Rachel Mason – Tigers in the Dark
Renowned multi-media performance artist Rachel Mason continues to be an extraordinary force in the creative world, her latest endeavor being the upcoming album Das Ram. The imaginative and innovative Mason recently released the striking lead single Tigers in the Dark, out September 9th on Cleopatra Records, and its accompanying video directed by Matthew Spiegelman.
The video for Tigers in the Dark was shown during a live event launch of Das Ram at the LTD Los Angeles gallery. The immersive theatrical exhibition also included an installation of artist Dennis Hoekstra’s replica of the famed 1970s nightclub English Disco that used to be where LTD Los Angeles is now located.
KROQ radio DJ and owner of English Disco, the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer (AKA “Rodney on the Roq”) was on hand to spin the tunes. Bingenheimer was instrumental in introducing glam rock to the U.S. and later in breaking many of the New Wave and college bands into popular culture.
Mason created Das Ram’s compositions with her long-time partner-in-art Jeff Hassay. He also recorded, mixed, and produced the album’s songs in his music studio in Los Feliz, California.
On Tigers in the Dark, Mason takes on the persona of a half-human/half-other animal entity who views real life as fiction and life on the stage as being true reality.
Mason acrobatically leaps through vocal hoops, intoning with the dramatic flair of Siouxsie Sioux or Karen O. to, “Cut the chain / Let me fly / Now the curtain has risen…”. Her spotlit vocals are supported by a continually marching, electronic-based backdrop that includes spattered electro-blips and blurts, crisply clacking percussion, and a flat-smacked drum beat.
Tigers in the Dark is a paean to the life of an artist, an existence where the individual becomes a conduit for whatever is imaginable in order to give it, and its creator, life. For a brief, tangible moment, before the curtain falls, that art is real, and though Mason declares that she may have, “died inside the cage” of reality, her imagination has soared to new heights while her, “…heart stayed on the stage.”
If you like Tigers In The Dark, check out Rachel Mason at any & all of the following links:
Photo by Matthew Spiegelman
