The past six months have been kind to David Lampley and Flavia Ciampi. As a producer, he's been burning the midnight oil, adjusting frequencies and mastering material. As a performer, the slim, dark-haired Ciampi's been staying active singing over his electronic beats -- a sort-of psychedelic cool set to a pulse -- as partners in the duo Angels Dust.
After their digital soft launch in 2014, Angels Dust are prepping for their first physical release -- a 10-inch single featuring remastered versions of their online EP. As a result of Lampley's (aka Psychopop) obsessive knob-twiddling, this body of songs now sound cleaner, fuller and feel as though they have more meat on them.
The 10-inch isn't a batch of all new ideas but it's not all reissued material either. There's "Before You See," which closes out side A and the previously unreleased "Alone," the side B opener that inches along, smoldering; all slow molasses and drip. It's the Angels Dust pair in proper shoegaze form -- brokenhearted and at their most melancholy.
Psychopop selected the tracks for the single and says of the process, "Half the songs were about death and the other half were about love. We had around 10 songs, I picked our favorite ones." They have yet to decide on a name for the release but are alternating between the fiercely intense, "Songs To Kill Yourself To," and the less intimidating, "Slow Tapes."
Ciampi leans more towards to the dramatic "Kill Yourself" theme, having penned the songs from personal experience and a particularly dark period for her -- one marked by spells of depression and even thoughts of suicide. Over the phone, she's metered and soft spoken but says of those darker days, "It just seems extreme, but then again, we all love drama. It's in the books we read and the TV shows we watch. It's the extreme that grabs our attention."
After partnering with Brandy Flower of LA's "Hit & Run Crew," Angels Dust are eyeing a summer release and plan to tour internationally. But even though Ciampi is focused on the big picture, she hasn't lost sight of her immediate goals.
"I definitely want to sing and travel but I really hope that I can reach out, and that people will relate [to it]," she says. "I just hope that it gets to the right people."
Our fingers are crossed.
J. Smith, aka 1019, is a San Diego native, rap fan and one half of the rap duo Parker & the Numberman. You can follow him on Instagram at 1019_the_numberman or on Twitter
