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Shadows of Ecstasy

by The Beat Escape

supported by
James Browning
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ItCouldAllBeADream
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sarahmackenzie
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Daniel Medina
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ashes2ashescjlo
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gregggy
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  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of Shadows of Ecstasy. You get 8 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases December 25, 2022

      $8 CAD  or more

     

  • Extremely Limited Edition Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes digital pre-order of Shadows of Ecstasy. You get 8 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

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1.
Paralda 03:37
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2.
Shadows of Ecstasy 04:11
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3.
Illusions of Success 04:26
lyrics
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Leaning in to mornings with the Angels of our Breaths Waiting to be taken, hanging by a thread The bones left on the table turned to sweetness while you slept And the steps keep running through you with illusions of success They'll visit you sometimes, and leave before you say goodbye
4.
Hidden Nature 04:28
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5.
Aqua Permanens 05:24
lyrics
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open up all those blinds don't take too long nights dissolve my thoughts questions drawn travel far into worlds
6.
Ash Extracted From Ash 04:34
lyrics
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I looked back inside The window was cold where I judged from my room if the mixture of water and wine was of use The water and stone are the same after all If you do me no harm I will lend you my love
7.
Running and Returning 04:46
lyrics
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Counting down the days till you begin Counting for the coil to rise again Running & Returning, from nothingness to thought like weighing all you are with all you're not Covering her coldness with his warmth To work in Operation of the Sun Awake between the numbers Asleep between the lines The one who brings your death restores your life The Running of the Heart Reflecting every wave, that comes to you in vain Free from poison hidden in the wind When the limit & the measure have no end you're caught between the symbol & the lens The Running of the Heart
8.
To Play The Mask 03:37
lyrics
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Just the right ones who will come When we weigh out all our worth From the many to the one From the impulse to the word This old place we've been before Seems like nothing's really changed Only marks left on the floor Only traces that remain

about

With their second LP, Montreal’s The Beat Escape have written themselves out of their own demise. They may or may not still exist, but continue to produce some of contemporary music’s most sophisticated contemporary music, with a third LP slated for release sometime next year.

The story of Shadows of Ecstasy ended before it began, with cursed tech leading to thousands of hours of excruciating attention to detail appearing to vanish in an instant. Only the tentative track names remained. Most bands would have been flattened by the prospect of losing a completed album. And we cannot ignore the pressures already mounted upon The Beat Escape, who navigate rigorous private lives that have helped define the ever-sharpening contours of post-masculine elegance in the 2020s, with vocalist/keyboardist Adam Ohr and vocalist/keyboardist Patrick Lee expanding the known bounds of joyless snobbery, joyful snobbery, and sleek urban tumbling.

But The Beat Escape saw an opportunity for rebirth, rebuilding the album from the ground up with a radically simplified analog setup, spitting in the face of each and every one of the endless options offered by modern technology. In the final accounting, the immediacy of the recordings better served the mystical themes of Ohr’s lyrics, some of which were inspired by reading about Kabbalah on Madonna's wikipedia page, and then by candlelight in private libraries throughout the city. Others he claims are based on specific life experience, but only noticed this after re-listening to those songs several hundred times later.

Album highlights include “Illusions of Success,” which succeeds in wedding truly despondent imagery to a luminous synth-pop odyssey. Meanwhile, “Ash Extracted from Ash” can be described as either a meditation or an interrogation, if that sort of thing somehow appeals to you. Finally, “Running and Returning” faithfully evokes the sound of getting married in heaven immediately after dying in a marathon. To mix these rich and varied soundscapes, they were able to secure the services of Francis Latrelle (Priori), their first and only choice.

Within this nightmare chronology lies a sense of ancient depth that may reveal itself instantaneously or over time following its purchase via Bandcamp. And that may prove to be more than any of us really deserve.

credits

releases December 25, 2022

Recorded at The Emerald Hotel and The Lost Star
Written & Produced by The Beat Escape
Lyrics by Adam Ohr
Saxophone by Emmanuel Thibau
Mixed by Francis Latreille
Mastered by Nik Kozub
Photography by Christopher Honeywell
Design by Hugo Bernier
Cover Painting: Wash, Wash, Wash, 2020 by Jessica Wee

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The Beat Escape Montreal, Québec

The Beat Escape are an electronic new wave studio project from Montreal.

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