American darkwave/atmospheric act LYCIA returns to Projekt for the 4th release of their second era. Mike VanPortfleet’s LYCIA formed in 1988 and released seven darkly passionate albums on Projekt between 1991-2002. After several lost and unproductive years, a second era began in 2010 with Fifth Sun, followed by Quiet Moments (2013), and A Line That Connects (2015).
In their 30th year, LYCIA still pushes at the boundaries experimenting with sound; In Flickers is an emotionally charged album of deeply personal darkwave/post-rock. The ten tracks are intriguing meditations on forgotten paths, corrupted hopes, and faint memories of beauty. The open-ended melancholy captures a cold and desolate spirit, a sound as somber as the lyrics themselves. From the title track, “Silently they were taken away today / their future happiness and dreams were just thrown away / did they ever see the sun beyond the rain? / the only hope was they felt hopes in flickers / in flickers.”
In Flickers explores dynamic new sonic territory while reflecting back on the emotional atmospheres of LYCIA’s classic 90s sound. The current lineup of Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower, David Galas and John Fair brings together all past LYCIA members for an album fueled by the varied and vibrant current darkwave (and related) scenes and in turn by the 80s bands that influenced these scenes. LYCIA goes full circle back to their original inspirations. In that sense, the release feels both new and retro.
In Flickers thematically follows the lead set by Quiet Moments and A Line That Connects. “Over these last 3 albums,” Mike observes, “I’ve often found myself revisiting the lost and nearly forgotten times of my youth and all the disruptions that corrupted my path… and pining for the comfort and simplicity of earlier times. Maybe it’s because I’m older and have a young son and see things through his eyes. Maybe it’s my growing preoccupation about aging and time flying by and a sense of being left behind. In Flickers is an outburst and release of both. The beginning and the end.”
Released October 2018 on Projekt Records.
Track Listing:
1 In Flickers
2 A Failure
3 The Path
4 She
5 25 Years
6 Mist
7 34 Palms
8 Rewrite
9 Late Night Solitude
10 Autumn Into Winter
English