Lycia

In Flickers Lycia

brooklynvegan: LYCIA is “haunting and gorgeous and heavy in an atmospheric way.”

American darkwave/atmospheric act LYCIA returns to Projekt for the 4th release of their second era. Mike VanPortfleet’s LYCIA formed in 1988 and released seven darkly passionate albums on Projekt between 1991-2002. After several lost and unproductive years, a second era began in 2010.

In their 30th year, LYCIA still pushes at the boundaries experimenting with sound; In Flickers is an emotionally charged album of deeply personal darkwave/post-rock. The ten tracks are intriguing meditations on forgotten paths, corrupted hopes, and faint memories of beauty. The open-ended melancholy captures a cold and desolate spirit, a sound as somber as the lyrics themselves. From the title track, “Silently they were taken away today / their future happiness and dreams were just thrown away / did they ever see the sun beyond the rain' / the only hope was they felt hopes in flickers / in flickers.”

POP MATTERS: “LYCIA’s influence, and the respect it’s afforded, has been far more profound than any record sales figures would suggest. While VanPortfleet might have felt his band was underappreciated, you only need look to the resurrection of deathrock, the rise of witchy and hauntological electronica, shoegazing metal, eerily psychedelic Americana, or the rejuvenation of dark ambient music to see that LYCIA’s legacy inspired a raft of musicians across a broad range of musical genres.”

In Flickers explores dynamic new sonic territory while reflecting back on the emotional atmospheres of LYCIA’s classic 90s sound. The current lineup brings together all past LYCIA members for an album fueled by the varied and vibrant current darkwave (and related) scenes and in turn by the 80s bands that influenced these scenes. LYCIA goes full circle back to their original inspirations. In that sense, the release feels both new and retro.

CD in 4-panel digipak. Limited edition of 1000.