Los Angeles singer-songwriter Vinnie Ferra creates haunting, minimalist folk music that remains rooted in the past but also keeps its vision steadfastly ahead. Traditionalism and experimentation share equal space on his new album arc en ciel, which we’re proud to premiere here today. From the hushed tones of “Dreamer”, to the explosive, two-part “Ghost Town” suite, to the wistful title track, to the gorgeous ten-minute epic “House on the Hill”, the arc of this album is a tremendous strength.
“In listening to the album, most will hear stories of painful love from all different perspectives,” Ferra tells PopMatters. “I always made music as a personal outlet not a public form of art, so I would pour all my bottled up emotions into the music. The album has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning shows innocence with ‘Dreamer’, Christmas morning with your family. The darkness of leaving that behind as you get older. Then you grow up, lose a friend, a romantic relationship falls apart. Then you get to that point in life where you are confronted by the loss of a parent and we end with a dark reflection on all of it with ‘House On The Hill’. I think that’s what made finishing this album so difficult. I had to let go of the stories and their pain in order to fully finish it.”
arc en ciel will be released 23 June (Bandcamp).