Obsidian Whispers from Beautiful Ugly by Captain Of The Lost Waves

Obsidian Whispers: this is not just the opener to this album, but might be the overture of a Tchaikovsky opera if he’d had access to Damian and Wendy. It’s decadent, and as mysterious as gazing into volcanic glass. It conjures a curtain rise on a rococo stage set filled with Georgian actors, all wigs and frock coats, frozen in elegant poses. The Captain is moving between them, singing to each, calling them out as metaphors of the insanities of modern life.
I’d no idea what an obsidian temple should look like until I heard the track - suddenly I could see the white columns and chequered floor at the end of the world, but what was also the aforementioned stage set. The mobile was inspired by a TV programme I just happened to watch about Claude glasses, used by amateur artists and tourists in Georgian times to capture landscapes. They were polished obsidian and flattened the tonality of the scene, allowing the image to be easier understood while sketching. They eventually became a much derided craze, a lot like people taking selfies nowadays. The kicker for me was when the presenter said “you can get the same effect if you turn off your mobile and use it as a black mirror..."

Photoshop digital illustration with a little help from a basic 3D package for the temple and floor.

The Captain is a troubadour, storyteller and free thinking renegade. His musical offerings are inspired by the great songwriters and philosophers of yesteryear. This is visceral music for the mind and body, full of dreamy verses, life affirming choruses and sheer audacity. Where melodic invention meets alternative folk, progressive, world and ambient sounds.