Samantha Stella and Nero Kane have released their newest joint-album Tales of Faith and Lunacy. Covered with dark-minimalistic psychedelia, it invokes those hauntingly beautiful, shadowy sentiments of the past. Recorded and produced in Italy, Samantha Stella and Nero Kane have come together to release a Medieval meets the American West visual-audio story.
Their first single from the album, “Lord Won’t Come” was shot in two incredible California ghost towns, as well as a beautiful Italian church, which only strengthens the overall dark-mysticism of the album. As a visual artist with experience shooting experimental film in the deserts of California for her previous (debut) Nero Kane album “Love in a Dying World”, here Samantha once again utilized her skills to tell the visual story of this album.
The album combines spiritual folk and dark mysticism to create a poetically beautiful sound drenched in dark emotion. Listening invokes a hauntingly melancholic feeling most of us are far too accustomed to these days. We are all longing for days of the past, and unsure when, if ever, we will be able to once again experience the feeling of truly being human. To be human means to experience everything from the darkest of dark to the lightest of light, in order to reach the truest depths of human existence. I believe this album captures that feeling, while managing to go further through its strong visual elements—the cinematic aspect is not really optional, but vital to fully experience this album at its core.
Even though Tales of Faith and Lunacy has a clear dark-minimalistic sound, each single from the album creates a unique mood—take for example Magdalene, which is infused with late 70s early 80s synth punk elements. Other numbers like “I believe”, convey a much more introspective, gentle, at times dream-pop sound, reminiscent of 90s indie bands. If you’re into dark psych-folk painted with strong visual elements, this album won’t disappoint.
Watch their first single from the album Tales of Faith and Lunacy: “Lord Won’t Come” here:
What I personally found interesting is the name of the album—the concept of faith is an unwavering belief in something that others, and even ourselves at times, may not be able to see, while the lunatic is often accused of seeing or believing things that others simply don’t. With this, how different is the believer from the lunatic, really? Let’s leave things off with a quote from Orwell’s 1984, “Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one. At one time it had been a sign of madness to believe that the Earth goes round the Sun; today, to believe the past is inalterable. He might be alone in holding that belief, and if alone, then a lunatic…” So what are you waiting for? Be the lunatic.
Review written by Isabella Moulton– a stylist and writer by day, and aesthetic aficionado by night. For inquiries, please contact her at: theeccentricbourgeoisie@gmail.com | Keep it groovy <3
Samantha Stella and Nero Kane:
