"The Door Behind The Door" by Black Ryder - out 20 April
Album release: "The Door Behind The Door" by Black Ryder
Label: The Anti-Machine Machine
Release date: 20 April 2015
Listen / more information: on Black Ryder website
The Black Ryder began writing the songs that would appear on "The Door Behind The Door" not long after finishing their acclaimed debut "Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride" in 2009. Engineered by Von Ryper and produced by he and Nash, "The Door Behind The Door" began to take shape soon after the band left Australia to tour America in 2010.
Says vocalist / songwriter Aimee Nash “Since releasing our first record we left Australia, toured America, relocated to Los Angeles, all the while trying to find our feet & get somewhat settled enough to write & produce this record. It also took some time to find the right scenario for releasing our music as well.”
Nash and Von Ryper’s iconoclastic collective proves as hard to pigeonhole as it is easy to love. Rolling Stone included "Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride" in its “50 Best Albums of the year”, praising its “sprawling, slow-burning psyche rock that paints creeping moods with layer upon layer of droney, blissed-out guitars and ethereal vocals…This is the perfect accompaniment to slowly losing your mind (in the best possible way). Don’t come looking for big chorus or bubblegum blurts – just settle in for the long, blissed-out ride.”
True to the group’s maverick m.o., "The Door Behind The Door" transforms The Black Ryder’s kaleidoscopic sound and vision into something even more vivid, uncompromising, and sublime, bringing in new textures and emotions that evolve as its nine-song cycle unfolds. “We wanted to create music that was layered, emotive & majestic,” says Nash. “You open one door, and you find there’s another, you keep moving through each door to the next not quite sure where you’re going or what to expect, but there’s something enticing & reassuring you that you’re moving in the right direction.” “The final track listing order was very deliberate, each track would morph into something completely different,” adds Von Ryper. “The whole idea is that it is a journey where, as a track finishes, one door might lead to ascension, whereas another may be a descent.”
"Buy The Ticket…" became an underground phenomenon; tracks from the album appeared in TV shows like House, Damages; Fashion brand Diesel closed out their NYC fashion week show in 2010 with “Let It Go”; iconic Australian Jewelry designers MANIAMANIA featured the bands music on numerous campaigns including The Third Mind (modeled by Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw & premiered in the NY Times); Nash also sang on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club track “Done All Wrong” which appeared on the "Twilight: New Moon" soundtrack. Despite this success, however, Nash and Von Ryper split as a couple and divorced. The pair remains close confidantes and musical collaborators, however, with Von Ryper moving with Nash across the world to Los Angeles.
Due to the deeply personal nature of the new album's creation, Nash and Von Ryper are taking the reins for its release, putting it out worldwide on the band’s own imprint The Anti-Machine Machine in conjunction with The Orchard. After working with EMI Music Australia and Mexican Summer to release Buy The Ticket…, the duo decided to self-produce and release The Door Behind The Door in an effort to preserve the album’s uncompromised genesis. “We have a very specific vision for what it is we want to do here,” Nash says. “We had to keep moving & creating & evolving until we found the right fit as we saw & heard it. From the music production to the artwork & imagery, to wanting to release this on our own label, to the live performance.”