Systems of Romance

It’s no small secret that I tend to go wild for things on the more ethereal/dream pop side of the spectrum, especially now more than ever before. With that in mind, today’s post was originally recommended by Goutroy and has become a fast favorite these last few weeks. Here we have the first 12” by The Telling a band from California. The band, consisting primarily of Don and Sheri Swanson, released this debut single in 1986 and followed it up with two albums in 1990 and 1998, respectively. I’ve heard a bit of the first record, which mixes in some more folk influences, via YouTube and immediately ordered a CD copy, but I haven’t heard much of the second record just yet.

This debut 12” features two vocal tracks and two dreamy, instrumental passages. While it may be easy to pick out the usual 4AD influences on this single, I also hear the playful art-pop influence of Kate Bush throughout, especially on closing track “Heaven Never End.” Other natural touchstones include latter-era Japan/early Sylvian solo works, and of course, the highly underrated Bel Canto, who were operating around the same time with their own blend of ethereal, atmospheric synth pop.

Hope you all enjoy!

The Telling- The Telling 12”
1. Ghost of Tokyo
2. Cocoon
3. Sand Mass
4. Heaven Never End

*download it here*

This entry was posted on May 4, 2021 at 5:24 pm and is filed under 1980s, 1986, california, dreampop, ethereal, synth, synthpop, US . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.