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.
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Composer Paul Slavens voices Hamlet — accompanied by singer Rosana Eckert of Grammy®-winning Eberhard by Lyle Mays — on fun-filled “Ophelia.”
“I
killed your Dad / I know, that’s bad / But there’s no reason / Why it has to
drive you mad,” sings Slavens on single from upcoming Alphabet Girls, Vol. II. +++
Paul
Slavens as photographed
by James Bland +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Paul Slavens | “Ophelia”
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/PaulSlavens-Ophelia +++ Paul Slavens’s upcoming new album Alphabet Girls, Vol. II
(his first in 12 years — out June 24
on State Fair Records) is a carnival
of styles: Pop, Prog, and hyper-kinetic Jazz pieces titled from “Naomi” through “Zelda,” hence the album’s name. The new single “Ophelia,”
reminds of the compositional nature of Frank
Zappa and the intellectual humor of They
Might Be Giants on a song in which Slavens
assumes the voice of Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet asking the doomed Danish
noblewoman of the title to “give a guy some slack,” reasoning that “I killed
your Dad / I know, that’s bad / But there’s no reason / Why it has to drive you
mad.” The track also features vocals from Rosana Eckert, who most recently
appeared on the Grammy-winning Eberhard by the late composer,
orchestrator, pianist and keyboardist, Lyle
Mays. Alphabet Girls, Vol. IIis the
crystallization and distillation of the Nebraska born, Denton, TX-based
artist’s long, varied, and accomplished career. On record, Slavens’s endurance is a listener’s treat. Alphabet Girls, Vol. II
plays like the product of a “been everywhere, seen everything” guru-type
somehow fitting all of his experience and education onto five lines of musical
staff like some kind of trippy Tetris. Funny, but serious. Jazz, but pop. Quirky, but
grounded. Alphabet Girls, Vol. II (the title isn’t a red herring, the
“girls” of Vol. I showed up twelve years ago) is all of these things and
more. +++ Paul Slavens Alphabet
Girls, Vol. II (State Fair Records) June 24, 2022
Track Listing: 01. Naomi 02. Ophelia (STREAM | VIDEO) 03. Priscilla 04. Queenie (VIDEO) 05. Robin 06. Sadie 07. Trudy 08. Ursula 09. Vanessa 10. Wanda 11. X (On My Heart) (STREAM
| VIDEO) 12. Yvonne 13. Zelda +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Paul Slavens | “Queenie”
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpNbwoRMoHI “‘Queenie’ is just a
blast of jazz energy,” says Paul Slavens of the speedy Jazz cut taken
from Alphabet Girls, Vol. II. “I gave four University of
North Texas jazz hot shots my sheet music and told them to play as fast as they
could.” Following a recent “Song of
The Day” nod for the track, Dallas-based
music discovery website Central Track
chatted with Slavens for a piece
entitled “Paul
Slavens Is Very Non-Busy,” which actually details how busy Slavens is these days. Read the full
interview here. +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Paul Slavens | “X (On My Heart)”
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1FPwxe0t5A [STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/PaulSlavens-XOnMyHeart “The Denton-based composer, musician, and all-around
entertainer is poised to release his new album, Alphabet Girls, Vol. II,
on June 24,” says
Dallas-based NPR-affiliate KXT. “‘X (On My Heart)’ is a theatrical number that tells the story of a
man who wants to know more about a mysterious woman who left him with a note
and a sense of longing.” The song is the first single
and video from Alphabet Girls, Vol. II(that’s from “Naomi” to “Zelda”), and
as the circumstances above allude to, it is the only song on the album that
isn't titled with a woman's name (as far as we know, it’s just “X!”) +++ Paul Slavens | About
Alphabet Girls, Vol. II by Paul
Slavens (June 24, State Fair Records) is the
crystallization and distillation of the Nebraska born, Denton, TX-based
artist’s long, varied, and accomplished career, complete with all of the
requisite breakthroughs and disappointments. On record, Slavens’s
endurance is a listener’s treat. Alphabet Girls, Vol. II plays like
the product of a “been everywhere, seen everything” guru-type somehow fitting
all of his experience and education onto five lines of musical staff like some
kind of trippy Tetris. Funny, but serious. Jazz, but pop. Quirky, but
grounded. Alphabet Girls, Vol. II (the title isn’t a red herring, the
“girls” of Vol. I showed up twelve years ago) is all of these things and
more. But not. “My goal was to make beautiful sounds,” Slavens said. “I am not too impressed
with my singing or my playing. I am most interested in the compositions. That’s
number one. I do not feel like I am a ‘songwriter,’ but rather a composer who
sometimes works in song.” A songwriter, but not. Some other artists and their eras that Slavens names as touchstones include Burt Bacharach, early Kate Bush (“I always thought that she
approached her music as a composer”), and later Scott Walker (“I love his unconventional use of orchestra”),
adding, “I can’t downplay the influence that Chopin had on me.” Opening Alphabet Girls, Vol. II with a
reworking of the same piece that closed Vol. I, the instrumental overture “Naomi,” we are quickly whisked into a
cinematic universe, which, like its predecessor, is an alphabetically ordered
ode to women given their rightful place as rulers. Gentle orchestrations, deep
sinewy cellos, plucked harp, and accordion contribute to this “sad waltz,” as Slavens calls it. Some will use the
word “masterpiece” immediately, because how else to define work as detailed,
studied, and mature as this? But not. Not too mature. Because at 60-years-old, it’s clear that Slavens has accomplished so much
artistically and otherwise, that he just doesn’t give a fuck. As listeners,
that’s the entire game. We’re better for that. To wit, the record quickly moves
on from its delicate opening into “Ophelia,”
a sorta nutso number made even stranger by how it was influenced by Slavens’s stir-crazy lockdown labor. “I got into some kind of ‘state’ and completely
reimagined and mutilated the recording,” Slavens
remembers. “I was isolated, so I allowed myself to do some things I might not
have,” he said of a song in which Prince Hamlet asks that the doomed Danish
noblewoman “give a guy some slack” because, look, “I killed your Dad / I know,
that’s bad / But there’s no reason / Why it has to drive you mad.” If you’re not already completely on board with Slavens at two tracks into this
journey, you’ll be thumbing a ride home for days, because we’re already far
from civilization. Someone important in Slavens’s
life who stood tall enough to ride this ride, and even in passing still looms
large over the project, is Texas music icon, Trey Johnson, co-founder of Slavens’s
label State Fair Records, and the
man who was the main advocate behind bringing Alphabet Girls, Vol. II
to completion. “About three years ago, Trey started getting me gigs at (James Beard semifinalist and ‘Top
Chef’ contestant) John Tesar’s
steakhouse, playing standards,” Slavens
recalls. “He was so helpful and the gig was sweet. As I got to know Trey, he heard me playing ‘Alphabet Girl’ songs and started
encouraging me to finish the project. “It was also Trey
who suggested that I sing these songs myself,” Slavens continues. “Many of the vocals are first takes and the
first time I sang the words, which is in stark contrast to the meticulous
nature of the rest of the recording. It hit me really hard when Trey passed away. He was the one who
believed in this project and made it happen.” It is to Slavens’s
credit that he endeavored to trust more “help” from the music industry. His
highs and lows have been higher and lower than most of what passes as an
indie-rock daydream. The quick history that got Slavens to the good part sorta plays like this: Formed a local band his mid-20s that went on to sell
out the big rooms around town. Lost band members to more successful bands
looking to climb the ladder. Re-grouped and hit it harder with more sell-out
shows locally and record sales to match. Received promises and apologies from
major players. Slavens: “The first time a famous person made me believe they
were gonna make me famous.” Got desperate, signed a bad deal to make a
“shitty-sounding” record of his best material, which the label promptly held
hostage. Crowds dwindled. Lost more band members. Fired the manager. Changed
their sound. Formed a new band. Made a record he loved. Got signed again. Slavens: “That was the second time a famous person made me
believe I was gonna be famous.” That’s plenty to get the picture and likely more than Slavens wants to recall, so what about
that good part? Around this time, Slavens
had a side hustle working as a commercial and voice-over actor. He had also
started improvising in order to improve his auditions. Eventually signing with
an agent, Slavens started working a
lot while continuing to do improv with a group, and then began producing more
than a dozen productions of his own. Around this time, the Dallas public radio station KERA took an interest in Slavens, a relationship that has
continued to this day, first at KERA,
and then its music-based offshoot KXT,
which has itself grown into a recognized, respected, and influential National Public Radio affiliate. To date, “The
Paul Slavens Show” has received “Best
of Dallas” awards from the Dallas
Observer in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Slavens
also received the award for “Best DJ”
from Dallas Observer in 2008, 2011
and 2014. Even with his focus on his radio show, Slavens has continued music-making,
starting a weekly residency at Denton venue Dan’s Silverleaf that is still happening. It’s here where he
started getting into making up songs on the spot and where the genesis of what
would become the “Alphabet Girls”
project came to fruition, culminating with the release of Alphabet Girls, Vol. I in
2010. Slavens: “Thousands of made up songs and a lot of whiskey.” But not. Alphabet Girls, Vol. II by Paul
Slavens is scheduled for release on June
24 via State Fair Records
preceded by the singles “X (On My Heart)”
(May 20) and “Ophelia” (June 10). Paul Slavens is available
for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom
at Fanatic for more information. +++ Paul
Slavens | Links ASSETS : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
: STATE FAIR RECORDS +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
No comments:
Post a Comment