https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi4s56pS85Y
“My powerful voice was reduced to a whisper, but I am still a vessel through which passion emerges. Take my voice, my hair, my mobility, my memory… but if you want my fire, you will have to kill me.”
Erica Xenne speaks in a whisper and sings in a ghost-like voice. Her album captures the alchemy between her ethereal voice and rhythmic piano, her brother Jon Brand’s robust drumming, and Prince Ruby Valentine’s soulful guitar. By combining their otherworldly sound with original videos and art as a backdrop, Erica channels her memories of Erosia.
She began studying piano at age 4, and had a career in music as a teenager, singing, playing piano, and composing. At age 16, Chronic Lyme complications lead to permanent damage on her vocal cords, reducing her voice to a whisper and condemning her to exile from her deepest passion. But as emotions erupted and songs wrote themselves through her, the ghost of her voice rose from the ashes.
Erosia
Some people believe Erosia doesn’t exist, and others claim it can only be found in a dream. Some suggest that in order to see Erosia, one must believe in it first. It is up to you to decide what you will, and you may call me mad if you wish. Either way, I will live my life as a vessel through which passion emerges.
As Erica recovered from the throes of trauma, visions of Erosia rushed forth in a cathartic fury. Through a variety of mediums, she unleashed her soul into the arts. As she captured her vampiric hunger in Prince Ruby Valentine and her hopeless romanticism in Erica Xenne, she found herself channeling the timeless dance between lust and innocence.
The Legend of Erosia began when Prince Ruby Valentine killed the Erosian Queen in childbirth. Viewing himself as poison, he forsook his royal duties and sought reprieve. He found the muse Erica Xenne, who had come from the outer islands. As their tragic romance unfolded, Ruby lost faith in love, and disappeared from Erosia. Erica asked the guardians to send her after Ruby, despite their warning that her magic would be lost outside Erosia. Thus she became an Erosian Exile.
In Dystopia, Erica found herself ill, with her voice reduced to a whisper. Ruby had adopted a lifestyle of conquering women and intoxicating himself to oblivion. Pining for his devotion and feeling out of place in this bizarre industrial hell, Erica unleashed her heartache in a storm of music, and the ghost of her voice rose from the ashes. The sound was elusive, broken and raw, but she fought with blood, sweat and tears to capture any shred of potency. Owing to her many health setbacks, others advised her to pass her songs to a singer who had tissue on their vocal cords, but she sang back:
Tell me the odds
I’ll beat them senseless
Summon the Gods
They’ll be defenseless!
She branded her project Erosian Exile and recorded her first album, Slave to Freedom, a musical conversation between her and Ruby through vocals and guitar, channeling the music they had played together in Erosia. She wrote two more albums, Fire Castle and The Vampire and the Void, but her whispery singing voice evaded her before she could record them.
Still, the effort was worthwhile, as the album inspired her and Ruby both to turn their lives around. Ruby indulged long walks and photography – posted on his own website – and the two immersed themselves in the Night Gem series – a magical, passionate saga which culminates in the creation of Erosia.
