Orenda said, “I wrote ‘Holy Holy’ when I was mournfully struggling over themes of mortality. How can we love so deeply when we know that all relationships will end in death? And what happens to that love then? These were the questions on my mind, driving me to search my heart for an ounce of transcendence. I literally wept while I was writing it. I feel like the production of the song is an extension of those emotions. Ben Brodin’s swimmy guitars and the angelic voices of Christine Fink and Pearl Boyd perfectly expressed my feelings musically.” Blue Dream can be pre-ordered now on CD and LP in the Saddle Creek online store. Fans that order the deluxe LP (Blue and Coke Bottle vinyl) will also receive a bonus Blue Dream Dream Journal handmade and inscribed by Orenda Fink. The blank journals, limited to 100, are hand screen printed originals made from vintage re-purposed books. Orenda is guest editing Magnet Magazine all week. Topics have included dreams, Alejandro Jodorowsky, tropical islands & the perfect martini. Check in for daily updates and read their feature here.
Throughout her time with Azure Ray and over the course of her solo career, Orenda Fink has never shied from exploring the darker edges of spirituality and the human condition. On her debut solo album Invisible Ones, Orenda explored traditional Haitian ritual and mysticism. She then followed that up with an examination of the Southern Gothic subconscious on Ask the Night. Needless to say, death has been visible in much of her music. On her latest album, Blue Dream, she looks deeply at the subject, reflecting upon a year-long meditation on death that started with a dog named Wilson and the words of Laurie Anderson.
She then spent the next year understanding the experience and filtering it through the musical inspirations of Smog, Violetta Parra, and Kate Bush to craft Blue Dream. The album truly came together at ARC in Omaha, NE with the help of producers Ben Brodin and Todd Fink (The Faint), along with drummer Bill Rieflin (Ministry, Swans, R.E.M., King Crimson).
Lead single “Ace of Cups” starts the album off by using the Tarot symbol of attunement and spirituality to explore the interconnectedness with the world and humanity that even death cannot undo. The haunting “Holy Holy” examines them directly with lines “We come into this world all alone/and we leave with not much more” and “I lay in bed/collect all my dreams/then I pay/someone to read them to me/the simple ones are just as they seem/but open your eyes/and they say so much more.” Whereas “All Hearts Will Beat Again” displays ideas Orenda came to understand upon reflection in lines “It’s a sign in the eyes/something in your smile/it’s a nod and a wave from the darkness/but our hearts will beat again/and the love we gave will come back/but I don’t know where or when.”
Writing the album allowed Orenda to contemplate the experiences that precipitated it and explore new perspectives gained over the past year. This process left her with the belief that we can only be truly healed if we find our “interior God.” How do you find your interior God? There are many ways, but she believes one of them is through dreams. Dreams being the closest way to have a direct experience with the all-knowing past, present, and future.
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