Love Spirals Downwards

Love Spirals Downwards was begun in the late 80's by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Ryan Lum, but took flight with the addition of girlfriend-turned-vocalist Suzanne Perry in 1991. Two of their three initial demo tracks were featured on [m52684], garnering international attention from fans and critics alike, and sparking their career as one of Projekt Records' most successful artists. At first unsure what to term the unique sound of 'Idylls,' their premier album, many referred to the band as ethereal or darkwave. By their second release,'Ardor,' the band had embraced the newly emerged shoegaze movement. With 'Ever,' the third offering, the band stripped down their sound a bit, while at the same time exploring the beats and synth textures of trip-hop. Their last studio album, 'Flux,' culminated in a unique mix of jungle break beats and rhythms with their earlier ethereal, folk, and world elements. 'Temporal: A Collection of Music Past & Present,' a post-mortem compilation released in January 2000, illustrated how each successive Love Spirals Downwards album incorporated new elements into their basic foundation of atmospheric melodies and ethereal female vocals, while highlighting guest performances from lyricist/vocalists Kristen Perry and Jennifer Ryan Fuller and musicians Rodney Rodriguez, Doron Orenstein, and Jeff Stone. The band's first two albums were also licensed to German label Hyperium Records, who also featured several unique versions of album tracks on their popular 'Heavenly Voices' compilation series, as well as the [r520990] boxed set. Primarily a recording project, the duo performed live about a dozen times -- generally in conjunction with Projekt Festivals -- almost all of them acoustically. Love Spirals Downwards' last live show was in 1998. In 1999, Lum began working with a new collaborator, Anji Bee, under the shortened moniker of Lovespirals, initially releasing music on Projekt Records before launching the band's own label, Chillcuts. Over the years Lum has released additional material from Love Spirals Downwards on expanded and remastered versions of all 4 studio albums, plus the 'Sideways Forest,' single, as well as a collection of live recordings. Lovespirals have gone on to release 5 full length albums, a number of singles and EPs, plus numerous collaborations with other artists including Projekt Records founder [a145834], Claire Voyant, [a25043], [a207570], [a14920], Chandeen, and Soul Whirling Somewhere. Perry founded the band Melodyguild in 2002. In 2004 a Melodyguild recording was included on the Projekt Record compilation [r414718], followed by the 4 song EP [m1960582] in 2008. She has also released songs with [a25043] and Sleepthief, and performed live with Golden Gardens.