Sold Date: September 22, 2021
Start Date: July 22, 2019
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Lycia - A Line That Connects  [New Vinyl] Gatefold 2LP Jacket, Limited edition, 140 Gram Vinyl. Condition is New. Shipped with USPS Media Mail from Portland Oregon. Ships directly from Projekt Records, the label that released this LP.  
2LP — 140-gram color vinyl — deep blue with black smoke. 24pt gatefold jacket. Limited edition of 500.

Lycia’s A Line That Connects returns on CD (and for the first time on 2LP) on Projekt Records. Originally released in the summer of 2015 on Handmade Birds, ALTC’s first pressing of 500 CDs quickly sold out. Haunting, bleak, moody and atmospheric, their 10th album is a heavy record with shifting sonics and a full-band sound thanks to a return to the classic mid-90s Lycia lineup of Mike VanPortfleet, David Galas, and Tara Vanflower. Building on the momentum of 2013’s Quiet Moments, it’s a contemporary sounding release that harkens back to their 90s darkwave roots. Lycia’s mix of post-punk bleakness and doomy darkness is an engaging, fascinating listen.

There’s a heavier feel here, a slow burn that threatens to explode from sheer intensity and passion; if you’re wondering just how it’s able to be menacing but also meditative, you’re not alone. The album flows through drone, dark-pop, and post-punk, with liquid guitar dripping, gloomy fog casting its spell, and hypnotic vocals spinning inside your head.

Mike reflects, “Time, space, and nature have been constant themes for Lycia over the years. With A Line That Connects, for my lyrical contributions I focused on lines and connections as the title suggests. There are connections between parents and children which I explore over several songs—between my mom and I, and between my son and I. There are lines that connect then and now. For example, the song, ‘A Ghost Ascends,’ was originally written back in 1983, and for this album it’s being revisited. The song’s original vocalist and lyricist, Michael Irwin, appears on this reworking providing backing vocals. Then there is a series of abstract connections that I explore, mostly to times and places from my childhood.”

POP MATTERS: “Lycia’s influence, and the respect it’s afforded, has been far more profound than any record sales figures would suggest. While VanPortfleet might have felt his band was under-appreciated, you only need look to the resurrection of deathrock, the rise of witchy and hauntological electronica, shoegazing metal, eerily psychedelic Americana, or the rejuvenation of dark ambient music to see that Lycia’s legacy inspired a raft of musicians across a broad range of musical genres.”