Interdwell is the debut album from the group Dark Sky Alliance, comprised of music industry veterans percussionist Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls), keyboardist Rupert Greenall (The Fixx), soundscaping architect Eric “the” Taylor, and cinematic sound-maestro guitarist David Helpling. This visionary premiere is a feat of sonic storytelling, each composition a different scene.
Hidden in Interdwell’s kaleidoscopic sound are shades of all their past work: new wave guitar flourishes, tribal ambient percussion, richly layered synth-beds, Hans Zimmer- esque cinematic crescendos—but here, they coalesce into something uniquely vivid and bracingly original, something the members of Dark Sky Alliance could only make together.
Interdwell’s twelve compositions draw inspiration from the personal and the cosmic, the natural world and the fantastical. The album’s first epic opens with “Fortunate One” featuring chanting from the late Sonam Targee and builds layer upon layer from there. Rupert’s bandmate from The Fixx, Jamie West-Oram, makes his first of three appreances on the albem. Halfway through, a propulsive bass groove entwines with Targee’s chants, shifting from melancholic to euphoric, a celebration of the time we’re gifted with those we love.
“Warm Inlet” was inspired by a view of the Adirondacks on 7th Lake that can only be seen by boat; new wave guitar warbles paint the glimmering whitecaps, a steady bassline the powerful undercurrent, with Vangelis-esque synth chords the sun on the mountain peaks.
The first single from the album, “The Desert Mind”, features ambient pioneer Robert Rich on flute. Rich returns again this time on synth for the title track , “Interdwell”. Vibraphonist Joe Locke accompanies the tribal march of Marotta’s percussion and Jamie West-Oram’s anthemic electric guitar.
Dreamlike and reflective, “The Slow Train Home,” was born from Eric “the” Taylor’s first ever recording session with Marotta and bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) over 20 years ago. Levin’s emotive upright bass glides through an electronic landscape both airy and rich, a traveler watching the hills roll by.
Interdwell is a vivid, inspiring odyssey throughout, a work that carries the listener from a sun-dappled lake to the furthest reaches of space and back again, leaving only the desire to experience it all over again.
All songs produced, performed, and written by Dark Sky Alliance
Mixed by David Helpling
Deep Exile, San Diego, California
Mastered by Howard Givens
Spotted Peccary Studios NW, Portland, Oregon
Recorded at
Dreamland Studios, West Hurley, New York
Jersville, Woodstock, New York
Forcefield Studios, Rochester, New York
Deep Exile, San Diego, California
Additional Recording at Soundscape Productions, Carmel, California
Released by Spotted Peccary Music on May 17, 2024