Since opening the mailer I noticed that this release has to be something special! The digipack packaging of the CD is quite unique: while cover and backcover show some black-and-white photography combined with varicoloured elements the inside in contrast shows a melancholic black-and-white photograph of Troy. The digipack artwork has the same format like a standard cd case but nevertheless the packaging is very unconventional, too.
Troy Bruno von Balthazar is the singer of the indie rock band Chokebore from California. While Chokebore are remaining in hiatus for three year now Troy releases his first solo album. This is definitely no typical singer/songwriter stuff we used to get from solo releases of members of other bands. This is much different from the typical guy singing and playing guitar.
The unconventional artwork describes the music in an accurate way. The pretty calm and melancholic songs meet distortion elements - so they seem to be very fragile at the same time. Being obscure and beautiful at the same moment it reminds me of the great 2nd CocoRosie album „Noahs ark“ with the difference that CocoRosie is less guitar-orientated. 15 tracks recorded at Los Angeles, France and Germany.
Both thumbs up for Troy and also for the fantastic label Sinnbus from Berlin!
[benni]
www.troyvonbalthazar.net/
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