Releasing his complex and compelling fourth album Serene Demon, Art d’Ecco takes Wonderland through the work in our latest track-by-track.
A winding slope that traverses mortality and morality, good and evil, colour and darkness, Serene Demon, the fourth studio album from pop savant Art d’Ecco, is his most encapsulating and dextrous body of work yet. Made alongside Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Strokes) and released via Paper Bag Records, the LP sees Art delve deeper into his sonic sensibilities than ever before, and tackle the core of his humanity in thrilling style. Wonderland wanted to know all about the process and meaning, so asked the artist to share his thoughts in our latest track-by-track.
Speaking on the wider process, Art said:
“This journey began in the fall of 2022. In NYC—on a badly tuned piano, and captured crudely on an iPhone, I began to sketch sounds and capture bits and pieces—sentence fragments of melody, to be later assembled and re-imagined into a focused vision. I spent my evenings roaming the streets of Manhattan listening to movie soundtracks while I searched for any form of inspiration—dark hideouts, dive bars, speak easy joints, live shows, and restaurants – became some of the many places to people watch while I anonymously absorbed just enough culture to fuel the next writing session.
Thematically speaking, Serene Demon a collection of songs that ponder the meaning of life, laundered through existentialism, escapism, fantasy and nihilism. I wondered what it would sound like if Stanley Kubrick adapted Albert Camus’ The Stranger for a major motion picture, starring a young Alain Delon and Susan Serandon, with Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone joining forces for the soundtrack.
It’s a cinematic glammed-up art-rock record with flourishes of jazz, soul and psychedelia. Rushing rivers of creativity all hurling towards a singularity, and there I am in the confluence of it all- thrashing about in the rapids, trying to stay afloat on my little song-craft just long enough to make sense of the chaos, before it disappears forever…”
Listen to the record…
Read the track-by-track…
“True Believer”
Serene Demon is a metaphor. Think of it as the duality of good and evil. We are all capable of inhabiting both worlds, but most of us intrinsically strive to inhabit the good. True Believer is about the seduction of evil from within us. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for depression? Or an invasive thought that implores one to self destruct? I was imagining a tiny little demon dancing on my shoulder, seducing me to come to the dark side…
“Cooler Than This”
A song that explores the idea of a love gone cold. The light at the end of the tunnel used to be the way out, but now it is just a train – and she’s coming to level you.
“Survival of The Fittest”
A song about perseverance, and overcoming adversity. Life is hard – and it pummels us at every turn, attempting to beat us down and force us into submission. The message is pretty straight forward and clear: I wanted to write a call to action. There’s a reference to Sisyphus in the song, which is an allegory for the human experience and survival. It’s also a nod to the French philosopher Albert Camus’ essay on existentialism called The Myth of Sisyphus whereby he proposes: “The absurd lies in the juxtaposition between the fundamental human need to attribute meaning to life and the “unreasonable silence” of the universe in response”.
Although the obvious metaphorical context of Sisyphus (rolling the boulder up the hill in an endless act of perseverance) is utilized in this song, Camus’ rebuke of this concept in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus formed a foundational pillar to the idea of existentialism, and had a profound effect on me throughout the writing of this record.
“Tree of Life”
This song is the first musical collaboration with my long time rhythm section (Malcolm Holt and Pascal Le Vasseur AKA “The West Coast Boogie Machine”). The genesis of TOL came from a jam—I would sit up in the loft during pre-production and have them warm up by playing them specific songs for inspiration. For TOL I asked them to play a disco groove – something akin to You Should Be Dancing by the Bee Gees, which stays in the same key/chords for all the main parts of the song, only deviating to a chromatic section as a respite from the various bass riffing.
Using this as our inspirational goal posts, the rhythm section locked into place and I hit record. They improvised the tight upbeat groove you hear on this song – almost immediately. Of the 2 minutes I recorded, I was able to chop up and assemble the entire demo for what would be the song Tree of Life.
Lyrically I think the words speak for themselves (partnership starts with planting a seed – sometimes we grow together, sometimes we grow apart).
“The Traveller”
A song about escapism, my Tony Bourdain influence—and a life long obsession with travel.
“Meursault’s Walk”
“And each successive shot was another loud, fateful rap on the door of my undoing” Meursault is the central character in Albert Camus’ The Stranger. Musically this song has a Noir-ish anxiety. I was really inspired by Francois de Robaix and his work on the soundtrack of Le Samourai. I was picturing the scene in The Stranger where Meursault shoots the Arab man in cold blood on the beach, and what that scene would sound like in a movie adaptation- if I were hired to write the score.
I am a big fan of instrumentals on albums. This one forms a very important palate cleanser, as it prepares you for the title track – and a darker, moodier shift.
“Serene Demon”
From the outset I knew I wanted it to be a four act play on existentialism (lyrically it reads like a conversation between two people in crisis – one is a believer of God, (or some sort of higher power), and the other – an existentialist). I wanted grooves and key changes. The tempo had to be fluid. The chord progression needed to be complex but simple to follow. I wanted to evoke a true sense of emotion at every turn.
I’ve been a long time fan of big FM rock ballideering, the kind you’d only hear in the 70’s (shocker!) such as Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself” or Harry Nilsson’s performance of “Without You”. There’s a bit of Bowie’s Diamond Dogs triptych Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing. Or the film scores of Ennio Morricone, John Barry etc. I love Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This song is like being at the dessert bar and putting every topping on your chocolate sundae. Sometimes more is more.
“Honeycomb”
“Honeycomb” provides a comic relief for the soul – a light hearted antidote for the emotional rollercoaster the listener just experienced for the preceding 10 minutes. I call this my “Ringo song” – it’s almost too saccharine (pun intended). It’s definitely the album outlier – but a necessary piece to the puzzle.
“Life is always better when you’re here in the moment” – another nod to the existentialist edict so I suppose it fits thematically.
“Shell Shock”
A groove that came from another rhythm section jam. We chipped away at this one in a pure free flow of artistic collaboration. At this point in the pre-pro, we were cooking. Having spent 200 hours over the course of a few months, we were all vibrating on the same page.
I went home with the instrumental and wrote the lyrics, synths etc. There’s a Roland SH-2000 synth used all over this song which is what Steve Miller used in “Fly Like an Eagle”. There’s also a bit of Jan Hammer’s “Don’t You Know” on this jam, albeit totally by accident.
“A Change of Scenery”
Sometimes songs write themselves quickly, but on many other occasions they’re a giant piece of wood that needs to be chopped, carved, and whittled down into a little sculpture. Of all the songs on this album, ACOS transformed the most from original idea / demo, to the final presentation.
There’s a theme of escape that runs throughout this album. Often we are running from a strange version of ourselves, seeking a new life as we shed a toxic layer of skin that masks our full potential. Other times, escape is a temporary respite – a therapeutic journey. An adventure. A psychedelic trip.
ACOS is about leaving an old life behind and starting anew.