Credit: Perou
Co-produced by Manson and GRAMMY® Award winner Shooter Jennings [Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker], the ten-track opus was written, recorded, and finished before a pandemic blanketed us all.
Manson heralds the record’s arrival with the title track and lead single “WE ARE CHAOS,” released today. Manson teamed up with director/illustrator Matt Mahurin for the accompanying video which you can view below;
Manson commented on the album: When Shooter and I decided to start making this album almost 2 years ago, we were both doing tours so we had to work around our schedules. Shooter and I had a shared love for Bowie’s era with Brian Eno. And I wasn’t afraid to try new things with him writing the music. He also helped me to be unafraid to try old things. As a producer, he really pushed me to be both new and still true to what the core of Marilyn Manson is. His perspective added the trans-dimensional element that I was always looking to tap into.
When I listen to ‘WE ARE CHAOS’ now, it seems like just yesterday or as if the world repeated itself, as it always does, making the title track and the stories seem as if we wrote them today.
This was recorded to its completion without anyone hearing it until it was finished. There is most definitely a side A and side B in the traditional sense. But just like an LP, it is a flat circle and it’s up to the listener to put the last piece of the puzzle into the picture of songs.
This concept album is the mirror Shooter and I built for the listener – it’s the one we won’t stare into. There are so many rooms, closets, safes and drawers. But in the soul or your museum of memories, the worst are always the mirrors. Shards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics.
I explore ideas on the album, such as perfume. Something so beautiful, the scent can be remembered forever. But it is also flammable enough to burn down a house. It’s the fragile balance of power and the ones who hold the match or smell the loveliest. The paintings I did specifically to accompany the music…those are my reflections.
Making this record, I had to think to myself: ‘Tame your crazy, stitch your suit. And try to pretend that you are not an animal’ but I knew that mankind is the worst of them all. Making mercy is like making murder. Tears are the human body’s largest export.
Manson’s painting, ‘Infinite Darkness’ [pictured above], which can be seen on the album cover, was specifically created to accompany the music. His fine art paintings continue to be shown all over the world, including gallery and museum exhibitions from Miami to Vienna to Moscow.
Manson says of the album, “When I listen to ‘WE ARE CHAOS’ now, it seems like just yesterday or as if the world repeated itself, as it always does, making the title track and the stories seem as if we wrote them today.
This was recorded to its completion without anyone hearing it until it was finished. There is most definitely a side A and side B in the traditional sense. But just like an LP, it is a flat circle and it’s up to the listener to put the last piece of the puzzle into the picture of songs.
“This concept album is the mirror Shooter and I built for the listener – it’s the one we won’t stare into. There are so many rooms, closets, safes and drawers. But in the soul or your museum of memories, the worst are always the mirrors. Shards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics.
“Making this record, I had to think to myself: ‘Tame your crazy, stitch your suit. And try to pretend that you are not an animal’ but I knew that mankind is the worst of them all. Making mercy is like making murder. Tears are the human body’s largest export.”
‘WE ARE CHAOS’ Tracklist:
1. RED BLACK AND BLUE
2. WE ARE CHAOS
3. DON’T CHASE THE DEAD
4. PAINT YOU WITH MY LOVE
5. HALF-WAY & ONE STEP FORWARD
6. INFINITE DARKNESS
7. PERFUME
8. KEEP MY HEAD TOGETHER
9. SOLVE COAGULA
10. BROKEN NEEDLE
“We Are Chaos” will be released on September 11th via Loma Vista. You can pre-order/pre-save using this link.
Credit: Perou
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2020
