Chelsea Wolfe, the American singer-songwriter who traverses the space between gothic, folk, metal, and rock is back with a new album, and a tour that will breathe life into your dormant realities. The album _Birth of Violence_, is a bluesy draw into a gothic romance that is soulful dense with emotions and poetry.
The single “The Mother Road” begins with just Wolfe and her guitar, setting up the song as a somber folk tune. Her voice embraces the minor key as she introduces themes of pain and reverence. The song explores her relationship with the road—both physical and metaphorical—towards her future, and her desire to be lead back home. Her tone is reverent as she embarks on this journey of self-discovery through pain. When we arrive at the bridge, the percussion becomes more pronounced in its vicious rhythm and resonance as it is joined by overarching strings and harmonies that elevate the song even further towards the haunting emotional precipice Wolfe is chasing. Once it is met, the song fades away with her final words “guess I needed something to break me,” after which, the only sound remaining comes from the strings.
Wolfe’s use of the minor key throughout the song seems all the more brilliant, not just because of its ability to inject a sadness into the melody, but specifically because of the ending. The final notes of the song are played in a major key, which is associated with a happy tone.
This works brilliantly within the context of the song due to the journey that Wolfe has been embarking on, and the peace she hopes to find. By repeating those words “guess I needed something to break me” here in the end over a major key, she is illustrating that this is no longer something that brings her pain, but rather a trial that she has gone through and won. Similar to the final chord in Mozart’s famous “Lacrimosa,” Wolfe ends on a high note that showcases her prowess at songwriting, and validates her decision to make this the opener of her new album.
Her new album _Birth of Violence_ is a hymn to the solitary spirit, showcasing cascading soundscapes and haunting melodies that draw the listener in and entrap them within her world. Wolfe showcases her introspective side with this album, and does so with the songwriting prowess that her listeners have loved. This powerful energy will be cast worldwide as Chelsea Wolfe embarks on her Acoustic Tour next month. Below we spoke to her about the versatility of going between electric and analog, Joni Mitchell, Northern California and her deeply romantic wardrobe.
**It was so great seeing you perform the other night. It was beautiful.**
Thank you. It’s a little rough around the edges. It was good to get that over with—the first time playing new songs. Now I feel less nervous about it all.
**Before I was given all the music and everything, I thought it was gonna be more of what your work has previously been, like all the kind of heavy electronic and rock out to the vibe. It was so brilliant to hear you perform acoustically, and to see that the new work is leading to that direction. How did you come about getting into it.**
I’ve always gone back and forth since the beginning of my musical career actually. Every album has at least one or two acoustic moments. Then in 2011 I released a collection of old and new acoustic songs. So there’s been a balance of a lighter side and a couple heavier records. I think I just naturally oscillate back and forth, and need to express both sides. When we were touring last year, I just started to get this nagging feeling that I needed to take a break from the road. I was always exhausted. My way of finding some time was to go take my acoustic guitar to the back of the bus and just have some time to myself. Then I started writing these songs that actually became _Birth of Violence_.
**I feel like your vocals especially on this particular album delves more into a folk and bluesy space compare to—I know you performed “Flatlands” and that one was more within that categories in regards to where your current work is. What were you listening to for this particular album that helped direct the sound and narrative?**
I actually made myself a playlist while I was writing and recording this. I had a lot of stuff that I was listening to when I was a kid. I grew up on Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash—just a lot of old country.
**I was actually going to mention those. One song “Highway” that I was listening to on the new album felt so much like Joni Mitchell, but I wasn’t sure if that was the right way to derive it, you know? About the vocalization, and also the way you’re playing with the voice, which I thought was very in that vain.**
For sure, yeah. She was one of my earliest influences, because my mom was always playing Joni Mitchell records. I feel like over the years I’ve come back to her as a big influence vocally and musically.
Photographed by: [Nona Limmen.](https://www.instagram.com/nonalimmen/)
**It was lovely to hear your voice using those techniques and everything.**
Yeah, I can see that.
**How are you going to be taking this on the road? Do you think it’s going to be similar to what we saw at at your intimate show at the Virgil? Are you incorporating a string section at all?**
I guess the setup would be similar to the showcase that you saw, but that was very much like a thrown together kind of thing. We didn’t have any control over the vibe, which is just like “Let’s showcase these songs, but in a really raw way.” I plan on the live show having more of a ritualistic feel, really connecting with the audience, and having this intimate night together. It’s definitely gonna be stripped down to most-likely me and the guitar a lot, then adding some instrumentation, maybe some string players here and there depending on what city we’re in. Yeah, just really stripped back and really ritualistic.
**Lyrically, what type of spaces have you been exploring with this album? What is the temperament that you have in the way you view music and lyricism?**
This record felt very much like an awakening or a new era, kind of a record of personal healing, or the beginning of personal healing. A lot of it is influenced so much from my time on the road these past eight or so years, because our tour schedule has been pretty consistent. If I’m home it’s for a short period of time, and I have the next time I’m leaving in my mind. It’s definitely a reflection of that—the draw to constantly be on the road because that’s what I was used to. Last year though I began to feellike I needed to find a place to call home, to take a break, and to learn to take care of myself, mind, body, and spirit. And to create healthier habits, and to create personal rituals, and just take some time to learn more about myself and my own spirituality. I think that a lot of that ended up in this record for sure.
**How has it been in northern California? What drew you to there? Are you originally from there?**
I’m from Sacramento, and moved to LA for 7 years, I think, something like that. Eventually, I moved outside of LA into the mountains there. That was a test to see if I could handle living outside of the city. Eventually I felt drawn to move back towards home. I knew I didn’t want to live in Sacramento proper again, so I started exploring the outskirts and the mountains. I found a small town, and found a little spot here. It’s been cool, it’s the extreme opposite of the road, which, for some people, might be an intense contrast, but I really like thriving in contrasts and extremes. I like the balance of being out in the chaos of the tour, and coming back to this really quiet, isolated place that’s just surrounded by trees.
Photographed by: [Nona Limmen.](https://www.instagram.com/nonalimmen/)
**I love that. It’s so fascinating that you’re able to exist in both spaces without needing to temper your mind. I feel like to decompress your mind, you would need to have an in-between moment. What is the way you view LA and its creativeness, or is it overly intense? Is it something you feel like you have to visit sometime, or do you enjoy it?**
I’ve actually been missing it lately. Living up here, I’m close enough to Sacramento that if I need a fix of friends or a little bit of city life, there’s something. But. I’m kind of missing LA. It was nice to be back down there for a few days, and to visit some friends as well. When I was living there, I was living just outside of downtown, and it was a lot of people with sounds and energy all the time. I think that was definitely influencing me, and it definitely influenced my outward appearance and beauty. It was a little more electronic. Some of the beats I wrote were directly just trying to sound like a helicopter overhead or something, trying to cash-in the sounds of the city. Anywhere I live, the songs that I write end up really being inspired by my surroundings, and the sounds that are around me. Who knows, maybe in a couple years I might need to get away from all this quiet to write something new.
**I feel you. I wanted to speak about the “Be All Things” video. Where did you shoot that? It was absolutely insane gorgeous.**
That was actually a lot of behind-the-scenes footage. When I shot the album cover for this, it was with my friend, Nona Limmen, who’s a great photographer from the Netherlands. She invited me to Iceland to work on some stuff with her, so we ended up shooting there. We were lead to this amazing ancient crater that has steam coming out from the ground. We were soaking wet by the end of the shoot. It was really magical, almost like a nature baptism. Part of it is from these caves I went to as a kid in northern California, these really deep taverns that were totally magical. Somehow I felt like the look of that and the ancient craters I felt connected. Mostly it’s in northern California.
**I would like to talk about your style. You have a consistent monochromatic style. It’s very in that type of vain of the Demeulemeester poet type of vibe. Is there any type of brands you tend to gravitate to, or styles?**
Ann Demeulemeester is a big one, very influential. I gather her pieces whenever I can, for sure. On the other side, I also like structural things, as well as teddy boots, which I’m obsessed with. It’s always been a staple for me. I’ve been lucky to work with my friend [**Jenni Hensler**](https://www.instagram.com/jennihensler/?hl=en) for many years now. She’s a costume designer and stylist, and visual amazing person. Her and I have been able to create these collections each time I do a record. It’s partly inspired by Victorian times, kind of like poet sleeves, large blouses, and long skirts. I’ve always been drawn to long silhouettes because I’m pretty tall. I like to exaggerate that with even taller shoes and long lines and things. We call the current collection “Soiled Dove,” which was actually a name in the Victorian times for prostitutes. I thought that was a really beautiful way of putting that.
**It’s amazing that you’ve been able to stay consistently in that aesthetic without any compromise, being able to have it become so iconically yours, which is great.**
Thank you. Yeah I think at times, on certain photoshoots and stuff, I’ve worn stuff that I definitely did not feel into, but I didn’t have enough of a voice to be like “I really don’t wanna wear this.” In the past couple of years I’ve been more so: if I don’t like that, I’m not wearing it. I like to style myself while working with someone who has a really good eye. I think because I’m tall, I feel like I have a strange body, and so I always feel like I have to have my own touch on things, and to make sure I feel strong and comfortable in what I’m wearing.
**It is such a strong album, I loved the focus on the folky, bluesy side and the wonderful micro beats, it was so nice to hear showcased. Were there other types of musicians you were listening to, or people you were working with that are from more recent times?**
This record is a lot about going back to my folk roots, you know headspace. My dad was a country musician while I was growing up, so I was very much raised on folk and country. I tend to go back to that a lot. I was definitely listening to a lot of Townes Van Zandt, he was one of my favorite writers. His songs are really just stripped down, focused on telling a story in a really cool way. That was what I was thinking about. I really wanted to tell stories in my own way. I was lyrically focusing on navigating the world as a woman, so there’s this feminine side to this record than there has been before. When I was working on _Hiss Spun_—before that, I was writing in this androgynous way—I just felt more connected to being a woman and my presence as an artist. I wanted to step into my power as a woman. _Hiss Spun_ and this record _Birth of Violence_ definitely have that \[inaudible\] to it.
**I love that. Do you feel comfortable adapting your more heavier, and also electronically-based works into more of this acoustic format?**
Yeah, I definitely plan on taking some of the heavier songs and the electronic songs and making them into an acoustic version for this tour. I think that’s something that’s going to be fun to play with.
**Chelsea Wolfe Acoustic Tour:**
10/18: San Diego, CA - Observatory North Park
10/19: Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom
10/21: Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
10/22: Estes Park, CO - Stanley Hotel
10/24: Chicago, IL - Metro
10/25: Detroit, MI - Senate Theater
10/26: Toronto, ONT - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
10/27: Montreal, QC - Le National
10/29: Boston, MA - Royale
10/31: Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11/01: New York, NY - Brooklyn Steel
11/03: Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/04: Charlotte, NC - McGlohon Theater
11/05: Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
11/06: Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
11/08: Dallas, TX - Texas Theatre
11/09: Austin, TX - Levitation (SOLD OUT)
11/09: Austin, TX - Levitation (SECOND SHOW ADDED)
11/10: Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
11/12: Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
11/13: Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
11/15: Los Angeles, CA - The Palace Theatre
11/16: San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
11/18: Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
11/20: Seattle, WA - The Showbox
11/21: Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
**\* All dates with special guest Ioanna Gika**
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Interviewed by BJ Panda Bear
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