*300 copies limited edition*
Constructed while
Weathers was grappling with the passing of both his father and aunt,
‘A Cardinal With a Sign of Blood’ gives breath to a strain of introspection that is both universal and deeply intimate. The work exists as a kaleidoscope of psychic detritus, with various recordings sourced from members of Weathers’ extended family providing its compositional backbone. Answering machine messages, odd ¼” tapes that his father made as a child [snippets of clarinet rehearsals, recorded dinner parties, eye witness accounts of UFO visitations], interviews with his grandfather made on his ranch in Erath County, TX, music from his parents’ wedding, contemporary field recordings made at relevant locations, and so many other precious aural oddities drift throughout the album’s seven tracks.
In many cases, these recordings were subjected to extended processing techniques, including auto-tune, vocoders, and harmonizers, to generate core musical textures and motifs. The more traditional musical elements – Weathers’ electric piano, guitars, horns, percussion, and electronics – were then built around this dustbox of memory, in harmonic resonance with ghosts of family passed.
“It’s about the loss of access to memory,” explains Weathers. “The album is an attempt to enter into a conversation with people I’ve never truly known…reflecting a deep restlessness and lack of belonging that I feel profoundly unsettled by.”