving tales. Deciding to keep moving in the absence of a clear destination. Meditative frustration. Finding a groove to loop into – not answering is the answer.”
Earlier, the duo released the album’s lead track “You Had to Be There”, followed by a remix by UK music legend Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, The Human League) and Charles Stooke, which is featured on WIRE Magazine’s cover-mounted Wiretapper CD compilation for October.
Its animated music video, featuring lip sync, original footage and vintage footage shot frame by frame, all collaged on sheets of black paper – is an official selection at the CutOut Fest International festival of animation and digital art from taking place this Nov in Mexico. Their fifth album, ‘Dreaming of Sleep’ , sees the duo nearly fully immersed in electronic means of creation. With cover artwork by Michael Speed, senior designer at Beggars Group London, this record involves Executive Producer Howard Thompson, renowned for his contributions as a record industry executive (Elektra, Island, Almo Sounds), having discovered and/or worked with such artists as Adam and the Ants, Billy Bragg, MC5, Mötorhead, PiL, Psychedelic Furs, Robyn Hitchcock, The Sugarcubes, Suicide, among many others.
Described as ‘artistic and inventive’ and ‘gorgeous’, Tulipomania’s animated music videos have been featured in film festivals worldwide. Numerous such festivals have already showcased this new video as an official selection, including the Leeds International Film Festival (UK), StopTrik (Croatia, Poland), AniFilm (Czech Republic), Insomnia (Russia) and Malatesta (Italy) with the Montreal International Animation Film Festival – Animaze awarding it an Honorable Mention.
Tulipomania also created animated music videos – “Hush” and “Shock To The Body” – for Cabaret Voltaire founder / frontman Stephen Mallinder in support of his solo album ‘tick, tick, tick’ (out now via Dais Records).
As of October 26, “Then and Only Then” is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. On November 17, the full Dreaming of Sleep album will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp.
CREDITS
Music and lyrics written by Tulipomania
Cheryl Gelover – keyboards and vocals
Tom Murray – bass, drums, keyboards and lead vocals
Produced and recorded by Tulipomania and Richard Hartline
Howard Thompson – Executive Producer
Film directors / animators – Cheryl Gelover and Tom Murray
Cover artwork created by Michael Speed
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Please also Tulipomania’s two most recent (and award winning) videos:
Tulipomania
[Single]
(Sursumcorda Records)
Release Date: October 26, 2023
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Tulipomania
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: MADAME REAPER – “FALLING APART AGAIN”/”GLUING MYSELF TOGETHER”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: FRANK VIELE – “PUTTING OUT FIRES”/”THE TROUBLE WITH DESIRE”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: ELENA ERIN – “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: OCCURRENCE – “FEEDING TIME”
