By popular demand, Lost in Ohio presents the first-ever vinyl pressing of LSD’s classic 1998 album, ‘Flux,’ in a limited edition pressing that features the original 9 album songs and cover art.
Rediscover the ethereal journey of Love Spirals Downwards’ ‘Flux,’ beautifully remastered by Ryan Lum, on limited-edition white vinyl. This landmark 1998 album creates a lush, atmospheric soundscape that remains as captivating today as it was at its debut. Celebrated for its innovative blend of ethereal guitars, heavenly vocals, and pioneering breakbeats, ‘Flux’ stands as a testament to the duo’s artistic evolution and enduring legacy.
The vinyl reissue brings new clarity and depth to the album’s intricate textures, from the skittering rhythms of “City Moon” to the haunting beauty of “Psyche,” showcasing Love Spirals Downwards’ unique fusing of genres. Included with the release are insightful liner notes by Jason Morehead of Opus Zine, offering an immersive dive into the creative process and impact of ‘Flux.’
We found a pre-album live performance of “Sound of Waves” Live at ProjektFest 1997 that we just had to include on the 25th anniversary reissue of our 1998 album ‘Flux.’ This video features more goodies from the LSD archives. We found proof sheets of photos taken of Ryan and Suzanne performing at The Vic in Chicago the very night of this recording. The photographers are Katie McIntree and E. Katie Holmes.
We are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of LSD’s final studio album, ‘Flux,’ with the remastered and expanded ‘Flux Deluxe Edition’ featuring 13 additional tracks. Previously unreleased songs created in 1997-98, a live performance from ProjektFest 1997, two remixes from 1998, plus a brand new recording are all included in this epic reissue! The Bandcamp release also includes one bonus track recorded in 1998.
“Fusing their familiar style with updated breakbeats, Love Spirals Downwards’ sound coalesces into a massively layered textural workout. ‘flux’ organically caresses your soul while electronically massaging your mind. Inspired by ambient drum & bass, Love Spirals Downwards combines their trademark ether-bliss guitars and heavenly female vocals with a breakbeat rhythmic foundation. The result of ‘flux’ is Love Spirals Downwards’ most advanced passage yet. Creating a style that is as much about mood as melody, Love Spirals Downwards continue their evolution beyond their ethereal dream-pop roots.”
“Psyche” from ‘Flux’ in a scene from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ S5: The Bostonians 10/10/2001
Our first major television music placement was on the internationally syndicated show ‘Dawson’s Creek’ on The WB network. The 1998 ‘Flux’ track “Psyche” was featured in a party scene featuring Michelle Williams and Chad Michael Murray on the season 5 premiere episode “The Bostonians.” According to Neilson Media Research this episode had 4.47 million viewers when it aired on October 10, 2001. It was really cool hearing this vocal drum ‘n’ bass song co-written and sung by Suzanne’s sister, Kristen Perry, on such a popular TV show and especially in such a long, fun scene.
Check out “Psyche” on the new 25th Anniversary ’Flux Deluxe Edition’ out now on all digital music services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Bandcamp, and YouTube Music!
The Love Spirals Downwards’ 1998 track, “Psyche,” (with Kristen Perry) appears on episode #501 of Dawson’s Creek. This season premier episode was just released on the Season 5 DVD set on May 3, 2005.
An interview with Ryan Lum of Love Spirals Downwards by Gary Thrasher
Call it post-shoegazer, call it ethereal majesty… call it post-apocalyptic drum ’n’ bass trance… just don’t cal lit goth. Love Spirals Downwards, darlings of the Projekt label, are a blissful masterpiece of hypnotic rhythms and swirling guitars, topped off with angelic vocals… all with a tinge of dark moodiness and Middle Eastern mysticism. With their fourth album, Flux, a foray into the hazed world of melodic drum ’n’ bass, Love Spirals Downwards are poised on the print of world dominance… it was on this cliff that I spoke with the mastermind behind the music, Ryan Lum.
How did Love Spirals Downwards come together in the beginning and how dit you first become involved with Projekt Records?
It’s so long ago. Suzanne and I knew each other and we just decided to try it out… see how it worked with her singing on stuff I had made. I’d been making music for ages. I’m always just recording and making my own music as opposed to doing the band thing. I don’t mind rehearsing for shows, but I like to record… that’s where my heart is. I sent a few demo tapes out for the hell of it. I didn’t know who Projekt was. One of my friends, the guy who shot our cover for the first album, knew someone in his art school… Susan Jennings (Projekt owner Sam Rosenthal’s former girlfriend). Somehow they got talking and she said, “Why don’t you have your friend Ryan send his tape in?” We went a few others out, I think 4AD and Creation were the other two, and Projekt was the first and only to respond. It just evolved from that.
What were your early inspirations both musically and vocally? What singers have influence Suzanne?
I don’t think she’s influences by other people, not even people she likes. She’s just singing from herself… she’s just being herself. If you’re looking for origins, influences back in ’91… that’s coming out of 4AD of the late 80s… Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and Indian music that I was into a lot back then on our first album… kind of a big mesh of 4AD and Indian music. I’m really into moody and intense music. What got me into making Flux was I stumbled across some very beautiful drum ’n’ bass music. It’s so beautiful, probably the greatest music I’ve heard this decade. The only stuff I can compare it to as far as beauty would be Cocteau Twins during the Victorialand / Love’s Easy Tears era. Just really awesome stuff… and most people who are into goth may not find it, but I just found it. It made perfect sense… this is us, this is the kind of beauty I’m into musically.
What albums are you referring to?
It’s some hard to find stuff. One easy way to find out what I’m talking about is compilations… Logical Progressions by LTJ Bukem. It’s about 3 years old. It’s the defining CD of melodic drum ’n’ bass. It hold up well now in drum ’n’ bass clubs. It kicks ass!
What led you down the road to the new sound that began on Ever and finally metamorphosed itself on Flux?
If you backed it up, it also led to the new sound on Ardor that was different from Idylls. All the albums have a different sound…at least that’s the goal. You don’t want to make the same album consecutively again, that would be quite boring for us. I’m sure it would bore a lot of listeners too. So this was the next logical progression for us. I’ve always been into electronic music, and I finally found a style that would work well with the music that we do…something where we could be spacey, ethereal, and beautiful as we have on our previous records. It’s hard to do that with house music or trance… those are precisely defined types of sounds, while drum ‘n’ bass is a lot more open. It will still sound like a drum ‘n’ bass record, but you can put on a lot of jazzy stuff to kind of make it more ambient.
Are you pleased with Flux and the way it was received, both among long time Love Spirals Downwards fans and new converts?
Yes, I’m really happy with Flux. All of my other albums I really cringe at listening to. Actually, it’s kinda sad, Flux is the first one now where it’s like, finally did it right.” There’s nothing too cringing to hear as far as the sounds or the recording. The technical aspects are done well, and the aesthetic was aiming for are pleasing to me still. So I’m really happy with Flux… I’m sure it will always be for me, my favorite record, or at least one of. As far as other people, it is always a surprise. As you are making it, it’s always just you and a small circle of people that hear it. But when it comes out there’ always the other people factor that gets brought into the equation…it becomes something you start hearing about, whether people like it or not. l’ve been pleasantly surprised that people are into It, fans of ours. and we have all kinds or hans, but I’m particularly happy that the ones who don’t have much interest in electronic music, trip-hop or drum ‘n’ bass, are into it. I think that’s because it still sounds like us. Suzanne’s still doing her thing and I’m still doing my thing. It’s still melodic… it’s all still pretty. You could still do the same things to Flux that you could do to any of our previous albums…sit down and listen to it at night, or make love to it, or whatever people do to our stuff. Some of the elements have changed, but it’s still Love Spirals Downwards. I really don’t think about what happens with my music after it’s done, after it leaves my studio, gets onto CDs, and people play it. All I think about is making a great song and making a sound for me that shakes my soul…that’s it. And from the stuff I was listening to, it just pointed me in that direction with Flux.
Are you hoping Flux finally lays to rest the goth connotations of Love Spirals Downwards?
I don’t think anything will do that. I have nothing against goth music. What I am against is people summing us up in one fell swoop as a goth band… it’s a disservice, it’s dishonest, it’s inaccurate. People can think of us whatever they want… people think we’re a goth band, or a new age band, folk band, techno band… even a yuppie band! Not that we’re yuppies, but yuppies can dig our sound. Even adult contemporary has been thrown around. It just goes to show that our music is open ended.
What does the future hold for Love Spirals Downwards?
I don’t know. It’s just a big uncharted future out there. I can go anywhere… it’s hard to say, even when I started making Flux, I just started making music with no particular intention of it being an album. I just wanted to make music for the sake of music. I just started making new songs a couple weeks ago… I got boatloads of new gear! I finally got it all going. I’ve started again… I’m gonna have some jazz buddies come over tomorrow to lay down some stuff, too, so who knows what it will be… maybe I’ll make a flamenco record news time!
Love Spirals Downwards – Constantly In A State Of Flux
By Daniel Bremmer
Love Spirals Downwards has always had a problem fitting in to any specific category. As on the first artists signed to Projekt, Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry have been lumped in the same ethereal category as label mates Black Tape for a Blue Gil and Lycia. “I think our music is somewhat melancholy. Some goths really get off on it, some don’t,” remarks Perry. A friend introduced the duo to Projekt, which at the time were a small Pasadena label which largely served to release label owner Sam Rosenthal’s band, Black Tape for a Blue Girl. “I’ve seen the piles of demos from bands that would give their left arm to be on Projekt, and we had never even heard of them. They were really small then, we were at the right place at the right time,” says Lum.
Hello. Sorry for not updating the news for a little while; I’ve been away most of the summer and am finally back home. Lots has happened since the last update, the big news being the release of Flux a few weeks ago. We’ve been pleasantly overwhelmed with the great response that it’s receiving. Flux has been charting on the college radio charts and is even number 1 on several stations.
Flux has been selling great, better than all our previous releases. In mid September through mid November, it will be in listening stations in all the Borders stores. Flux is or will be in listening stations and on sale at many Virgin, Media Play, and Tower Records stores, as well. I’ve seen Flux at most places I’ve been to, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding it (a nice change compared to when Ever was released).
For all you gearheads out there, we will be in the November issue of Keyboard magazine, which will be on sale in October. They did an interview with me while I was staying in in San Francisco last month. I talked about the gear and processes used in making Flux, while enjoying a pleasant dinner of Indian food with their writer Markkus Rovito.
We contributed the Flux track, ‘Nova,’ to Loraine, A KUCI 88.9 fm benefit compilation. Besides being a worthwhile double-cd benefit comp, it has some great tracks of ‘intelligent’ electronic music, with songs from Bassland, Simply Jeff, Uberzone, Gearwhore, THC, Robert Rich, Surface 10, and many others. It is a very cool limited edition compilation. For more information, see the Peach website at www.peachfuzz.net.
Thanks to everybody who has emailed us or wrote in our guestbook about enjoying Flux so much! I personally think Flux is our best release so far, and am surprised and happy to hear that so many of you think the same. Our website here has been redesigned too, as some of you may notice. I hope you like the new look. Also, be sure to check back here regularly for the latest info on what’s happening with us. A few shows are being talked about and I will post more info on those as soon as it becomes available.
And check out the new Massive Attack CD, it rocks!
As I promised, there are now some audio clips from Flux on our audio page. Without using any buzzwords, this should give you a pretty good idea of the direction and feel of the new album. I hope you enjoy.
Ethereal Shoegaze and Electronica from Projekt Records
