The Grim History of Love is the fourth album by Brazilian born singer / songwriter Abie Lena. The album was produced by longtime collaborator Rick Rubin and Gia-Rose Hilton, the last one being responsible to collaborate with the singer on her third studio album. Abie started out writing material for this album while she was traveling the world with her family after she finished the No Venues tour last year.
Instantly the lyrics were taking form of a Pop Opera, telling the story of a ghost and its tragic love story. Entirely recorded in L.A., Abie first showed the idea of making a conceptual album in a form of a pop opera for her team when she came back of her trip around the world. Later on when she had almost all the song composed and written, she decided to call Studio60 representatives to show her plans for the album. Immediately Gia-Rose Hilton gave the green card so Abie could freely work on the project with whomever she wanted to.
Names attached to the project are Ricki Rubin and Gia-Rose Hilton as mentioned before, Lilly Stuart, Magie Lena, Drake Anthon Zaslavsky, as part of ElectroDeath production team and Julia Volkova who had a minor participation on the production of the album.
Background and ProductionBack in 2012 Abie discovered she suffered of diabetes and so she had to check into a rehab to reeducate her habits so she could have a better quality of life. That experience lead her to produce her third album “The End Starts Now” which received worldwide critical acclaim revealing the increasing artistry showed on its lyrics and production. After she finished the promotion of that album, Abie decided to take a break from music, which by the way would take one year long. She went on a world trip with her family where most of the places they visited were countries on Asia such India and China. After six months of traveling Abie found herself writing again, that was when she decided to come back home and dedicate herself to that creativity moment, once back in 2011 she suffered of a writer’s block case.
Back home she called some people to work with her based on the ideas she had while she was traveling and one of these people were the longtime collaborator Rick Rubin. They recorded an amount of 17 demos at her home studio, when finally Abie decided to call Studio60 to show them the material she had for a fourth record release.
Most of the lyrics of the project were write when Abie was already in the recording studio, which means that Rick and Abie first had composed the melodies of the album. However, the story of making a conceptual album about a single character was born in the studio. Some people claim that Gia-Rose Hilton was responsible to encourage Abie to do a Pop Opera album.
For the writing sections of the record, several people were invite to join in, most of them chosen by Abie herself, due to the freedom obtained from Studio60 after Abie was named as the executive producer of the project. This is first time Abie executive produces her own music. Abie’s sibling, Magie Lena, was the first to collaborate in the writing sections of the record, something she has done before, Lilly Stuart co-wrote all of the tracks of the album and even Drake Anthon Zlavsky (mISTER_b) collaborate in the writing sections of the record. The production part was also responsible mainly by Abie, but it received a big help from Rick Rubin who was invited by Abie to co-executive produce the project and Gia-Rose Hilton who produced more than half of the songs on it.
MusicThe album starts with the haunting instrumental track “Nowhere” composed of classical piano, it last one minute and forty-seven seconds repeating the same riff. However, it shifts as the song reaches a climax with additional melodies performed by xylophone and subtly ending to give space for the first singing track of the album “Where Immortals Live”, it bears similarities of “Nowhere” but it is wider and braver. It has electric guitar, bass and drums playing with dream pop genre and adding a dramatic mood to the album, something Abie is used to do. The vocal performance is the best part of the track, Abie sings it almost lyrically, with falsettos and contraltos, her voice receives some treatments but nothing that would take off the majesty of the emotion delivered on it. There a solo of electric guitar in its bridge turning the track into a classical surf rock song, it certainly introduces the listener to what is coming next.
“The Pact”, “Redemption” and “The Break Up” are almost a follow up to each other. Both are indie pop tracks flirting with vintage guitar riffs and blues bass melodies. Abie’s vocals are warm and undeniably ironic, one of the highlights of Abie entire career are her vocal performances, perhaps that’s the reason we love her so much, she manages to transmit the exactly feeling the lyrics of the song are talking about. The subtle differences among the tracks are obviously its guitar riffs, the first one has some flavor on it, and the second, probably was made in a dream where Abie was a member of Led Zepelin. The last one received a special treatment, thanked to the synthesizers of nowadays, they mixed Abie’s vocalizing with electric guitar, and it almost turned into a power ballad. Abie added a bunch of textures to her vocals, performing herself different tones of backing vocals for the three songs, they manage to add some classic elements to them. We have seen she act like this before on her last album, so there is no surprise for us until now.
Piano and acoustic guitar introduces “Casual Meeting” and due to the storytelling of the lyrics, Abie almost raps the track singing its lines. Obviously she has classy while doing it, and the choruses of the track are warmly and sad as. There is even a “la la la” vocalization in the beginning and at the end of the track to increase its vintage sound, and this track finishes the first part of the record.
As it is a conceptual album with three distinct segments, there are other instrumental tracks and here comes another one called “Transcending”. Certainly now we are about to go in a different direction compared to Abie’s traditional music skills. It has electric guitars, a pop drum sequence and some cool electronic effects, it is still indie pop, but it received a pop rock element. Abie told before on interviews that she did not want to be linked to a single genre and she clearly proves it in this track. Keeping the pop rock influence of “Transcending” comes “Burial”, “He Grieves” and “Something Before”. The first has different guitar riffs on it, a subtle drum sequence and an impressive sexy vocal performance by Abie, her voice is so versatile that she managed to perform with the sexiness required by a rock track. Following “Burial”, it’s “He Grieves” and other than just adding some pop rock flavor, this track goes deep in the genre. Certainly, a song that could find a place on Rio! In the Boulevard repertoire. It is mid tempo thanks to its slow drums, there is at least two different electric guitars, a bridge and a solo of drumming in the end of it, Abie sounds sad and very passionate. To end the “pop rock” shift of the record we have the hopeful “Something Before” which uses piano and acoustic guitars to lighten up the rock sound of it, but it still bears some elements of the previous track as if both tracks were supposed to be a single one. It is quite usual for a conceptual album to have songs connect with each other with very subtle differences. The big differences are some extra instruments added to “Something Before” like violin, harmonica and mandolin, responsible for setting the mood of the album to a more lyrical oriented sound and so Abie does it with her vocal either, with falsettos and contraltos.
“I’m sad” ends the second segment of the record quite simply but undeniably desolating and intimate. It is the darkest song of the album and the most minimalistic too. It is composed of guitars and slowly into its length, a slow tempo drum sequence adds an extra flavor of depressiveness, Abie sings it in a low key, with breathy warm vocals with some variation in the bridge, where she raises her key a tone.
The instrumental track “The Other Side” is short and composed of mandolin, which is a musical instrument in the lute family. It was played in fast tempo setting a very disturbing mood to the track and ending with ambient sounds. After the introductory track for the third and final segment of the record, comes probably the highlight sound of the entire track. We have seen Abie flirting with dream pop and orchestral pop on her last album and in this record she fully used the genre to end the segment of the album.
With a sight radio effect added to her voice, Abie sing the track “Lost in Hell” in low key tone and it sounds as scary as she could ever sound, accompanying her initially, there’s an electronic ambient sound till a classical piano enters and turns the song into a baroque pop lyrical masterpiece. There is additional backing vocals orchestral performed although reports tell that Abie did all the voices of the orchestra. The track grows as it reaches the end ending several other elements such as drums, violins and other lyrical influenced elements and subtle electronic ambient sounds. Up next, it is the innocent “Ghosts” starting right after Abie singing the first line of the track, it is a very complex progressive track, it has some lullaby feel on its sound, especially because of the piano riff, but there are also orchestral vocals, violins and percussion. Some sight electronic sounds added to turn the backing vocals a bit spooky. Abie reaches some high notes on the bridge of the track.
The next track “Angels Calling” has several similarities from “Ghosts” but it is a little more edge when it comes to vocal performance and orchestral melodies and harmonies. It begins with an electronic sound, it’s definitely scary and epic, also very emotional and cinematic. “The last Goodbye” is the most experimental track of the entire album. It is an indie electro song formed of industrial sound, it can be compared to bands like Portishead or Depache Mode, it’s also very ambient driven and Abie’s vocal style is thin and high, she abuses of falsettos and adds backing vocals in its choruses. The second verse is very enigmatic, Abie whisper the lines of it, yet it is very disturbing and scary. The track ends with Abie repeating a phrase until it fades away.
After three segments, the album comes with a sort of an epilogue, which consist of another short introduction track and finally a final track. “After Death” is a carol vocalized by Abie, its very desolating, Abie has an incredible range on her voice, we never listened such level of control as we listen in this short carol, it’s very impressive. Setting the mood for the final track, and the fully orchestral pop “Old Soul” has harp, strings and piano and obviously Abie amazing vocal performance, the best one of the entire record. Despite it might sound sad and quite desolating due to the previous track, it has such a hopeful sensation on its melodies and that is how it ends the record.
ConceptAbie wrote all the songs of the record as a storytelling that she imagine while she was traveling in India. It’s a story of a ghost who’s reviving all of its moments in real life and obviously her dramatic love story. The first segment of the album after “Where Immortals live” tells the story from the moment she meets her love and falls in love with him. The second segment is about her death and about the grieving feelings of her lover towards her death. Then the third segments is the actual moments where the first track of the album was talking about, both spirits freely on the other side meeting again in opposite sides, till it finally ends with an epilogue that represents the summary feelings that this female ghost bears for eternity.
Several influences is used its lyrical content. Mostly philosophies of spiritualism and Christianity about life after death, marriage, betrayals, sins and later on reincarnation. Other influences used to write the lyrics are elements of dramatic theatrical, with the usage of skilled language and lyrical analogies.
All of the songs from a chronological line of the story, it’s easy perceived all the acts that both characters make while they’re human beings and after they die, focusing on their feelings and the consequences of their actions.
Length: 60 Minutes
Label: Studio 60
Producers: Rick Rubin, Gia-Rose Hilton, Drake Anthon Zlavsky (mISTER_b), Abie Lena, Julia Volkova
Writters: Abie Lena, Lilly Stuart, Drake Anthon Zlavsky (mISTER_b), Rick Rubin, Magie Lena
Executive Producer: Abie Lena
1. Nowhere
2. Where immortals live
3. The Pact
4. Redemption
5. The Break Up
6. Casual Meeting
7. Transcending
8. Burial
9. He grieves
10. Something Before
11. I’m sad
12. The Other Side
13. Lost in Hell
14. Ghosts
15. Angels Calling
16. The Last Goodbye
17. After Death
18. Old Soul
