For my 666th article for Everything Is Noise, we have a blissfully touching premiere. The dichotomy is real, but I’m happy because it comes from one of my favorite new bands, Denver’s Fainting Dreams. They’ve graced our site before in a couple big ways, and Elle Reynolds – who is the project’s lead writer, guitarist, and vocalist – was also a part of the now unfortunately defunct Endless, Nameless which we also loved. It’s no surprise I have deep love for Denver bands since I live here too, but regardless of that, Fainting Dreams make for an emotional, engaging listen no matter the origin.
At the end of this month on October 31, we’ll see the release of You Can Be Anything through Softseed Music and Zegema Beach Records, an album steeped in traumas and how they metastasize over time and through negative influence. It’s six songs, 34 minutes of wrenching stuff inspired by indie greats like Lingua Ignota and Ethel Cain – pretty different music that Fainting Dreams are used to putting to tape. Today, it’s a big personal honor of mine to help premiere the first, and longest, song from the album, “House of the Sacred Sisterhood”.
In addition to the clear influences above, the music itself is touched by Midwife with whom Reynolds recorded this album down in Trinidad, CO in a church space. It’s all very apparent within the first minute of “House of the Sacred Sisterhood” that this is immense, peeled back pensively and exposed for a personal confessional. What shows itself as ‘simply’ a variety of voices, piano, and effects to go with them is actually a technical heavyweight with over 60 tracks making up its composition. I’m not a music creator, but damn that sounds like a lot for a song like this.
My absolute favorite part is when the vocals overlap in a choral fashion around the three-minute mark. It feels impassioned, but still very much on the rails; reflective and purposed, maybe even hopeful and celebratory. Reynolds’ intent is a highly admirable one:
‘I tried to take the ‘Heaven Metal’ descriptor that people use for Midwife’s music as literally as possible when blending all the sounds on this song, trying to get something that feels equally ethereal and menacing. I was also listening to a lot of Lingua Ignota, Nicole Dollanganger, and Ethel Cain throughout this time as inspiration and I like to think those influences shine through fairly heavily while still combining to make something unique… [I]n this song I really wanted to highlight the hypocrisy of the people committing such heinous acts of violence against innocent trans people and then saying they’re doing this to protect their communities and children instead of admitting their bigotry and fear based behavior to themselves.’
To me, this song is two halves, the first being one of almost elation marked by clean, angelic vocals and a comforting piano melody that creates a backdrop perfect for them. I could see this section soundtracking a professional ballet performance or something with dancers elegantly moving across a stage on light feet with pointed toes. The second half around five minutes in is more destitute and longing, you can hear harsher shrieks buried in the back, and it’s much more unsettling like you’re watching a battle unfold. More voices join over time until it creates not a cacophony, but a harmony between many different parts, brought together by a common purpose by singing the same vocals before they all trail off unceremoniously. It feels like a death of some sort, and maybe it is, of innocence or goodness somehow. It’s absolutely beautiful and made me tear up as focused on each voice individually and the internal discord they all collectively represent.
‘You Can Be Anything documents my past experiences as a trans person with self hatred and substance abuse as it works its way backwards to the religious violence and trauma I experienced growing up in North Carolina,’ Reynolds says. ‘It’s bookended by the two most extreme incidents of violence on the album, one being self-inflicted and the other being at the hands of others when I was a child.’
Goes without saying that You Can Be Anything promises to be a wholly (and perhaps holy) vulnerable record, and I already know I’m going to fucking cry when I hear it so I might as well prepare. You can cry with me when it drops on October 31, once again through the combined love and efforts of Softseed Music and Zegema Beach Records. Follow Fainting Dreams on Facebook and Instagram, peep their last phenomenal album on Bandcamp as well!
