DEBUT ALBUM STRANGE MORNINGS IN THE GARDEN AVAILBLE 5/20/22 ON AMERICAN LAUNDROMAT RECORDS
Credit: Ann Sullivan-Cross
"(SO FAR FROM) SILVERLAKE" SINGLE (OUT TODAY) LISTEN || WATCH
MYSTIC, CONN – The Loyal Seas - the creative partnership of Tanya Donelly (Belly, Throwing Muses, The Breeders) and Brian Sullivan (Dylan in the Movies) – has swelled from covers, and a split single to a debut album with the release of Strange Mornings In The Garden, available May 20 through American Laundromat Records.
The single “(So Far From) Silverlake” is available today on most streaming platforms, as is the official video directed by Orrin Anderson (Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave and +/-) on YouTube. The album will be available for pre-orders exclusively through Bandcamp on March 4th. PRE-ORDER
Donelly and Sullivan first met in the mid ’90s at Fort Apache Studios, the famed New England recording studio that has produced legions of beloved albums. “Tanya is one of my favorite singers,” explains Brian. “Her voice is an instrument and sounds like an angel - or what I think an angel would sound like. And she's a poet; her words and stories slay me. It’s always a thrill to hear what she comes up with.”
They were friends almost instantly and have collaborated over the years, appearing on two of American Laundromat’s most popular tribute compilations. The pair contributed a sparkling cover of “The Lovecats” for Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to The Cure (2009), where Donelly’s honeyed rasp is brightened by the contrast of Sullivan’s lower-register growls. Their take on “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” from Please, Please, Please: A Tribute to the Smiths (2011), glimmers with melancholic wonder, with Donelly’s silken lead vocals textured by an orchestral scythe and Sullivan’s backing anchor.
These covers led to a formal partnership on a whim. Tanya remembers, “Brian was over my house, playing this beautiful piece he’d written on piano and I called dibs on it. It grew from there.”
Brian confirms, “I think Tanya said, ‘Can I have that?’ - she was working on her Swan Song Series at the time. It was at that moment I blurted out, ‘Let's make an album together!’”
That song became “Last of the Great Machines” – the seed that germinated into their dynamic debut split single, “Strange Mornings in the Garden” b/w “Last of the Great Machines,” released in December 2020 as a label exclusive that sold-out instantly. Each side was an individualistic statement showcasing a particular side of the pair’s personality. One a luxuriant, sweeping ballad, and the other tightly knit, kinetic alt-pop.
To solidify this new partnership, the duo needed a name. “Band names are tricky. We came up with some interesting names,” recalls Brian. “Our relationship is very 'brother and sister' - that's where the ‘loyal’ part comes in. To me, family means loyalty.” Adds Tanya, “Brian and I are ocean animals, so that had to be in there somewhere.”
And so, the Loyal Seas bloomed. The group’s full-length debut Strange Mornings In the Garden will be released on May 20, 2022.
ABOUT THE LOYAL SEAS
For the last decade, trailblazing alternative rock figurehead Tanya Donelly has pursued meaningful collaborations with favorite artists and friends. The resulting work is by turns poignant, delightful and entirely surprising, melding folk, rock, pop and orchestral sounds. Her latest, The Loyal Seas, pairs Donelly with New England cult-favorite Brian Sullivan, who’s worked under the moniker Dylan in the Movies since the mid ’00s. A skilled singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sullivan’s debut, Feel the Pull (2005), and follow-up full-length, Sweet Rebel Thee (2014), are each teeming with a lush, discrete form of alt-pop, Sullivan’s private mind garden translated as cinematic vignettes.
