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Lycia is an American
dark wave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...
band formed in 1988 in
Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...
. The main personnel of the band are
Mike VanPortfleet Robert Michael “Mike” VanPortfleet is an American singer-songwriter and keyboard player, most recognized for founding the darkwave group Lycia in 1988. During the 2000s, his focus shifted from Lycia to several other musical projects which inc ...
,
Tara VanFlower Tara L. VanPortfleet, known professionally as Tara VanFlower, is an American singer-songwriter, known for her vocal contributions to darkwave group Lycia. In 1999 she released '' This Womb Like Liquid Honey'' on Projekt Records. She released a s ...
and David Galas. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in darkwave and
ethereal wave Ethereal wave,Glasnost Wave magazine, issue # 42, p. 32/34, genre classification of the bands Trance to the Sun (''"Ghost Forest"''), This Ascension (''"Light and Shade"''), Soul Whirling Somewhere (''"Eating the Sea"''), Cocteau Tw ...
styles. Their 1995 album '' The Burning Circle and Then Dust'' received some attention for the
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
hit song "Pray" and "remains a high point of American dark rock", according to
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
. Lycia's music is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of echoed guitars, dark and ethereal keyboards, doomy drum machine beats, VanPortfleet's melancholic, whispered vocals and Vanflower's vivid voice.
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
and
Peter Steele Peter Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O Negative. Before forming Type O N ...
are some of their more well-known fans.


History

After
Mike VanPortfleet Robert Michael “Mike” VanPortfleet is an American singer-songwriter and keyboard player, most recognized for founding the darkwave group Lycia in 1988. During the 2000s, his focus shifted from Lycia to several other musical projects which inc ...
started Lycia in 1988 as a solo project, in the summer of that year he met Will Welch, who joined for the project. In November, Welch was replaced by John Fair. In March 1989, Lycia's first recording, ''Wake'', a 6-song
demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
, is released on Orphanage Records. The sound is characterized at the time by dominating rock guitars and rhythm patterns of drum computer. ''Wake'' was unique in that it was
mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...
directly onto an
audio cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...
tape, as opposed to the more professional
multitrack recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive who ...
that Lycia would henceforth use. John Fair left Lycia in 1990, and Will Welch returned. The sound of Lycia increasingly evolved into a heavy-noise or harsh industrial direction. At the end of that year, Lycia began work on the first full-length album entitled "Byzantine", but due to technical problems it never appeared. Mike VanPortfleet decided to gather the individual fragments of the album for a second start-up process. The final outcome was in September 1991 under the title ''Ionia'' on the label
Projekt Records Projekt Records is an independent record label established by Sam Rosenthal in 1983, the label focuses on darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret releases. History Projekt was founded in 1983 by Sam ...
and is characterized by ambient textures and very flat and atmospheric sounds. Meanwhile, production on the next album, ''A Day in the Stark Corner'', was already in full swing. This was published in June 1993 and follows technically seamlessly as the successor to ''Ionia''. A short California tour followed. Soon it turned the occupation and the sound again. The line-up was extended by David Galas. Under the project name Bleak, they began work on the album ''Vane'', but in a much more rough direction. In return, in the main project Lycia, new tracks were prepared, increasingly emphasizing on
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
s. The line-up was reinforced by the singer
Tara VanFlower Tara L. VanPortfleet, known professionally as Tara VanFlower, is an American singer-songwriter, known for her vocal contributions to darkwave group Lycia. In 1999 she released '' This Womb Like Liquid Honey'' on Projekt Records. She released a s ...
, and this material was released in 1995 as a
double CD Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A 2 ...
under the name '' The Burning Circle and Then Dust''. The album introduced the power pop hit "Pray". Following the release, Lycia played concerts opening for
Type O Negative Type O Negative was an American gothic/doom metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums ...
. In June 1995, Lycia traveled to Chicago, IL, to perform in the first gothic Convergence festival. It was followed by ''Cold'' in 1996, representing the group's bleakest sounds yet, another landmark in the darkwave genre. 1998's ''Estrella'' saw a more experimental output with otherworldly sounds. In 1999 they started their own label called Lycium Music. Under the title "Estraya" was released an EP titled ''The Time Has Come and Gone'' with songs based on ambient soundscapes and acoustic guitars. With the same sound approach, but under the name of the main project Lycia, in 2002 they released the album ''Tripping Back Into The Broken Days''. The same year some songs from ''Cold'' were licensed for the film titled ''Lana's Rain''. In January 2001 the band's former label, Projekt Records, released ''Compilation Appearances Vol. 1'', and ''Compilation Appearances Vol. 2'' in July 2001, without Lycia's involvement, featuring songs recorded in Arizona during the early 1990s. In October 2003, two months later, Lycia quit their label Projekt Records, and their last album titled ''Empty Space'' was released on Silber Records. VanPortfleet released his first solo work in 2004, an
ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...
album entitled ''Beyond The Horizon Line''. Tara VanFlower (now married to Mike VanPortfleet) and David Galas have also since recorded their own solo releases. Vanflower recorded ''This Womb Like Liquid Honey'', ''My Little Fire-Filled Heart'', and has performed two solo live shows, including the
Cornerstone Festival Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...
in Illinois. David Galas released
The Cataclysm
in 2006,
The Happiest Days Of My Life
in 2009 and
The Ghosts Of California
in 2011. After several years of inactivity, Lycia announced on their Facebook and MySpace pages a digital-only release titled ''Fifth Sun'', released on June 22, 2010. On December 5, 2012, Lycia announced a new release, '' Quiet Moments'', through their Facebook page. It was released on August 20, 2013. On October 26, 2014, Lycia announced that David Galas had rejoined the band and that they were recording a new album titled ''
A Line That Connects ''A Line That Connects'' is the tenth studio album by Lycia, released by Handmade Birds on August 21, 2015. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''A Line That Connects'' liner notes. ;Lycia * David Galas – electric guitar, ac ...
'', scheduled to be released in August 2015. On November 9, 2018, Lycia released their full-length LP ''In Flickers'' on Projekt Records. It is available at th
Projekt Records
site.


Musical style

Lycia have been recognized as pioneers in darkwave music. Over the band's career they have also incorporated elements of post-punk, ethereal wave, ambient, industrial, and electronic music. In a review for Pitchfork, Andy O'Conner describes Quiet Moments as "a somber, but beautiful collection that offers an intriguing meditation on mystery and loss". Author
Eugene Thacker Eugene Thacker is an American author. He is a professor of media studies at The New School in New York City. His writing is associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker's books include ''In the Dust of This Planet'' (part ...
, in an interview with Lycia, describes their music: "This is dark music is at once wide open and closed in upon itself, a wall of sound that disintegrates into an ambient haze of lethargic rhythms and world-weary chord changes."Wide Open Spaces - An Interview with Lycia
at Lycia's Facebook Page (February 16, 2016).


Discography

;Studio albums *'' Wake'' (1989) *''
Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...
'' (1991) (According to their
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
page, the album will be re-release as a 2 LP set for its 30th anniversary) *'' A Day in the Stark Corner'' (1993) *'' The Burning Circle and Then Dust'' (1995) (Remastered in 2006 as a single-disc edition) *''
Cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjectivity, subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute t ...
'' (1996) (Remastered in 2007) *'' Estrella'' (1998) (Remastered in 2005) *'' Tripping Back Into the Broken Days'' (2002) *'' Empty Space'' (2003) *'' Quiet Moments'' (2013) *''
A Line That Connects ''A Line That Connects'' is the tenth studio album by Lycia, released by Handmade Birds on August 21, 2015. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''A Line That Connects'' liner notes. ;Lycia * David Galas – electric guitar, ac ...
'' (2015) *''
In Flickers ''In Flickers'' is the eleventh studio album by Lycia, released on October 26, 2018 by Projekt Records. Reception I Die: You Die gave ''In Flickers'' a positive review and said "fans of the band's classic sound should still find plenty to enjoy ...
'' (2018) ;Live performance albums *''
Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...
'' (1994) ;Compilation albums *''
Compilation Appearances Vol. 1 ''Compilation Appearances Vol. 1'' is a compilation album by Lycia (band), Lycia, released on January 30, 2001 by Projekt Records. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Compilation Appearances Vol. 1'' liner notes. *Dick Charles  ...
'' (2001) *'' Compilation Appearances Vol. 2'' (2001) ;Extended plays *''
The Time Has Come and Gone ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'' (2000) (Released under Estraya) *''Fifth Sun'' (2010) *''Casa Luna'' (2021) ;Other albums *'' Vane'' (1995) (Released under Bleak)


References


External links

*
Lycia
at
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lycia American dark wave musical groups Rock music groups from Arizona Ethereal wave musical groups Projekt Records artists Musical groups from Tempe, Arizona American gothic rock groups