KnightressM1 (aka Emily Palen) is no stranger to us here at Amplify – not for her solo output (we covered her latest album ‘Dreams and Devastation’) or her recent collaboration with Bay Area funk-metallists No Captains, today we present you yet another project she is involved in. In fact, it’s a duo, so she is officially a 50% shareholder here. Also based out of Oakland, OTHERED is a collaborative recording project initiated by Henry Austin Lannan
Serving up a blend of doom, indie rock and metal, their melodic debut single‘Journey To The Edge’ is a serious sounding of the bells, so to speak – a wake-up call that sonically challenges the powers that be. If you were to view this song as a war, the instrumental chorus is a memorable place for regrouping before the humanitarian plea that follows, juxtaposed with thoughts of frustration about the space / industrial-war complex.
This banger is the first taste of their upcoming eponymous album on, which will be getting the royal treatment on limited edition vinyl and will also be available for digital download. This debut offering is high-octane sonic goodness – pure energy and all power with vividly clear rock and metal sensibility. We look forward to listening to the full album upon release. Musically and lyrically cohesive, this music is empowering, an unwritten objective thread that seems to run through all of KnightressM1’s output. Quite a welcome inheritance carried over in that sense.
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‘Othered Vol. 1’ was born out of sheer necessity to create amidst a complete disruption to normality as a result of the 2020 pandemic and lockdowns. Lyrically, the album is a call for independent thought, soul maintenance and critical discernment in a time when a war on human consciousness is being waged.
“This song is the conclusion to the thesis that humans are powerful and beautiful beyond measure. We each hold transmutational power and when we step back into our personal truth and unique expression, we access that power. There is a lot of conscious information coming through lit up humans on the planet right now and this song is my way of funneling the conscious information that comes through me,” says Emily Palen.
“All of us contain irreplaceable love and we forget that in the midst of this cruel culture that is being developed around us. When we remember our humanity, the pulse in our hearts, the dreams in our soul, the beauty of the images we see at twilight, we will know that was is ours, can never truly be taken. The lies will fall away, the distortions will be clear as day and we will see what must be done.”
Henry Austin Lannan and Emily Palen met by chance through Specimen Box, Lannan’s collaborative music project with Larry Boothroyd (Jello Biafra and GSM, Victim’s Family, Triclops!). Upon hearing one of Austin’s demos, Larry introduced him to Emily, who created a vocal composition that led to this fruitful collaboration, based on songs written in the midst of the 2020 lockdown.
After recording numerous demos at Austin’s home studio, they eventually recorded this long-player at El Studio in San Francisco with Phil Becker (drummer of Triclops!, Terry Gross, Pins of Light and Lower Forty-Eight) serving as producer and engineer.
“2020 was a fucked up year. A profound sense of isolation permeated daily life along with rampant fear and a consistent general feeling of unease. The sounds, words and tone of this record are both inspired by those negative emotions and an attempt to counter the despair and hopelessness many of us felt throughout the year,” says Henry Austin Landan.
On April 15, ‘Othered Vol. 1’ will be released digitally across online platforms and also available as a limited edition of gold-colored vinyl. Only 150 copies are being pressed with heavyweight gloss stock jacket and black cardstock insert, printed in silver and gold ink. The album can be ordered directly from the artist via Bandcamp at https://otheredoak.bandcamp.com/album/vol-1. Pre-save the single at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/othered/vol-1
That same evening, Othered will host their official record release show at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, at which Nudity and Very Paranoia will also be performing.Tickets can be obtained at https://bit.ly/3tsouah
CREDITS
Emily Palen – Vocals
Henry Austin Lannan – Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Bass, Mandocello
Doug Pearson – Synthesizers, Electric Piano
Eric Strand – Drums & Percussion (2,4,6,7,8,9)
Ralph Spight – Lead Guitar (5)
Clayton Vorheis – Bass (5)
Larry Boothroyd – Drums (3)
Phil Becker – Drums & Percussion (5,9)
Compositions by Henry Austin Lannan
Lyrics by Emily Palen
Recorded, mixed & produced by Phil Becker at El Studio (San Francisco)
Mastered by Justin Weis, Trakworx (South San Francisco)
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