Establishing the mood with an ethereal guitar soundscape featuring a raw, syncopated energy, Angel of the Evening opens Heroin Blue Light with intrigue, delicate vocals and the cerebral lyrics, “Somewhere far away in a land where darkness is day, you’ll find me living in decay, soft and tame was the crimson coloured flame, of my, my fallen grace…”
We appreciate how the track evolves with poetic prowess and metaphorical depth. In essence, multi-disciplinary artist Isis-Joy Duffy McLeod tells us that Heroin Blue Light is designed to “explore a profound spiritual breakthrough the veil, navigating the imprisonment of one’s mind and the untamed beauty lying within such pain.”
Through dark, poetic imagery and a haunting dark-Americana guitar performance, Angel of the Evening describes living in a place of “darkness” and “decay” manifesting as emotional emptiness, despair and a loss of one’s self. The references personify the drug as a seductive and romantic entity that draws us in and heals us, albeit temporarily.
There is an unmistakable cinematic allure, and we could imagine Heroin Blue Light being featured in a Gus Van Sant or Sofia Coppola film. It would also really resonate with Lana Del Rey fans, particularly those who connected with her Ultraviolence and Blue Banisters era. Isis-Joy also cites Sixto Rodríguez, Jeff Buckley, Nina Simone, and Jimi Hendrix as sonic influences.
Its dreamlike imagery depicts a soul confronting its fallen state and eventually venturing through emotional and psychological depths that are transformative. We find untamed beauty within pain, whilst the light and darkness symbolize an awakening from suffering, as we seek purification and a return to grace. Instead of despair, we are invited to embrace pain as a catalyst for self-realization. It’s highly poetic and brilliantly written.
Angel of the Evening has also delivered two self-directed music videos for the song. The first is shot in nature, which again really reminds us of the title track visual for Lana’s Ultraviolence. The second music video, dubbed “sequel*Baptism of the Black Sea” taps into more psychedelic and nocturnal vibes.
Overall, we are totally enamoured by the universe that Angel of the Evening is manifesting and look forward to forthcoming works, including Botanical Bones and Veil of Lavish, as well as her debut album, Held in the Heart of the Untamed.
In the meantime, we have added Heroin Blue Light to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists!