In the winding paths of love gone awry, where affection veers from its blissful beginnings, the experience becomes fraught with complexity. Senses deceive, reality fractures, and an all-consuming obsession grips the heart. Paris-based songstress Julia Gaeta opts not for stark representation of these somber themes in her latest EP through A La Carte Records, Blur Divine, however. Instead, she envelops these darker notions in a veil of sheer delicacy, giving them a touch of ethereal lightness.
Her voice, carrying whispers of vulnerability and hidden depths, imbues the song with a haunting beauty. The title track, Blur Divine, acts almost as a gossamer curtain, lightly dancing in a gentle breeze, behind which unfolds the stormy drama of love transformed from sweet to bitter.
“This is about losing oneself in love, or the disguise of love,” Gaeta says. “Being drunk on it, seeing what you want to see. It’s about having to pull yourself out of love in order to center and find yourself again. There’s a really jungly, swampy beat to this that lends itself to the subject matter of getting stuck in something and finding your power again.”
In the mesmerizing music video for “Blur Divine,” directed by David Fitt, the atmosphere is charged with the enigmatic allure of the potent spirit absinthe, a favorite of the exiled poet Oscar Wilde, from which Julia Gaeta drinks from a cloudy glass louched with dripping water. Full of symbolism and metaphors, the setting weaves through the restlessness of a night filled with tumultuous dreams and the awakening of dark, primal forces within, akin to a leather-and-latex-clad specter that stirs the soul from slumber. It delves into profound themes such as the awakening of one’s kundalini, confronting the shadow self, and unearthing dormant desires.
This rich melange of visuals in “Blur Divine” captures the essence of a journey toward self-discovery and transformation, underscored by haunting melodies and compelling rhythms. The inclusion of an absinthe fountain adds a layer of mystique and depth, reminiscent of the iconic scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” where Dracula and Mina share absinthe in a moment that is both intimate and foreboding. In both instances, absinthe serves as a potent symbol of the blurred lines between reality and illusion, the conscious and the subconscious, and the mortal and the immortal, highlighting the transformative power of love and the intoxication it can bring, akin to the ‘Green Fairy’ itself.
Watch the video for “Blur Divine” below:
Gaeta’s new offering invites listeners into a nocturnal world where introspective melodies of unrequited love become danceable laments. In “Blur Divine,” she skillfully blends the dark allure of pop with the raw edge of industrial textures, delving into the chaotic aftermath of love gone wrong—twisted perceptions, broken realities, and overpowering fixations—while wrapping these deep themes in a delicate, ethereal shroud.
Blur Divine was mostly written between two locations in Paris, beginning in 2020 pandemic lockdowns, after Gaeta had just moved to Paris from Berlin. One was a sublet in the 8th floor of a 1970s apartment complex, with renowned Père Lachaise Cemetery as her backyard and the sprawling cityscape of Paris in the front. The apartment felt like a lo-fi sex dungeon with faux leather curtains, fetishwear found in closets, mysterious stains and a mirror surrounding the bed. To Gaeta, it represented a window into a collective psyche, of others’ pain and pleasure. The second location was more isolated from much of the city’s hustle and bustle, providing an introspective and personal space to create. These dual locations certainly influenced the record’s dynamic.
LA-based producer Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus), who is particularly adept at blending organic and electronic sounds, worked with Gaeta across the planet to bring Blur Divine to life. With this release, Gaeta merges the sharp contrast of post-punk, the mysterious allure of synth-pop, and the raw force of industrial sounds. Her music resonates with fans of influential artists like Depeche Mode, Chelsea Wolfe, and the Cocteau Twins, and draws parallels with the bold styles of Garbage, The Knife, Curve, and Zola Jesus.
Oscar Wilde, a connoisseur of beauty and the decadent intricacies of the human experience, once mused, “What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?” His fascination with absinthe mirrored his exploration of love’s profound depths and the darker corners of desire. Wilde articulated the absinthe experience as a journey through stages:
“The first stage is like ordinary drinking, the second when you begin to see monstrous and cruel things,” wrote Oscar Wilde of absinthe, “But if you can persevere you will enter in upon the third stage where your see things that you want to see.”
Wilde also asserted that “The Mystery of Love is Greater than the mystery of Death.” This is a poignant reflection, especially when considering Wilde’s final resting place in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, a city where he was exiled to after the disaster of following his heart.
The Blur Divine EP is due out July 2nd.
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