Projekt sent over a press clipping of a La Jornada newspaper review of our recent concert in Mexico City. Not sure how great this translation is, but here goes:
Recital with throat and guitar of the angelic duo
“That of Love Spirals Downwards, naked music in the Chopo”
by Pablo Espinosa
With the tenderness of a lullaby, the tenderness of a hologram, the smoothness of a wallflower, the voice of Suzanne Perry lived in the Poplar Museum on Thursday night in a beautiful appeasement, a soliloquy in a waning room, a sedative applied to the shoulder, the neck and the soles of the feet of the soul.
The rain could be heard in Suzanne Perry’s voice. The rains painted by Vicente Rojo, the rains that Saint John Perse sings, the waters of March announced like this.
The band appeared in many newspapers around Mexico City during their recent live appearance. One of the articles promoting the concert was in the daily tabloid-style newspaper, Unomásuno. Following is an English translation plus the original article.
Today at the Chopo Museum: Love Spirals Downwards and La Divina Comedia are Presented
by Javier Delgado
Regarding Love Spirals Downwards:
On their musical approach, Perry and Lum said: “We prefer to do things this way, naturally, because we believe that music is recreated in a much more intimate way…”
Perry and Lum do not consider themselves the typical musicians who are preoccupied with money or fans; there are more important things, like spirituality and the alternative of communicating through music with their peers. This is why the lyrics of their songs seek to transmit emotions, more than a message; “It is above all about something spiritual, mysterious.”
The music of Love Spirals Downwards aims to recover ancient traditions and early experimentation. Folk, psychedelia, and ethereal gothic are the main stylistic tendencies that fuse in their albums and in the songs that are compiled from them.
Regarding the initials LSD, they assured that it is not about promoting any drug, it is a simple coincidence: “We don’t take acid or anything like it, that has nothing to do with us.”
Love Spirals Downwards (LSD), today at the Chopo University Museum (Enrique González Martínez 10, Santa María la Ribera), at 7 PM.
Regarding La Divina Comedia and the Concert:
For the duo, the creative possibilities in the Dark Ethereal style are very great, and that’s why in every new disc they try to broaden their vocabulary and frequently work with a dulcimer, a percussive melodic instrument that adds a new nuance to their music.
For Suzanne Perry, the strongest influences haven’t been those from the musical world that has surrounded her life, but rather the inspiration comes directly from her current working environment.
For their part, Cristina and Vicente, from the group La Divina Comedia, commented that they have been creating this type of music for three years, a time in which they have found spaces oriented toward aggressive punk, which they alternate with LSD to have the possibility of showing their work within a similar musical environment to the one they have developed.
(Javier Delgado)
Love Spirals Downwards article from Unomasuno, February 28, 1995
“Into a Well of the Looking Glass” by Aaron Johnston
I was always involved with the ethereal music scene, but never to the degree where it became a driving passion. The nature and tone of the music was, in essence, a very articulate reflection of who I was in self, but there were simply no bands I knew of pushing the sound beyond its gates to a point of unavoidable adoration on my part. It wasn’t simply a matter of finding the perfect band, but of finding the perfect window. Through time and dedication, any group could eventually release an album with the most delicately perfect instrumentation and ideally placed melodic trim, but what is it if there is no decisive emotional push behind it? This question was at the forefront of my mind for many years, and was finally answered one evening as I sat down to listen to a prodigal young instrumentalist named Ryan Lum conspire with an astonishingly angelic vocalist named Suzanne Perry under the name Love Spirals Downwards.
Within a matter of moments, the two managed to capture a well of feelings and affections wrought with a long-held yearning for excommunication and deliverance; a subtle and pure exorcism of the soul. I always thought this kind of experience was a bit too “new age” to be truly revealed to anyone living in the real world, but I was disproved time and time again with each successive listen. I was, in all honesty, baffled by the two arms which were weaving me through the first stages of my spiritual and emotional re-education. Ryan and Suzanne had me wrapped around their fingers, plain and simple. Rather than a feeling of manipulation, however, I was a willing participant. Although it was the effort of two, the group worked almost in a doubled unison. I was traded between Ryan’s deep guitar and keyboard exchanges and Suzanne’s beautiful vocal raptures time and again with abandon. In essence, it felt as if I were being led along by a single hand with two separate bodies, two distinct minds thinking and reacting as one.
Some music exists in a dreamlike world of softened colors and indistinct images, where words are scarcely remembered and beauty is the only thing of value. Perhaps this music speaks to us in a wordless language of the peace before birth and the worlds beyond waking reality. The only certainty is that it spirals gracefully downwards through layers of mystery like the depths of an enchanted ocean. This is the music of Love Spirals Downwards: the music of dreams and worlds beyond. Love Spirals Downwards is the voice of Suzanne Perry and the music of Ryan Lum on synthesizers, samplers and guitars.
MUSE: The Projekt label says they produce ethereal, gothic and dark ambient music. Which description most suits your music?
Suzanne: I don’t mind being attached to ethereal so much as being called a 4AD type That’s too specific. Ethereal is more vaguely descriptive.
Ryan: It could be The Moon Seven Times; it could be us; it could be The Sundays. It’s a very broad term.
The band were interviewed by one of the major newspapers in Mexico, El Fianancerio, after their headlining concert in Mexico City. Appearing in the Cultural section of the primarily business and financial news focused paper, the article is titled “A Pale Shadow.” Below is a translation from the original Spanish with slight formatting changes to indicate the speaker. A scan of the clipping faxed over to Projekt follows.
Love Spirals Downwards at the Museo del Chopo
by Oscar Enrique Orneleas
Suzanne Perry (25 years old) and Ryan Lum (28) met in the record store where they worked in Los Angeles, California. A pair of young Americans, like any ordinary couple. “Jack and Diane,” by John Cougar, if you know what I mean. But here the story doesn’t end in an “tragedia Americana”—it’s the style of the writer Theodore Dreiser. Perry (voice) and Lum (various sounds, electric guitars and synthesizers) have integrated their home studio and create pieces as varied as any of the records they listen to. Using a longer name with their two last names together, Love Spirals Downwards (don’t try to translate it, it’s more complicated than it seems), they have two albums: “Idylls” (1992) and “Ardor” (1995), both released on the independent label Projekt, begun by Sam Rosenthal. Ethereal music, guided by the ancestral catalog of dark and ethnic music (“folk” at one time), anything you can imagine. Perry and Lum were in Mexico to offer one solo recital yesterday, on the stage of the University Museum of Chopo. In the evening, this same duo offered some answers to ‘El Financiero’.
“Ecstasy of Angels: Love Spirals Downwards” By Rossi Dudrick
Winged for an astral Odyssey, you’ll soar on a freed soul fantasia, where elation and melancholy are locked in epoch embrace. A sweet chanteuse’s vocals seem to sweep over misty moors, while guitar chords fall like shimmery sunlight on deep pools of tranquility. The height of your ascension is up to you, for even a modern day Icarus now has a second chance.
Although Love Spirals Downwards’ music seems to flow from a wellspring of divine inspiration, the creators of these soft-focus mood montages have no stigmatas flooding their teacups. Such cameo apparitions burst like soap bubbles upon meeting the diaphanous duo, vocalist Suzanne Perry, and guitarist Ryan Lum. In the midst of a torrential downpour, they look like two fresh-faced college kids on a tailgater’s rush indoors for safe harbor more than members of the ethereal’s exotic elite.
Over a rainy day breakfast in a ‘50’s time warp diner, the pertinent debate of the moment is omelets vs. blueberry pancakes. It’s unanimous; stacks of belly whopping blues all around! Hunger pangs aside, Suzanne and Ryan exude an easygoing warmth and unpretentiousness that sparks candid rapport. “Most people are surprised that we’re down-to-earth, normal people, always joking and really practical; not head in the clouds types,” emphasizes Suzanne. “But what confounds most people is how little time I spend thinking about my music, or think[ing] of myself as a musician.”
Official Love Spirals Downwards Projekt press release for ‘Ardor’:
The words ‘Ethereal’, ‘Ether-bliss’, ‘Dream-pop’ and ‘Angelic’ have all been used in describing the mysterious sound of Love Spirals Downwards. While none of these terms captures the essence of their sound, each describes some quality of their beyond-language music. And beyond language’ is a good starting point; their. female vocals transcend lyric and language, while guitars swirl and spiral with bright atmospheric textures from a place beyond words. It is place where words and meaning are meaningless and where emotion and beauty prevail.
Released in late 1992, this Los Angeles duo’s debut album Idylls has become one of Projekt’s most popular releases. 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. Ardor abounds with rich layered textures of effected electric and acoustic guitars created by Ryan Lum combining with the beautiful harmonizing voices of vocalist Suzanne Perry, enveloping the listener in a world of beauty.
Italian Goth fanzine, DUSK MEMORIES – N°5 Winter 94 (ATARAXIA ROSA CRUX CRANES),, features an interview with Ryan. Below is a translation into English and the original ‘zine.
LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS: Un amore mai perduto (A Love Never Lost)
By Di ANNA MIONI
Ryan Lum, who plays all the instruments in Love Spirals Downwards, a new group from the Californian label Projekt, answered some of our questions.
DM: Which groups have influenced you the most?
RYAN: I’ve been influenced by many artists from different genres, including Harold Budd, Brian Eno, classical Indian 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 Popul Vuh of the early 70s. I still like Cocteaus, though: the first song of the new album is incredible!
DM: What does the name of the band mean?
RYAN: We didn’t have any specific meaning in mind, we just liked the sound of the name.
I received Idylls in the mail from Projekt and put it in my CD player… After commenting on it being better than anything the Cocteau Twins have done since Lullabies, a friend angrily takes it out. But it’s true. The intensity quickly lost by the ‘C-word’ is present ten-fold here… LSD have released a CD on the increasingly amazing Projekt label, entitled Idylls, in addition to a contribution to the Fifty Years of Sunshine comp. and a flexi from Altered Mind, an LA based ‘zine. Upcoming plans include a track on the Black Tape cover CD and a second CD. All can be acquired by writing Projekt: Darkwave… Luckily I used my summer’s journey across this “Grey Land” of ours (pun intended) as an opportunity to meet with friends old and new and spent a wonderful afternoon with Ryan and Suzanne of Love Spirals Downwards… Here are some extractions from our very informal interview…
r = Ryan s = Suzanne m = me
We’ll skip the babble about early Ministry…
r: I’m mad. I just realized we’re going to miss Taco Bell tonight.
m: A friend of mine asked me where I wanted to eat lunch today and , of course, I said that I had to eat at Taco Bell. It’s the fast food chain of choice for both of us. The Projekt crew are down with Taco Bell.
r: We used to have a thing for Subway earlier in the year. The Veggies and Cheese six inch is $1.99 and when the Cold Cut Combo goes on sale it’s $1.49, so when I was living in Santa Barbara I would buy the Cold Cut Combo because it was 50 cents cheaper and I’d go out and find a homeless person and give the meat to them. So look at this, I’m saving money and I’m happy, and I’m giving food to a homeless person.
Pretty crazy how people as far away as Brazil know about Love Spirals Downwards. Ruídos Alternativos #9 has a one-page feature on the band. Below is a an English translation as well as the original article.
Love Spirals Downwards
It all began with Ryan Lum, a lover of bands from the acclaimed 4AD label, who recorded tapes just to satisfy himself. They were instrumental songs that didn’t worry about vocals. He has played guitar since he was 15 and started composing in ’86. For about five years, the sound developed, grew, and created its own style. Then Suzanne Perry appeared.
From this meeting on, vocals gained a certain importance in Love Spirals’ music. They recorded some demos and sent them to a few labels, including Projekt. Sam responded and asked to hear more and more material. Later, he asked if they would like to appear on the compilation “From Across This Gray Land No. 3” (92). They accepted and sent two [songs] — “Mediterranea” and “And The Wood Comes Into Leaf”. Soon after, they received the invitation to release their own CD, and then came the excellent “Idylls”, also in ’92.
