Outlands

It could be the missing 80s album by the Bad Seeds or the subtitle of a Johnny Cash American Recording. But Love is as Cold as Death is a misinterpretation of a Fassbinder film title, and the first full-length album by Los Angeles-based electronic duo, Outlands.
The album is a departure from the reverb-soaked vocals and warped disco samples of Outlands’ 2012 Crash Symbols/Chill Mega Chill “In Times Like These There Are No Boundaries.” While the EP’s aesthetic was desolate and cold, complete by a cover of Marianne Faithfull’s “Broken English,” Love is as Cold as Death pushes the concept as one that can still be conveyed in clean production, carefully constructed beats, and deceptively complex pop songs.
“The album became an homage to the 90s for us,” says Mark Arciaga, one-half of Outlands. The duo constructed a list of sonic influences while recording: late 80s and early 90s RnB, the Fairlight heavy records of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, and trip hop, especially Lamb, Massive Attack, and Tricky. “We made a conscious choice to move away from a lo-fi sound. The music is still moody and dense, but the lead vocals are up front, there is atmosphere from our own loops and beats, and we have more live instruments,” says Arciaga.
Lyrically, the album muses on themes as diverse as religious devotion, place, obsessive love, and political discourse. “Politics” draws on George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language for content, “Chrome” connects the recent papal conclave with Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, and “Reproduction” challenges ideas of maps and home.
Smith’s nuanced vocal delivery ranges from the breathy RnB of “Warm Winds” and “Someone to Hold You in the Dark” to the Lisa Gerrard-influenced swell of “Politics” and the confident disco noir of “Devout.” When Smith sings, “We adapt for love, shedding reptile skin,” on the final track, “New Reptiles,” we realize that love is indeed cold. But Love is beautiful, and it is also a challenge.
Love is as Cold as Death will be released on February 3, 2014 on LebensStrasse Records (vinyl and digital). The album was produced by Outlands and mixed and recorded by Outlands and Tyler McDonald with additional vocals by Kevin Knight and George Clanton
Outlands are Melissa Smith and Mark Arciaga. They live in Los Angeles.