AMBER ASYLUM release the ethereal track 'A Call on the Wind' as the final advance single taken from their forthcoming new album "Ruby Red".
The release date of the tenth regular full-length of San Francisco's neoclassical dark ambient quartet has been re-scheduled to March 7, 2025.
AMBER ASYLUM comment: "With 'A Call on the Wind' we invite listeners to turn away from the constant noise of the external world and embark on an inward journey of reflection", frontwoman Kris Force declares. "Through evocative lyrics and expansive melodies, the track delves into the profound connection between inner transformation and outward change. It reminds us that true transformation begins by attuning to the wisdom within and embracing the sacred threads that bind us to one another and the world around us."
Tracklist
1. Secrets
2. Ruby Red
3. Demagogue
4. The Morrigan
5. Azure
6. Weaver
7. A Call on the Wind
In times of trouble, women have often had to bear an even heavier burden throughout history. On their tenth full-length "Ruby Red", San Francisco based all-female quartet AMBER ASYLUM offers a haunting reflection on turbulent eras, and blends instrumental passages with evocative lyrics. "Ruby Red" combines dirges, introspective laments, and powerful songwriting that evoke both despair and hope. The album transitions between themes of pain, loss, empowerment, and mortality, while creating a sonic landscape that is both raw and introspective. "Ruby Red" features bass, classical strings, percussion and kit, modular synthesis and female voices.
"Ruby Red" differs from its predecessor in the expansion of focus and depth. While earlier albums centered more on personal emotions, relationships, and journeys, "Ruby Red" broadens its scope to address global issues such as societal upheaval, war, and human rights. This album navigates both the personal and the global, and aims to illuminate the seen and unseen forces that influence our shared reality.
Musically, AMBER ASYLUM balance driving neoclassical elements with the raw power of pounding bass and drums, adding a potent, rhythmic force that contrasts beautifully with the quieter, brooding strings on "Ruby Red". The bass and percussion create a compelling pulse that underpins the tracks, adding both intensity and depth to the album's darker moments.
AMBER ASYLUM have taken inspiration for the lyrical concepts of "Ruby Red" from significant global issues such as the pandemic, riots, war, political turmoil, the threat to women's rights, and empowerment, all while maintaining a deep connection to the extramundane. It reflects on mortality and the inevitability of death as part of a greater cosmic order, intertwining these global crises with metaphysical reflections on the resilience of the human spirit.
AMBER ASYLUM were conceived by composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Kris Force in the Californian city of San Francisco in 1990. Throughout their ever-changing musical evolution, the band has shifted throughout a variety of styles and collaborated with a host of musicians such as Steve van Till (NEUROSIS), Sarah Schaffer (WEAKLING), John Cobbet (HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE), Leila Abdul-Rauf (VASTUM), among many others.
With "Ruby Red", AMBER ASYLUM perfectly capture the growing dread and horror of many of a new dark age falling in our time. Yet the Californians balance the eerie and unhinged with a fragile beauty and blossoming of hope. "Ruby Red" is a most fascinating soundtrack of all that is to come. Listen carefully.
Band: Amber Asylum
Album title: Ruby Red
New release date: March 7, 2025
Style: Neoclassical dark ambient
Label: Prophecy Productions
Review Impact Date: January 20, 2025
Line-up
Kris Force – viola, violin, synth, vocals
Jackie Perez–Gratz – cello, vocals
Fern Lee Alberts – bass
Becky Hawk – percussion, vocals
Links
Recording by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studio, Oakland, CA (US)
Recording by Kris Force at Knobsnob Studio, Oakland, CA (US)
Drum mix by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studio, Oakland CA (US)
Album mix & mastering by Kris Force at Knobsnob Studio, Oakland, CA (US)
Cover artwork by Kris Force
Layout by Smog Design, LA
Available formats
"Ruby Red" is available as a 36-page hardcover CD artbook, as a black vinyl LP, and as a ltd. transparent red vinyl LP.
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