Feature Friday: Presenting DARKLARK’s “Gutter” [VIDEO]

Of course you’re in. What better way to start then, by sharing a brand new sound just curving its luscious hips around a release in the New Year of 2015? This is a well-crafted, live music video; the first take they filmed and the in the end…it became the chosen one. You are indeed in for a treat. That alone should make you press play, but I’m going to go ahead and prophesize that you just might FALL IN LOVE today during a climactic experience where music meets spirit…with the raw, gritty, sounds of DARKLARK.

I first met Mel Larkin on her farm in magical Prince Edward County. (We started an up close and personal piece showcasing her amazing home, farm, orchard and vintage finds. We’ll be getting back together some-time this fall to finish. If you love home tours and candid interviews with inspiring arts educators and music professionals, then Larkin’s home tour here on ROAR will be something to look forward to!)

This is a woman who isn’t afraid of that (dirty!) word feminism and her ideas on the term definitely include loving herself, being sexual, being smart and YES…appreciating men too. I’ve had the honour of hearing rough cuts of her baby, her main musical project, DARKLARK. They released a single for the project last year, ‘SISTERS.’ A 7″ vinyl single and a one-time printing, SISTERS was the response to a challenge given to Mel by Rich Terfry (aka Buck 65). He sent her this wikipedia link and asked her to write a song from the perspective of the long-passed Papin sisters. (Incestuous lovers and maids to aristocrats in France. The sisters lost it one day, after being worked 6.5 days a week for too long and violently murdered their masters. She takes the side of the sisters in the song) so yea – that’s just how gritty, dark and fabulous DARKLARK is, if you’re into that sort of throught provoking, musically gratifying and spell-binding thing. The single includes a quirky B Side called ‘The BREAKER’ that will never likely make it onto a proper record. They are in a very creative stage of this project right now with lot’s of writing, rehearsing and tweaking going on at the moment.

So when longtime collaborators Mel Larkin and D’Ari Lisle released a live video of their freshly mastered track, ‘GUTTER’…I was stoked. This video in all of its goddess-like, fierce, sincere, passion and emotion-filled excellence moved me to tears. Perhaps because Larkin and I have found a sisterhood in each-other, we share some similar pains from the past. Although that is the intangible thing about ‘GUTTER.’ Many people can relate to the kind of pain of being in a  soul-sucking, damaging relationship without having to go into great detail. 

The video was produced in Toronto by One Take Wonders and is as visually captivating as much as it is sonically mesmerizing. Enjoy!

From The Artists

Mel Larkin
“Most of the material we write with DARKLARK is very collaborative. This particular song started with a bare bones piano piece that our friend Hugh Mackie was working on. I wrote the lyrics and melody on the spot, inspired by the melancholy vibe of the piece. The song is about being energetically linked to somebody else in a way that’s really obsessive, damaging and addictive. It’s a place that a lot of people can relate to, and one that is true to me. From there, D’Ari wrote harmonies, recorded, arranged, and produced the track in collaboration with our good friend & co-producer Jake Birch down in Brooklyn. Our long-time Aussie friend Xavier Rudd even contributed some dirty slide guitar noise to this track on a whim. While in the midst of production work on Gutter, Xavier showed up the way he always does…with about 5 minutes notice…and 10 other people in-tow. He parked his tour bus on the front lawn at our farm for 24 hours and we hung out while he and the crew were on a day off. The moment he heard the sketch of this tune, he asked Dar to set up some mics. The final mix of the studio version that will be on our upcoming release is a result of many emails, studio sessions, and hours to get the energy just right.”

D’Ari Lisle
“About the live video – We were asked to participate in this video series by our good friend and confidant Gregg Terrence. He is producing the One Take Wonders series. It was a great opportunity for us to give people a sneak peak of what they can expect to see when this project finally drops early next year. We’re reviewing mixes right now, playing some low key test shows… and prepping to give some industry a sneak peak late fall. So many new things happening every day, we’re immersed in the creative process.”

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