Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Celogen Carves Out His Own Art Pop Path with “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Celogen Carves Out His Own Art Pop Path with “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns”
Celogen
Fri May 21, 2021
Cashbox Canada

Canadian art pop auteur Celogen challenges convention and focuses on invention with this, his new release “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns”.

Check out “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns” on YouTube here:

A bold exploration of the dark side of the mind, “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns” turns a spotlight on unreality with an urgent shuffle, propelling Celogen’s dramatic MorrisSey-esque vocals. Often ascending into a playful falsetto, Celogen is the blithe but observant narrator of a desperate character’s fatalistic story that begins and ends with the stark declaration:

‘She knows she’s gonna die’

‘And you say go on, give yourself rope burns / For what you choose to believe’

The first single from his third album and sixth release, Wingwinder, Celogen says “(Give Yourself) Ropeburns” is one of the “angriest songs on the record.” Paired and compared with track, “The Soccer Star,” — also featured on the recent release — “both deal with the things people will do to shield themselves from reality,” he explains. “In ‘The Soccer Star,’ the main character immerses themself in the past while, in ‘Ropeburns,’ the character simply hides from everything, and believes their life is over.”

Celogen is the boundary-stretching solo project of Calgary-based musician, songwriter, and producer Dominic Demierre. After playing in a number of post-punk and emo bands during his university years, Demierre found himself feeling stifled and wanting to break away from being drawn into stylistic corners.

As Celogen, three EPs and three full-length albums released since 2018 are the prolific fruit of a labour to cut loose from so many readymade aesthetics and seek out something original he could call his own; these include 2020’s Celogen Was Built by Ghosts, for Ghosts, 2019’s Goodnight Childsprite, and 2018’s Stonehome, Tameplane, and Doveflood.

2021’s Wingwinder is a creation to which Demierre can lay almost all claim; with the exception of saxophonist Robin Pearce, Demierre played all the other instruments, sang all the vocals, and did all the programming for the eight tracks on the album.

“Wingwinder was written entirely in 10 days while I was secluded in the town of Okotoks [Alberta],” he recalls of the album songwriting’s quick, but deeply cathartic experience. The outpouring of related creativity came after the inventive and unflinchingly honest artist moved to a new home, having been “blindsided by the sudden end of a troubled, yet passionate relationship” immediately following an “extended mental health crisis,” he shares.

“I lived in the basement of a suburban home and let the songs pour out of me unfiltered. They deal with subjects that were near and dear to me like young love, regret, nostalgia and, of course, insanity.

“It’s not a concept album, but there is a deliberate theme running through it of the struggle to hold on to things which time inevitably erodes.”

Citing the contemporary experimentalist St. Vincent, and great pop inventors of the past like Kate Bush and Brian Wilson as influences, Celogen’s goal is to keep the musical vanguard moving forward while always reaching to touch audiences via the enduring magic of pop songwriting.

“After all, no matter one’s wanderlust, the gift of human connection remains paramount.”

For more visit:
celogen.bandcamp.com/
music.amazon.ca/albums/B08ZPX66C2
facebook.com/celogen.official
open.spotify.com/artist/2MxcWbDKBQsez1zR5d9IAG

Reviews
Album
Celogen
Month: Apr 2022
Alexis Lynn Alexis Lynn Isn’t Afraid to “Fall Apart” in New Single Release
Mary Lou Sicoly Jazz Singer Mary Lou Sicoly Offers Up a Timeless Standard with…
NITE NITE Releases Thrashing Metal Anthem Single on Addiction & Toxic…
Sarah Tolle Vancouver-Based Pop Artist Sarah Tolle Releases Body-Positive…
Son of James Vancouver, BC-Based Son of James Doubles Down With “I Need You” & “…
Chris Cauldfield Genre-Bending Rock/Hip-Hop Musician Chris Caulfield Releases…
Joe Satriani Releases “Pumpin’” Single from Forthcoming Album, The Elephants of Mars Joe Satriani Releases “Pumpin’” Single from Forthcoming Album, The Elephants…
Rick Christian Alt-Electronic Artist Rick Christian’s New “Contagious” Taunts &…
The Royaies Toronto-Based Hip-Hop Family Group The Royaies Tease New EP With “Thus…
Legendary Prog-Pop Rockers Strange Advance Are Having a “Perfect Day” with New Single & Tour Dates Legendary Prog-Pop Rockers Strange Advance Are Having a “Perfect Day…
Tim Withano Australian Folk Singer/Songwriter Tim Withano is Up on the “High Wire” with New…
Vancouver Alt-Rockers The Midnight Echo Launch a Clear “View of an Astronaut” with New Single Vancouver Alt-Rockers The Midnight Echo Launch a Clear “View of an…
U.K. Blues Rockers Elta Wave Dive into “Deep Water” Funk-First with New Single U.K. Blues Rockers Elta Wave Dive into “Deep Water” Funk-First with New Single…
Tyler Meacham Photo Credit Joey Wharton Pop Artist Tyler Meacham Explores Love & Vulnerability in…
Timothy Street Folk-Rocker Timothy Street Captures A Universal Longing for Home…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 63
  • Page 64
  • Page 65
  • Page 66
  • Current page 67
  • Page 68
  • Page 69
  • Page 70
  • Page 71
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers