Into the Labyrinth (Dead Can Dance album)
Into the Labyrinth is the sixth studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 13 September 1993, by 4AD. It marked a strong shift from their previous albums, putting ethnic music influences at the forefront, as would be the case in the later albums. It was their first album completed on their own without the aid of guest musicians, and their first album to have a major-label release in the US, thanks to a distribution deal that 4AD had with Warner Bros. Records. It featured the single "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove". Into the Labyrinth was a major success, selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide.
Overview
Into the Labyrinth was a marked change on many fronts from the previous album Aion, released three years earlier. Perry and Gerrard were now living far apart and writing music independently. For the album, Gerrard traveled back to Perry's studio Quivvy Church where they merged their songs and recorded the album over a period of three months together. This was the first album where Perry and Gerrard played all instruments, without guest musicians. The lyrics are in English on tracks 2–4, 8, and 11. Gerrard sings in a self-created wordless vocal technique similar to glossolalia on tracks 1, 5–7, 9–10. Tracks 3 and 10 were performed a cappella.In the UK, the CD album was simultaneously released along a limited edition double vinyl LP.
The title alludes to the classic legend of Greek mythology about Theseus going into the Labyrinth against the Minotaur. While not necessarily a concept album, this link adds some conceptual cohesion to the album. This theme is reflected in several song titles: "Ariadne" ; "Towards the Within" ; "The Spider's Stratagem" : and "Emmeleia"
Track information
- "Yulunga ": in Gerrard's native Australia, yulunga means "dance" or "spirit dance", apparently related to the verb in the Gamilaraay language of the Aboriginal Kamilaroi. In an Aboriginal dreamtime legend, Yulunga is a variant of Julunggul, the Aboriginal mythological Rainbow Serpent goddess. This song was used as the introductory track on the 1994 yoga video Ali MacGraw: Yoga, Mind & Body.
- "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove": Perry described him as his alter ego, "the abstract relationship of myself and woman".Into the Labyrinth press kit, op. cit. This song was played during the strip club scene in the 1995 Sean Penn film The Crossing Guard. The title referred to a 1965 Secret Agent episode.
- "The Wind That Shakes the Barley": A late 18th-century traditional Irish ballad that Lisa Gerrard wanted to record her own version of, "it was meant to be a rallying song, but it has such an intense sadness that it becomes an anti-war song". The liner notes described it as "dedicated to the memory of Maureen Copper", but nothing else is established about that person. The recording was sampled by hip hop producer 4th Disciple on Killarmy's song "Blood for Blood", which appeared on the album Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars.
- "The Carnival Is Over": It was described as a reminiscence of pre-teen Perry living in East London, visiting the circus. It also featured a borrowed lyric from Joy Division's "The Eternal" in the form of " procession moves on, the shouting is over".
- "Ariadne": The title referred to the Greek legend of Ariadne and the Labyrinth.
- "Towards the Within": The title referred obliquely to the Labyrinth, because Theseus had to journey towards the within to reach the Minotaur at the centre.
- "Tell Me About the Forest": Perry explained, "When you live in Ireland you see the people who have been away for years returning to their parents, and you also see those they leave behind... the breaking down of tradition along with the uprooting and upheaval of tribes. In Ireland, and in the rain forests. If we could only keep the oral traditions going, and leave the clerical bull behind... ". Like "The Carnival Is Over", this song borrowed two Joy Division lyrics – the lines "and we're changing our ways, taking different roads" and "this treatment takes too long".
- "The Spider's Stratagem": The title referred obliquely to the Labyrinth, via the 1970 Bertolucci film The Spider's Stratagem adapting a short story by master of the Labyrinth Jorge Luis Borges, "Theme of the Traitor and Hero" published in English in Labyrinths. This song was also used in the 1994 yoga video Ali MacGraw: Yoga, Mind & Body.
- "Emmeleia": The title was the name of the grave and dignified dance of tragedy in the theatre of ancient Greece. The "lyrics" derive from Lisa Gerrard's usual glossolalia, but because she had to write down a phonetic version for Brendan Perry to sing along with her, this song sounds much more like a structured language. Written transcriptions exist but no language could be recognised.In 1996, Ron Butters was asked by a student if he could identify the language of "Emmeleia". Butters made a transcription but couldn't go further, then asked about it on the American Dialect Society mailing-list but received no answer. Butters' transcription could possibly be the basis for all the current "Emmeleia lyrics" pages, but because the lyrics pages are much more precise, it is possible that the original Gerrard script was published somewhere or provided to fans.
- "How Fortunate the Man With None": For the lyrics, Perry picked four stanzas from Bertolt Brecht's 1928 poem "Die Ballade von den Prominenten", in the English translation by John Willett. Perry then set them to music for a Temenos Academy production of the play. It was only the second time such permission was granted by the Brecht estate, the previous one being in 1963.
Track listing
The 1993, 2008 and 2010 limited-edition double-vinyl LP releases had / 1–3 / 4–7 // "Bird" 8–9 / "Spirit" 10–11 / adding the following:
- "Bird" – 5:00
- "Spirit" – 4:59
They were the two earlier bonus tracks from the 1991 compilation A Passage in Time, and they were collected again on Dead Can Dance.
Personnel
Musical
- Lisa Gerrard – vocals, performer
- Brendan Perry – vocals, performer, percussions, sound samples
Technical
- Brendan Perry – engineer, producer
Graphical
- Touhami Ennadre – front cover image
- John Sherwin – inside image
- Ken Kavanagh – all other inside images
- Chris Bigg – sleeve design
Release history