Fanatic is a music marketing company established by Josh Bloom in 1997 to build fan-to-fan connections between artists and the media. For 25 years, Fanatic has continued to help launch careers through the strategic advocacy of creative talent.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Blesson Roy releases “Almost Acoustic” version of dreamy “Time Is A Crime” EP; See video for original version of “Let It Go,” created by producer of Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.”
Career path through L.A.’s punk scene, guitar hangs
with Radiohead, 250 dates a year with Idaho, Pete Yorn’s band, leads Terry
Borden to final prep of debut album, arriving late fall.
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Terry Borden of Blesson Roy
as photographed by Ankhurr Chawaak
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Blesson Roy | In The Press
“Will expand your mind.” — BTRtoday
“AM pop radio has served him well.” — PopMatters
“Dreamy and earthy.” — The Big Takeover
“Beach Boys-esque
poppy vocals.” — Glide Magazine
“Beautifully realized.” — Beats Per Minute
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As he
continues to prepare his debut album for a fall release, Terry Borden of
Blesson Roy has released what he calls an “Almost Acoustic” version of his
debut “Time Is A Crime” EP.
Borden explains, “The songs on the EP were all written on
acoustic guitar and/or electric guitar unplugged. I am recording everything
myself with no band, so I work out the songs on acoustic before I ever create
drum parts or anything else to sonic layer cake. As such, they have an acoustic
soul."
He continues, “It seemed a good idea to do these acoustic versions, with minimal sonic
flourishes that come in as an ‘almost acoustic’ nod to the analog synth chakra
that is also a pillar of the Blesson Roy
sound. Now, listening to the finished ‘Almost Acoustic’ versions of the five
songs on the ‘Time Is A Crime’ EP,
they have taken on a new character, that lets their acoustic core have its time
in the sun and the moon. I love tambourine immensely, so that is in there too!”
This combination of visuals and audio will expand
your mind to a level of self-comfort that’s hard to obtain alone,” says BTRtoday about visual artist Tom Gorai’s music video for “Let It Go” by Blesson Roy. See the video at
BTRtoday here or at the link
below.
“Gorai has
been nominated for both an EMMY® and GRAMMY®, and he
won MTV’s Video of The Year award for his production of Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.”
He’s also known for his music video production with artists like Nine Inch Nails and A Tribe Called Quest. So when Gorai first became isolated during the
COVID-19 lockdown, he knew he had to use his talent for visual art to
contribute to the song that expanded his mind so much during that time.”
Gorai explains, “When I first heard Blesson Roy’s ‘Let It Go,’
it screamed at me loudly and I was deeply affected,” he says in an artist’s
statement. “The next thing I knew is that, in this weird state of nothingness
and stasis, I thought I could hear the song more clearly than ever before, so I
took a deep breath and just focused on listening to the music. I put it on
repeat and just listened over and over as I let whatever influences I was
feeling direct me to put together light and color and patterns.”
The song itself is also very personal to Blesson Roy’s Terry Borden. He explains that the tune, “started with a hypnotic
guitar line that triggered a meditation. The creative process and sound
conjured up painful memories and its simplicity allowed for a layered catharsis
which worked these toxic feelings to the surface and out of the subconscious,
in a sweeping and graceful gesture, culminating in the survival action of
letting go of stored traumas. It is a step in that direction, small or more
depending on how the frequencies shimmer in your lake.”
Life-long “music lover and music doer,” Terry Borden is a child of 1970’s
California whose early love of AM radio and his brother’s record collection has
led him to numerous career highlights that are still accumulating.
These include: Kind words from Lou Reed, two appearances on David
Letterman, guitar hangs with Radiohead,
and 250-plus tour dates a year throughout early 2000s as a member of slowcore
pioneers Idaho and singer-songwriter
Pete Yorn’s backing band Dirty Bird.
Coming of age in Los Angeles during the early 1990’s
rise of punk and new wave, Borden’s
long and varied career as a studio and touring musician will culminate with the
release of his own dreamy pop project in 2020. Blesson Roy’s five-song “Time
Is A Crime” EP is out now.
Owing to Borden’s
stint living and working in the UK where he was influenced by the burgeoning
sounds of sub-cultural labels such as 4AD,
Creation, Factory and Rough Trade,
the music of Blesson Roy will
undoubtedly please fans of all these sounds.
Borden brings real roots song craft to his work, as well,
showing that his recent years away from the music industry, but not away from
songwriting, have only served to develop his abilities and technique, as Borden masterfully performs all of the
instruments on the new tracks himself.
After Borden’s
run with Idaho came to an end, he
signed with Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s World Domination label as Flotilla,
releasing one critically praised album, and while the label eventually folded,
the record found some important ears, including those of Yorn.
When Yorn
was looking for a touring guitarist, Borden
got the gig, eventually switched to his beloved bass and spent another four
years out on the road. Then, during a break in touring, Borden decided to make the down time indefinite.
“After a decade-long ride, I took a long time off and
away from music and the music business,” he says. “I needed to take a hard look
at my life, to clean up some existential messes, and change some unhealthy
habits.” Now, revitalized and energized, Borden
is continuing to create, write and record music for himself again.
Blesson Roy’s five-song “Time
Is A Crime” EP is out now via Slow Start
Records. Terry Borden is
available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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