Joanna Liz Cass has released After The End (Rainbow Wood Sessions), a 14-track album of shimmering and ethereal pop songs written and recorded with producer Ed Graves at his Rainbow Wood Studios in Bath between the periods of 2019 – 2021.
The collection of songs were created during the writing sessions for Liz’s highly acclaimed debut album The Words released in 2022. The new songs are an experimental group of B-sides reflecting the varying sounds, emotions, and moods the pair worked through to reach The Words.
Regarding the new release Liz says, “I think of them as ‘the other songs’ – the melancholy ones that came before my first album when I had no idea where I was headed musically. It was a magical time of experimenting freely in the studio and getting lots off my chest and I guess it became the foundation for everything I’ve written since. Each one was created in one session from start to finish. I don’t believe in music gathering dust in the vault, so we decided to release them as a collection of B-sides, kept as they were the day we wrote and recorded them.”
The title track and opener ‘After The End’ launches the unchained experimentation flowing throughout the collection of songs, a pensive warm glow of synth-pop welcoming self-acceptance delivered through chilling breathy vocals which are also found on the likes of ‘Stranded’ (including additional vocals from Ed Graves), or ‘Silent Night’, which builds into a bold glacial pop anthem.
‘Waiting Room’ turns the record completely on its head with seductive jazz infused soul, which also seeps into the likes of ‘Tomorrow Land’, yet here is bolstered by dark synths and broken beats among the wide-ranging vocals. They delve even deeper into an electronic tip with the warm propulsive ‘Never Had You’, and the minimal ‘Quicksand’, while the record comes full circle to finish with a beautiful acoustic rendition of ‘After The End’.
Liz Cass is a constantly evolving artist and this collection of songs captures a time of development of her own musical sound and personal understanding of wellbeing. Her music is an honest outpour of navigating life and emotions, which came together in their full form for The Words, the pivotal debut record of stunning alt-pop which received a wealth of praise from the likes of The Times, Independent, Clash and more alongside radio support from Radio 1, BBC 6Music and BBC Introducing as she proved herself an important new name on the UK pop scene.
2023 has seen the release of new singles ‘Map Of A Human Heart’ and ‘Too Hot’, which again proved hits on the airwaves further cementing her distinctive brand of synth-pop as we head into the new year with more exciting music to come from Liz Cass in 2024.
AFTER THE END (RAINBOW WOOD SESSIONS) TRACK LISTING:
After The End
Awake
Ophelia
Silent Night
Never Had You
Stranded (feat. Ed Graves)
Quicksand
Waiting Room
Lonely
Midnight Ghosts
No Win
Endings And Beginnings
Tomorrow Land
After The End (acoustic)
