VANESSA BLEY
LIFE & DEATH
Released August 3, 2017
Shortly after moving from NYC to LA, my father passed away. I wrote this album around that time when I was feeling a lot of grief and confusion. Los Angeles was a strange town to land in with its drought and highways. This collection of songs reflect on the death, the move and everything in between.
"Sunset Hangover" is the first song I recorded after moving to Los Angeles, which was deep in a wicked drought. After growing up in lush, upstate New York and Miami, the absence of water hit me harder than expected. I also was conflicted about the need for wheels in LA after living in the walking capital, NYC for 14 years. This video was shot in Santa Ynez, CA, where I live now. At the time the river ran and the time it didn't.
Video created by Vanessa Bley & Max Gleason
Edited by Max Gleason
CAST
Gypsy - Vanessa Bley
Water Shaman - David Braun
Fly Girls - Callie Gleason & Becca Nuss
SUNSET HANGOVER
Music written, Recorded & Produced by Vanessa Bley
Percussion - Steve Kefalas
Percussion Engineered by Christopher Jon
Mixed by Jonathan Kreinik at Studio Boombox Magnetica
Mastered by David Gardner, Infrasonic Mastering
Vanessa Bley, daughter of late jazz pianist Paul Bley and pioneer video artist Carol Goss, is best known as front woman for haze-pop band Beast Patrol, noted Band to Watch by Rolling Stone, and the jazz-noir group Twin Danger, described as "The Sound Of Frank Sinatra Meets The Clash" by NPR. Bley co-wrote and produced Twin Danger's self-titled debut album with saxophonist and guitarist Stuart Matthewman, the co-founder of Sade. The album, released by Decca / Universal Classics, went to number one on the iTunes Jazz Chart and received four stars from Downbeat, leading to an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered and shows around the world. In addition to her two bands and solo records, Bley scores film and art installations, including a recent multi-sensorial perfume installation for International Flavors & Fragrances and Sony Arcade. In 2015 Bley edited the audio for the film Eyes of the Moon, which debuted at the Marfa Film Festival. Most recently, Bley relocated to Santa Ynez, CA where she recently completed another solo record entitled, "Life & Death," inspired by the passing of her father and the move from New York City after 14 years, to Los Angeles. The first single, "Sunset Hangover" premiered 11/11. The full album was released August 3, 2017.
