Chelsea Wolfe
Pain Is Beauty

A woman with a macabre and nocturnal charm, that of Chelsea Wolfe. A mysterious allure that mesmerizes and unsettles. Like her siren voice, a voice that attracts and hypnotizes. A voice that can be soft and minimal like the footsteps of a wolf on fresh snow, yet it can also become powerful and tormented like the ocean in a storm.

In "Pain Is Beauty," Chelsea dons the attire of a goddess of the night, envelops herself in a black cloak, and channels all her emotions over a lost love into twelve magnetic and intoxicating tracks. The album, akin to a Dantean journey, begins infernal, haunted, violent, and then ascends towards paradise, with glimpses of white light emerging in the finale.

"Feral Love" is the pitch-black incipit, a Luciferian beginning molded on a pounding and obsessive dance of death. Unsettling atmospheres reminiscent of the disturbing sound of Swans, the paranoid and sick doom of Michael Gira. Chelsea is darker than ever, a dark lady who envelops the listener in an endless cathartic spiral. With "House Of Metal" Chelsea transforms into an evanescent presence. The powerful bass and bucolic strings create the perfect soundtrack for a foggy, moonless night. An apocalyptic folk tinged with blood, a goosebump-inducing ballad worthy of the best Siouxsie.

However, Chelsea goes further in this album. She delves into minimal and dreamy electronics in "The Warden" and adopts the guise of a forest nymph, sweet and charming. Electronic sounds and ambient atmospheres also feature in "Sick", a track with horror and gloomy connotations. The epicness of Portishead and the unease of Dead Can Dance unite in perfect symbiosis, taking Chelsea Wolfe to great heights, almost reaching the other nocturnal sprite of music, Björk.

The goddess of the night picks up the acoustic guitar and sheds every superfluous instrument for "They'll Clap When You're Gone." An anthem for those who, like her, have suffered for a deep, meaningful love, but one that has now ended. And it all ends in the best possible way. The long and majestic "The Waves Have Come" is a sweet and gentle ballad, yet never sugary or banal. Eight and a half minutes in which Chelsea Wolfe showcases all her natural talents, all her emotional power, and her personal growth. One of the most beautiful songs of 2013, offering great hope for the future of the Californian singer-songwriter.

The darkness slowly clears, the fog disperses, and that layer of unease that covered the entire album steps aside. A pale light makes its way through, illuminating Chelsea's face. A face framed by raven hair, softened by two large blue eyes. "Lone" closes this Dantean journey down there, at the gates of paradise. Only a trace of decadence remains, an autumnal intimacy that makes her one of the most talented and fascinating women of these years.

With this album, Chelsea Wolfe takes us into her world filled with fears, pain, and decadent beauty. With this album, Chelsea Wolfe shows us that not all women in the world of music are like Miley Cyrus.