Love Spirals Downwards’ Ardor (1994) represents the peak of the band’s Projekt-era sound—lush, meditative, and meticulously sculpted around Ryan Lum’s increasingly sophisticated production Following the success of Idylls (1992), Lum and Perry each refined their approach in distinct ways rather than reinventing it. Lum expanded the sonic palette with more layered guitars and richer atmospheric depth, while Perry pushed herself toward more structured English lyrics, trading the glossolalia of their debut for a more vulnerable, if still restrained, lyrical voice. The album also marked the duo’s first collaboration with an outside vocalist, Bay Area poet Jennifer Ryan Fuller, whose contributions added an unexpected dimension.
Released through Projekt Records in the U.S. and licensed to Hyperium Records in Germany, the album sold over 15,000 copies in its original era, far outpacing Idylls. Praised by Singapore Vogue as “compelling, evocative, and very, very beautiful,” Ardor remains a touchstone of 1990s ethereal music.
From Idylls to Ardor: A More Cohesive Vision
Love Spirals Downwards’ debut, Idylls was built in large part from instrumental demos Ryan Lum had written in years prior. In contrast, Ardor was crafted with a clearer sonic vision, resulting in a more cohesive and refined sound. In a 1994 interview with Jon Gonzales for an official Projekt promotional cassette, Lum reflected on this shift: “Our first album, more so than this one, was a collection of songs. It just kinda happens it was all the songs we had made up ’til then, when we released our debut album. A lot of those songs I had never intended to be released, they were just demos that got turned into real songs. On this new album, since we were signed, obviously I knew they were going to be released. As far as a concept, I had more of a sound concept, but it kinda hit me when I was almost done with the album. The way I mixed the songs tied them all together.”
While Idylls blended ethereal, darkwave, and classical Indian influences —sometimes with heavy tribal beats from their Alesis HR-16 drum machine– their sophomore release introduced the more immersive textures and laid back beats of shoegaze. The album’s press release from Projekt noted this evolution,
“On their new album Ardor, Love Spirals Downwards continues their dream-like sound with a blissful and uplifting feel that picks up from the slightly darker, almost Eastern, sound of their debut.”
This shift from a scattered collection of songs to a more deliberate and unified artistic vision paved the way for Ardor‘s exploration of shoegaze-inspired soundscapes and experimental techniques, which became central to the album’s identity..
Studio Alchemy: The Tools Behind Ardor’s Sound
Despite the album’s expanded sonic reach, Ryan Lum created Ardor using a remarkably consistent home-studio setup—much of it carried over from the recording of Idylls. He continued to rely on his Tascam 388 8-track reel-to-reel recorder, the Alesis HR-16 drum machine, the Roland DEP-3, the EBow, and his two primary guitars: a Gibson Les Paul electric and an Ovation 6-string acoustic. Another tool in his kit was a Boss DC-2 Digital Dimension chorus pedal, which he applied directly to guitar during recording to achieve his signature spatial shimmer.
What changed most dramatically was not the gear itself, but the freedom Lum acquired in using it.
For Idylls, he had been forced to rent a DAT machine for final mixdowns—an expensive, nerve-wracking limitation that left him feeling rushed. Determined not to repeat the experience, he purchased a professional Tascam DA-30 DAT deck for Ardor, allowing him to mix down tracks at home, without a clock running or a rental deadline looming. For the final album mix, he borrowed a rack-mounted Roland Dimension D from a former collaborator — the same unit he had borrowed for Idylls — routing various tracks through it via an effects bus to unify the album’s wide, liquid stereo field.
The other major addition to his arsenal was the Lexicon Jam Man looper pedal, a device that became central to the album’s increasingly experimental and shoegaze-inflected passages. Its ability to capture and recycle fragments of sound in real time enabled Lum to build the drifting, recursive atmospheres heard across Ardor—particularly on pieces where looping, texture, and improvisation replaced traditional songwriting structures.
Together, these tools didn’t radically alter Lum’s process so much as empower it, giving him the space and stability to push Love Spirals Downwards’ sound into deeper, more immersive territory. Ardor may feel larger and more intricate than its predecessor, but at its core, it is the product of a modest home studio—and of a musician refining his craft through careful, incremental expansion rather than wholesale reinvention.
Expanding the Sonic Palette: The Shoegaze Influence on Ardor
With Ardor, Ryan Lum’s musical influences broadened even further, weaving elements from the burgeoning shoegaze scene into Love Spirals Downwards’ signature ethereal sound. Lum’s admiration for artists like Slowdive and Seefeel brought a new depth to the band’s sonic landscape. In a 1994 interview with Dusk Memories, Lum reflected on the range of artists shaping his evolving sound: “I’ve been influenced by many artists from different genres, including Harold Budd, Brian Eno, Indian classical music, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Slowdive, the other Projekt groups, The Orb, Primal Scream, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. I recently discovered the Ordo Equitum Solis, and I like them a lot. A long time ago (1986–88), I was very passionate about 4AD artists, especially the Cocteau Twins, but my subsequent evolution led me to more ‘Psychedelic’ bands like the Popul Vuh of the early 70s.”
While critics often compared Love Spirals Downwards to Cocteau Twins, Lum was eager to shift the conversation. In 1995, he told The Ninth Wave: “I know they have to compare us to something, but how about Slowdive?” Suzanne Perry even poked fun at Lum’s growing admiration during in a 1995 Danse Macabre interview, quipping, “You want it to sound like Slowdive.” The connection wasn’t merely theoretical. At their first live performance in 1995, Love Spirals Downwards covered Slowdive’s “Visions of LA” from the band’s then-recent album, Pygmalion.
In that same Danse Macabre interview Lum compared the sonic shift from the first to second album, “There’s a lot of texture coming from electric guitar too. On our first album, it was mostly acoustic.” While listeners associated his droning soundscapes with keyboards, Lum clarified that Ardor was almost entirely guitar-driven: “People have asked me if there was something else. On a couple of the songs, we use minimal keyboards—basically, we hold the same note down through the whole song—but basically, it’s guitars.”
Much of this layered effect was achieved through Lum’s use of effects pedals and looping. In a 1996 interview with Requiem, Lum explained how improvisation often led to song creation: “I’ll have all my effects together and when I’m recording, I just start plugging different ones in to make different sounds. A lot of times I make songs just from messing around with sound. I don’t even intend to write a song, I just mess around with new effects trying to make some sounds, and the sound of all of it will inspire me.”
His arsenal included chorus, delay, reverb, and phasing, but among the many effects Lum experimented with, one stood out in shaping Ardor’s dreamlike textures: the Ebow, a handheld device that mimics the sustained bowing of a violin. Lum explained its appeal in a 2018 band podcast: “You hold it above the strings — instead of a pick or your fingers — you hold it on top of the strings as you play and it sustains a note, basically infinitely. Like a violin bow, hence the name Ebow.”
Interestingly, the Ebow was also a prominently used by Slowdive on their influential Souvlaki album, further highlighting the connection between the two bands’ sonic approaches.
Album Single Dilemma: Write in Water or Will You Fade
While Ardor was a cohesive studio masterwork, choosing a “lead” track to represent the album presented a strategic challenge. In an official Ardor promotional cassette released by Projekt in 1995, writer Jon Gonzales raised the question directly, revealing not only competing ideas about what best represented the album, but also the duo’s differing instincts about their own strengths.
The Case for “Will You Fade”
“Will You Fade” stands out for its swelling dynamics and emotional urgency. Gonzales likened the experience of hearing the track as an “Will You Fade” announces itself with swelling dynamics and emotional urgency. Gonzales compared its impact as an opener to the jolt of Slowdive’s “Alison” from Souvlaki:
“It just, like, ‘BOOM!’ It just slammed me right into it.”
He cited its traditional pop arc — the build, the hook, the layered harmonies — and even its English lyrics as reasons it felt like the obvious single.
Lyrically, the song traces the destabilization of a fading connection:
“I’m finding missing you much deeper / I can feel the ice begin to crack / And then there were signs but chances / Burning through me.”
The vertigo of “I grow dizzy” and “I am out of myself” eventually resolves into a direct reckoning:
“Will you fade now, should I let you? / Left with indifference, I remain.”
Here, the “fade” becomes not just something happening to her, but a choice she must confront.
For Ryan Lum, the song represented a technical and aesthetic summation of the band’s evolving sound. When asked by Pat Ogle in a ProjektFest ’97 guide to recommend one defining track, Lum chose “Will You Fade” because it contained “most of the elements of our sound all in one song” — the vocal harmonies, acoustic guitars, “spacey” electrics, and mellow break-beat drums.
On KSPC’s Generation Death — a 1995 joint interview with tour-mates Trance to the Sun — DJ Wednesday announced “Will You Fade” as the band’s favorite track from the album. Suzanne immediately cut in: “Yeah, it’s one of Ryan’s favorites.” Ryan countered, “Oh, it’s not one of yours?” before adding that he thought it was “the most interesting textural kind of song I made on the album.” Perry shrugged it off: “Well, I don’t know what my favorite is. It’s hard because I have different favorites at different times.”
Indeed, in the interview with Gonzalez the year prior, she had eventually admitted, “I personally like “Will You Fade” better. I’m more proud of my vocal performances there than… Really, “Write In Water” is actually probably one of my least favorite songs on the album.”
The Counterpoint: “Write in Water”
While “Will You Fade” captured Lum’s vision of the band’s evolving sound, “Write in Water” offered a more introspective, atmospheric counterpoint. Gonzales described it as a bridge between the pop sensibilities of Ardor and the ethereal, layered textures of Idylls:
“It felt rooted in the first record — like a progression from the first record, in a pop sense, but not as strongly as ‘Will You Fade.’”
This connection to the past was underscored by Perry’s use of medieval language in the opening line, “My lief es far en londe” (“My love is far away”), serving as a final callback to the aesthetic roots of their debut. The song’s title and refrain draw from John Keats’ epitaph —“Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water” —evoking themes of impermanence:
“Lost, lost in what seems / That’s how it should be / Who, who is to see? / We write in water / Now.”
Despite these clear literary echoes, the duo was often quick to downplay any intentional high-brow aspirations. In an interview on KSPC show Generation Death, Perry and Lum pushed back against the idea that they were a “literary” band: “We don’t use a lot of books or poetry in doing music,” Suzanne stated. Ryan added: “Yeah we’re not the heavy literature types, but we do read a lot.”
Perry later reconciled this contradiction in an interview with The Ninth Wave. She admitted that while the references weren’t planned, the song possessed a “subconscious” depth that even she hadn’t initially recognized: “I never realized all the images it evokes. The song ‘Write in Water’ has so many different subconscious levels, and I spent so little time planning it. I guess I don’t have a lot of confidence in my ability to write. I don’t necessarily think it’s my gift… And I don’t know how much I want to reveal of myself, like the really personal stuff.”
This discomfort with “revealing” herself through traditional lyrics explains the duo’s next artistic shift, abandoning literal meaning entirely to find a different kind of emotional freedom.
Embracing Nonsense: “Subsequently“
While “Will You Fade” and “Write in Water” showcased Perry’s evolved use of English lyrics, another track on Ardor took a different approach. “Subsequently” marked a return to her earlier glossolalia style—but this time, it was framed within a looser composition. In their 1995 cassette interview, Jon Gonzales noted that both Perry and Lum were experimenting in new ways, telling Lum: “Where Suzanne has struck out and made some lyrics with English and has dared to be questioned on that, you, too, have also made some definite strides in like, going in different directions.” Perry agreed, describing Subsequently and Avincenna as having a “kinda real jazzy, kinda blues” feel.
Perry’s playful glossolalia technique, previously heard on Idylls, resurfaces on “Subsequently” in a more deliberate and thematic form, as she explained in in a Carpe Noctem interview: “We get a mood for a song, and if I think it has an Italian or Latin mood to it, I’ll try to almost mimic that language to evoke that sort of mood. The songs in that way — at least on Ardor — are more thematic. Ardor has been a bit different. I thought I’d maybe write some words to it.“
Rather than conveying a concrete narrative, “Subsequently” treats the voice as an instrument. Perry’s layered vocals move fluidly through the track, using phonetic sounds to evoke emotion rather than articulate thought. The result is hypnotic and liberating—a reflection of her belief that music should prioritize beauty and sound over literal meaning. She expanded on this idea in their 1995 Generation Death interview: “We don’t use a lot of books or poetry when doing music. To me, it’s very separate — writing poetry or writing prose, literature and that is completely separate from music. I think that’s why a lot of times we use non-sensical syllables and just whatever sounds good. I guess it’s more about sound for us, it’s about sounding beautiful — or whatever we want it to sound like.”
But Perry’s return to glossolalia wasn’t just about aesthetics—it was also about personal comfort. In a 1995 interview with Muse, she reflected on the emotional weight of writing traditional lyrics: “There is. It’s a lot harder for me to write words that are personal, than to write nonsense lyrics because I’m getting into things that I reveal about myself. I don’t know how comfortable I feel with expressing myself in that way or putting that into music.”
Lum supported Perry’s creative choice, seeing it as part of the band’s artistic philosophy: “I think a lot of people come to singing with the assumption that bearing their soul is something that they need to do in their lyric writing. What we do is break that assumption.”
While Lum had started to feel more certain about the band’s direction, Perry remained ambivalent about committing fully to music. Their academic commitments further reinforced this divide, as the two were often separated during the recording of Ardor, significantly shaping the album’s creation process.
Creating from a Distance: Experimentation and Instrumentals
Though Love Spirals Downwards had already established their signature dreamlike aesthetic, Perry and Lum had increasingly different perspectives on the role of music in their lives. Perry viewed it as one creative outlet among many, while Lum saw it as a deeper pursuit. Their differing levels of artistic investment, combined with their physical separation, shaped how Ardor came together.
Due to their academic commitments, Perry and Lum were often separated during the recording of Ardor. As Perry explained to Danse Macabre interview: “I’m in a Masters program and I’m doing my thesis, and he’s been doing a Ph.D. in a Philosophy program and trying to do an album. Actually, for the most part, he’s been in Santa Barbara and I’ve been in San Francisco.”
At the time of the sessions, Ryan was returning on weekends to his family home in the Los Angeles area to write and record the instrumental foundations of the album — a home studio he had been building since the mid-1980s, when he acquired his first four-track. Eventually he moved the entire setup to San Francisco to capture Suzanne’s vocals and finalize the record.
The strain of that distance — and of balancing two demanding academic programs with a creative project — was palpable. In the same interview, Suzanne was candid about her priorities: “I don’t think I could just sit and do only music, it wouldn’t be enough. Ryan’s been talking about not going to graduate school. We’ve just been spreading ourselves too thin. I’m not ready to just quit and do music now, I wouldn’t quit Psychology.”
She went on to admit: “I don’t know if I just view myself as a part-time artist or something. I don’t really identify with myself like that. I don’t reflect a lot on, ‘Well, what type of music shall I make,’ you know? It’s just what comes out.””
This physical distance significantly impacted the album’s creation and led Lum to explore creative solutions. Perry notably contributed lyrics to only five of the thirteen total tracks. In her absence, Lum manipulated some of her pre-recorded vocals, experimenting with reversing tracks to create eerie, layered effects: “Some of the stuff is played backwards, her voice we played backwards on some stuff, too.”
The best example of this is “Sidhe,” where Lum reversed the vocal track from the duo’s cover of “Could I Stay the Honest One,” recorded for the Of These Reminders compilation set, to haunting effect. Perry later mirrored the reversed playback by attempting to sing it forward, creating a surreal “backwards-forwards” effect. She described the process: “There was this one where we played my voice backwards and then I imitated what was playing backwards, forwards. So it’s like backwards-forwards. It’s really difficult to sing what is backwards. I really like it though, it sounds really cool.”
The result was a mesmerizing track that felt both ancient and otherworldly. The Chicago Maroon praised its mystical quality:
“The dark ‘Sidhe,’ with its chanted female backing vocal incantations takes you on a journey to the realms of Faery.”
Perry confided to Danse Macabre that she had hoped “Sidhe” was one of the potential names for the then-upcoming album: “One of them is Sidhe, which he doesn’t like and the other one is even stupider. If you have any ideas we’ll give you credit. But I like Sidhe, it’s the Gaelic word for wind, which is so pretty. Also, my first dog was named Sid, after Sid Vicious.”
A near-instrumental similarly enchants, despite its lack of narrative. “I Could Find It Only By Chance” features Perry humming the wordless vocal melody “La di, la di, da da da” repeatedly over Lum’s flowing guitar textures. The track evokes a meditative sorrow. As The Daily University Star described it:
“Lum’s guitars overlap and flow like water. Perry, who is at her most melancholy in this song, repeats the same mournful phrase over and over again. Luckily, the music does not rely on words to make the song, and the feeling, rather than the meaning, of the words comes through loud and clear.”
The album’s only pure instrumental piece, “Mirrors A Still Sky,” provided Lum with a chance to let his Ebow skills shine unobstructed in a mid-album moment that drew comparisons to the duo’s earlier work by Ninth Wave:
“Ardor is quite different from their previous work, while maintaining all the elements you already love. Until track five, when the opening chords of the instrumental lullaby ‘Mirrors A Still Sky’ bring you back to Idylls.”
But while these songs pushed Ardor’s sonic boundaries, two of its most unforgettable tracks emerged from a new collaboration—one that hinted at the band’s future evolution.
A Glimpse into the Future: “Sunset Bell” and the Path to Ever
While Ardor maintained its shoegaze and dream pop roots, one track hinted at the band’s future sonic direction. “Sunset Bell” was born from an impromptu session with guest vocalist Jennifer Wilde (née Ryan Fuller), during the recording of “Depression Glass.” As Wilde later recalled, she was just improvising, unaware that Lum had already hit record:
“I was just fooling around with the microphone and the looper, and all of a sudden I noticed Ryan was recording. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked. ‘Just keep going,’ he whispered.”
The result was “Sunset Bell,” a nearly 6 minute soundscape built from layered vocal loops and droning guitar textures. Lum described its unconventional nature to Jon Gonzalez:
“It’s technically not an instrumental, but I think of it as one because the vocals are just these big loops that sound like instruments.”
This fascination with loops marked Lum’s next creative shift. Inspired by the experimental soundscapes of Seefeel, he praised the band’s influence: “I’ve been very into Seefeel. I think what they’ve done with loops will be influencing people for many years to come. Some songs on Ardor were probably influenced by them.”
While Perry approached music on a project-by-project basis, Lum had begun to see a clearer trajectory for the band’s sound. His increasing fascination with loops and textures set the stage for what came next—a spontaneous moment in the studio that hinted at Love Spirals Downwards’ future direction.
A Different Voice: Jennifer Ryan Fuller’s Collaboration
While Ardor was largely shaped by Lum and Perry’s creative dynamic, two tracks introduced a new voice into the mix. Bay Area poet and vocalist Jennifer Wilde (née Ryan Fuller) joined the duo in the studio, bringing her own lyrical sensibilities and improvisational vocal style to the album.
In a 2008 appearance on Auralgasms Radio, Lum recalled meeting Fuller through mutual friends during the album’s completion in San Francisco: “I lived in San Francisco when I was finishing the recording of ‘Ardor.’ She was just a friend of a friend and, you know? That’s how I usually meet musicians instead of, like, ads in papers. I was just like, ‘Hey, you do something, let’s let’s check it out.’ So we got her… um yeah, just recorded with her.”
Wilde’s contributions—Sunset Bell and Depression Glass—offered a fresh perspective, blending seamlessly into Ardor’s ethereal yet deeply emotional atmosphere.
Unlike Sunset Bell, which was built from looped, wordless improvisation, Depression Glass took a more structured approach. Wilde adapted her poem Dream of Love into lyrics, bringing an evocative and melancholic lyricism to the song’s sweeping arrangement. She later reflected on the experience on her blog:
“I recorded this song with Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry of the band Love Spirals Downwards in 1993 for their album Ardor. Suzanne and I created the vocals, and I adapted a poem I wrote for the lyrics.”
The song’s emotional weight resonated strongly with listeners. Dark Angel fanzine praised its bittersweet beauty:
“Quite possibly a reflection of my current nebulous melancholia, Depression Glass stands out again and again through each repeat play. The appropriate downward spiraling of its minor progression carries the listener along. But rather than burdening the ear with melodic despair, Depression Glass, like much of Ardor, aids in meliorating gloom into a non-combative internal calm.”
Even years after its release, the song remained a standout in the band’s catalog. Magnet Magazine, reviewing the 2000 retrospective Temporal: A Collection of Music Past & Present, called it: “A moodist masterwork.”
Through Wilde’s poetic lyricism and her and Perry’s intertwined vocal harmonies, Depression Glass became one of Ardor’s most emotionally poignant moments—a testament to the album’s ability to merge beauty with sorrow, and sound with feeling.
Mysticism and Meaning: “Avicenna”
Following the poetic introspection of Depression Glass, Avicenna introduced a different kind of lyricism—one steeped in biblical language and spiritual longing. The song’s title likely references Avicenna (Ibn Sina), the Persian philosopher and polymath known for his writings on metaphysics, theology, and the soul. Given that Lum was pursuing a philosophy degree at the time, the title may reflect his academic interests, though its connection to the lyrics remains open to interpretation.
Perry’s words in Avicenna borrow heavily from the devotional themes of Psalm 119, with lines that read like a plea for divine guidance and comfort:
“Teach me all of Thy ways Lord / Statutes and I shall heed / Heal me and I shall heed Thy laws / Show me”
“My flesh trembles / For fear of Thee / I am Thy servant / Comfort me”
Despite the overtly religious language, Perry often downplayed the significance of her lyrics. She described her process to Jon Gonzales as reactive rather than premeditated: “I didn’t have any of these lyrics written prior to hearing the music, and each… all lyrics were written for each song, like, for that particular song. It wasn’t like I had a book, and I took the lyrics out of a book I’d been writing lyrics in.”
However, in a 1998 KUCI interview, she acknowledged having attended a religious school, hinting that these themes may have emerged subconsciously. This intuitive approach stood in contrast to Lum’s more structured, philosophical perspective—highlighting the creative push-and-pull that shaped Ardor.
The song’s haunting, meditative quality resonated with listeners and critics alike. Chart described it as:
“Especially lovely… The duo of Suzanne Perry and Ryan Lum create meditative song scapes that draw the listener into a faintly medieval, quasi-Celtic world of echoes and promises, passions and rain.”
Meanwhile, Slut Cone took a more pastoral view:
“Music for summer corn fields… Avicenna brings out the pre-Raphaelite in you.”
Whether heard as a spiritual invocation, a medieval soundscape, or simply an atmospheric dream, “Avicenna” encapsulates Ardor’s ability to evoke beauty beyond literal meaning—where lyrics, music, and mood intertwine into something greater than the sum of their parts.
Critical Reception and Support
Upon its release, Ardor was celebrated by critics for its lush soundscapes and emotional resonance. B-Side Magazine wrote:
“Romance! Despair! Trauma! Suzanne Perry and Ryan Lum once again create a world without boundaries, taking in subtle sounds and sharp senses, morphing them into music and presenting them back for our listening pleasure. Seductive and sad, full of longing and lust… Like visiting ancient ruins on a sunny day, Ardor captures your imagination. My suggestion: surrender to them.”
Other reviewers echoed this sentiment:
- Carpe Noctem: It is not often that a band reaches cult status with only one album behind them. California’s ethereal duo of vocalist Suzanne Perry and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum achieved that feat in their debut “Idylls,” and have proven that it was no fluke with their sophomore effort “Ardor,” which beautifully details the very meaning of the word itself.
- Pandemonium: “Their debut, Idylls, enchanted critics and audiences alike with haunting ethereal vocals and darkly swirling guitars, and Ardor is equally impressive. Ryan Lum weaves the textures and atmospheres above which Suzanne Perry’s vocals serenely float, wordlessly evoking a dreamy otherworld of bliss. This time, the aura’s slightly brighter, as if a single ray of sun has pierced Spiral’s darkness. There’s a bittersweet feel to Ardor, as the soothing vocals play against the melancholy music.”
- Dark Angel: “The second wave of aural resplendence from the lean duo of vocalist Suzanne Perry and guitar necromancer Ryan Lum far surpasses “Idylls” in its intensity of focus, and leans less toward their initially more Eastern echoes. Perry and Lum have obviously honed their skills for interpreting yet-undreamed of musical dreams. A signature Projekt artist, Love Spirals Downward abounds in quality pastoral bliss.”
- Music from the Empty Quarter: “Suzanne Perry’s heavenly vocals mix with a lushly produced backdrop of melody and ambience for fifty gorgeous minutes of sound. This is simply introspective, intelligent ‘pop’ (and I use the word reservedly) having more than a hint of sadness buried within it. Exquisite.”
- Bizarre: “Sumptuous acoustics with fragile female harmonic voices taking us to heaven, To truly appreclate this album just close your eyes and get enveloped in all its beauty.”
- The Orange County Register: “Soaringly romantic and hauntingly brooding, Ardor practically celebrates an elegant brand of Euro-cool.”
Ardor’s Global Reach: Compilation Appearances
Ultimately, the dilemma of which track best represented the band was resolved by the marketplace rather than the studio. While “Write in Water” remained a bridge to the band’s acoustic past and a favorite for early atmospheric samplers, the more accessible “Will You Fade” became the primary promotional vehicle. It served as the band’s “crossover” moment, appearing on high-profile industry samplers like Caroline Records’ I Hear Ya!, which placed the duo alongside major alternative acts of the mid-90s.
As Ardor circulated, its tracks became staples of influential compilations, acting as the primary vehicle for the band’s music to reach international ears. From German darkwave magazines to American retail samplers, these releases solidified their status within the ethereal and dream pop genres.
| Year | Song | Compilation | Label |
| 1993 | “Kykeon” (Remix) | 50 Years of Sunshine | Silent |
| 1993 | “Kykeon” (Remix) | The Altered Mind #13 (Flexidisc) | The Altered Mind |
| 1993 | “Write in Water” | Beneath the Icy Floe | Projekt |
| 1994 | “Kykeon” (Demo) | Heavenly Voices Part 2 | Hyperium |
| 1995 | “Avicenna” | Zauber of Music Vol. II | Empty Quarter |
| 1995 | “Avicenna” | Beneath The Icy Floe (Sampler) | Hyperium |
| 1995 | “Avicenna” | Romantic Sound Sampler Vol. 2 | Zillo/EFA |
| 1995 | “Write in Water” | Heavenly Voices III | Hyperium |
| 1995 | “Will You Fade” | I Hear Ya! Spring 1995 | Caroline |
| 1996 | “Will You Fade” | Wave Romantics | Facedown/Edel |
| 1998 | “Will You Fade” | Romantic Sounds Dark | Zillo |
Even decades later, Ardor continued to earn recognition, with tracks included on retrospective collections such as Projekt 100: The Early Years, 1985 to 1995 (2000) and Projekt200 (2007), reaffirming the album’s significance within the Projekt Records catalog.
The Ardor Remastered Reissue (2007)
In 2007, Projekt Records celebrated the album’s enduring influence by releasing an expanded edition of Ardor, completely remastered by Ryan Lum to enhance its sonic clarity and further highlight its lasting legacy. This reissue was a co-release between Projekt Records (handling physical distribution) and Chillcuts—the label founded by Ryan Lum and his new partner, Anji Bee, after leaving Projekt—which handled the digital distribution of the remastered albums.
The primary catalyst for the 2007 reissue was the original album’s problematic sound quality, which had long been a source of frustration for Lum. He explained the technical issue during Chillin’ with Lovespirals episode 23 (October 3rd, 2006):
“A little known fact about Ardor — when I mastered it, I mastered it with way too much bass. I just thought it sounded hip in the mastering studio. It was all kind of booming and it was exciting…. So then I got the tape the DAT tape back, took it home and played it and go said, ‘Holy crap, it’s like… it sucks. It’s all muddy. You can’t hear the high end.'”
For the 2007 release, Lum was able to use the original DAT tapes to create the sound he originally intended:
“The reissue of Ardor will have a new remastering… And it sounds the way I wanted to wanted it to sound, all nice and crisp. You can hear more guitars than ever before.”
Bee confirmed the dramatic improvement, stating, “The guitars sound great. It was like discovering the music all over again.“
As recounted in Chillin’ with Lovespirals episode 40 (September 7, 2007), the re-release was almost derailed by a missing piece of its history—the original cover photo. However, the original 8×10 photograph for the cover was found in a scrapbook just days before the artwork needed to be finalized. Lum and Bee were able to locate the photographer, Laura Crosta, after 15 years, securing the rights to the image, as she explained:
“After months of not being able to get stuff together, in the last week everything fell into place like, ‘Boom. Boom. Boom.’ Like fricken Tetris.”
In addition to the sonic and visual upgrades, the expanded edition included three bonus tracks:
- “Oisin and Niam”: An unreleased instrumental outtake from the original Ardor sessions. MusicTap noted it was “a brilliant instrumental song that makes me somewhat sad that it was not included on the original album… I’m quite happy to see its resurrection here, where it belongs.“
- “I Could Find It (Instrumental Mix)”: An instrumental mix of the album track, “I Could Find It Only by Chance.”
- “Write in Water” (Live): An “endearing live acoustic rendition” of the track.
Reviewers lauded the reissues, with Matthew Johnson of Re:Gen providing perhaps the most glowing assessment, headlining his review: “The legendary ethereal act’s best album, available again with bonus tracks.” He elaborated:
“Even if the rest of the album was substandard, Ardor would still be a near masterpiece thanks only to the presence of ‘Write in Water.’ Often copied but never quite surpassed, the song’s languid guitar strums, celestial effects washes, and gorgeously bittersweet vocals epitomize the very best of the ’90s ethereal scene… Delirious and beautiful, but never cloying or twee, Ardor is perhaps Love Spirals Downwards’ magnum opus.”
Justin Elswick of Sleep Thief, who would later collaborate with Suzanne Perry, spoke to the album’s profound and lasting power:
“I first heard LSD when I was a sophomore in college. Ardor instantly blew me away with its incredibly lush production and combination of washed guitars and gorgeous female vocals. I don’t think that a week has gone by in my life where I have NOT listened to this album, and it has been years. There is something ancient and haunted in this music.”
Other critics concurred, with Mike Schiller of Pop Matters noting:
“It’s Ardor that should really get the attention when examining this pair of albums. … Ardor is proof enough that they had plenty to offer, with moments on par with the best the genre has to offer.”
A Turning Point in Sound: The Legacy of Ardor
With Ardor, Love Spirals Downwards did not just solidify their reputation; they established themselves as innovators in ethereal music. The album expertly balanced the band’s signature blend of literary and philosophical introspection with lush, risk-taking production and heartfelt performances. This dynamic tension—between personal feeling and sonic experimentation—is what ensured its enduring legacy in the realms of dream pop and ambient music.
As All Music Guide noted:
“On Ardor, Love Spirals Downwards begin a shift toward more ambient tunes, a natural evolution for a duo unafraid to explore new directions. The gritty dream pop guitar is still in the mix, although one can sense the subtle shift to the less studio-based sound that would come with Ever.”
This subtle shift toward deeper ambient textures, coupled with Ryan Lum’s exploration of looping and vocal layering—first hinted at in tracks like “Sunset Bell”—irrevocably paved the way for their next album, Ever. Ardor stands not only as Love Spirals Downwards’ most cohesive early statement but as a bridge: between ethereal wave and shoegaze, improvisation and intentional composition, emotional reticence and lyrical vulnerability. Three decades later, its shimmering minimalism and layered textures remain timeless.
While Ardor was a studio masterwork, its unexpected commercial success—fueled by Sam Rosenthal’s vision at Projekt and a burgeoning partnership with Hyperium Records in Germany—created a demand the band could no longer ignore. Despite their initial rejection of the ‘rock and roll myth’ of live performance, the duo found themselves standing on the precipice of the stage, pushed forward by a promotional engine they were only beginning to understand.