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revalise · 3 years

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After the Sun [M] | 03

Pairing: Chrollo Lucilfer x Fem. OC

Genre: Romance and eventual smut

Rating: M

Words: 3500+

Notes: I'm having a little hard time with the characters because this fic is forcing me to created too many OCs to fit a character because of they do not fit any canon characters from the anime.

This is probably my least favorite chapter and I did have a hard time writing this because of my writer's block. I started writing this around the end of August and finished it only last week.

But anyway, we move to my favorite parts starting from the next chapter! I have to say that this is my favorite work though, so I may or may not be paying attention more to this.

Thanks to Risa for beta reading this chapter again!

Check the updated Spotify playlist and give it a follow if you want to get a better idea of the fic and just listen to good music! /hj

Masterlist | 02 | 04

Chrollo Lucilfer gets everything he wants, when he wants—even if it means undergoing extreme measures. Nothing bothered him, until an aphrodite, Astra Gerber, appeared one night and stole from the infamous thief. In return that Chrollo doesn't report her, he strikes a deal. But it could be more than what Astra bargained for.

FOOL’S GOLD

Astra’s phone rang continuously from the nightstand as she laid in her bed, asleep on her stomach, arms wrapped around the side of her head. Soft, comfortable, and clean white sheets kept her from waking from her slumber.

No, she hadn’t woken up from all the chaos that awaited as the sound of her ringtone filled the entire room. Rather, she had woken up to a loud banging on the door of the hotel room.

She kicked away the comforter that covered the sheer nightgown that wrapped her body. Hissing under her breath with closed eyes, willing herself to fall asleep once more. But the banging only continued, loud and louder until she had no other choice to get on her feet, open the door, and let out a stream of vicious curses at the source. So she wore her irritation on her face, stretched in all the edges, lined with her features that screamed beauty all throughout.

Astra grasped the metal handle, the coldness biting back on the smoothness of her skin. Then a familiar, vexed face met with hers.

“What have you done?” His strained voice erupted against the room. He hadn't waited for her to invite him in. No, he walked past her the moment she opened the door.

He was clad in purple-worked wonder, though a bit too fancy and too flashy for the morning.

“What have you done?” Satotz repeated once more as he sagged on the red ottoman.

Astra crossed her arms, arching a brow and turning to face him. “What do you mean what have I done?”

“Miss…” a timid voice said from beside her. Too timid, too small, and all too shy.

She shot a side glance at the source, revealing Khara. Astra’s brow rose upward, “What?” she snarled.

***

Khara blinked at the anger and irritation that seeped from Astra’s tone. It took all she had to stop herself from staggering backwards and to appear unintimidated, but it was all too hard for her—all too hard since she’d started working with her.

In truth, Khara looked forward to working with celebrities and being their assistant. And she's been excited to work with Astra. But at Astra’s first wave of a hand, she commanded her to do things she wasn’t sure were included in her job description. Or if it were, it consisted of driving half-across town for the food Astra wanted, subject to her cravings, and coming back to the packing and darkening lights of the set as the staff shut them close.

Astra would snap her fingers once, and Khara would be inclined to come rushing forward in hopes of avoiding the unnecessary lashing out of the lady. She was only a few years younger than Astra, but sometimes, she wondered if she were the older one.

Khara handed a newspaper to Astra, fighting the shudder that shook her hands violently. Her head aligned with the level of her chest as she bowed low and extended her hands. Despite all her efforts, it still showed, making Astra snicker and roll her eyes in response.

Astra strode towards the couch beside Satotz, sitting casually and gracefully, and ignoring the poor girl that was left just outside the door. Khara didn’t say a word, but her face contorted in embarrassment. Her short, black hair and bangs—that she got on a whim because she felt old—kept in the way of her sight. She blinked twice before inviting herself in, but as she did, the familiar perfume she’d memorized all too well invaded her nostrils.

“Good morning, Khara.”

Khara whipped her head around as her heart hammered in her chest.

“G-Good morning, sir,” Khara stuttered, earning a subtle chuckle from Wing, who just so happens to be Astra’s brother.

As rude and as bold as Astra was, Wing was the complete opposite of his sister. He talked with grace and utmost respect, bred like that of those who grew up in their father’s mansion. The way he talked, as Khara would have described it, was smooth and quiet. Polite.

He was very handsome. Tall and lean with raven-black hair just like his sister. Dark brows that accentuated his eyes. Those eyes. Khara swallowed.

One slow, deliberate examination was all it took for Khara to determine the hard muscle that lay underneath his clothed arms. But somehow, he’d always leave his shirt untucked.

“You don’t have to call me, ‘sir,’ Khara. Just Wing will do,” he flashed his white teeth in a smile.

“Okay…” She blushed at the mention of her name and hesitated, “...Wing.” She smiled, and she hoped it didn’t come off forced and awkward.

If Wing found it indifferent, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he only reached a hand over, “Let me help you with that.”

That was when Khara realized the paperbag of coffee dangling from her fingers. Quickly, she shook her head, “It’s okay! I can do it.”

He gave her a friendly smile, “No fair maiden should be carrying anything at all.”

Khara swore, she could have died right then and there. Could have. Only if the sharp memory of Astra making her carry her entire luggage didn’t obliterate her.

At the sole thought of Astra, she yelled from inside the room with utmost impatience, “Khara, did you get my coffee?”

Khara paid a quick glance at Astra, who was eyeing a magazine in her hand as she sat alone on the big, red velvet couch with gold wooden outlines, her feet resting on the coffee table that stacked the same fashion magazines she’d been reading. Completely ignoring Satotz who was massaging his temples from the seat beside her.

She gave Wing a tight smile before rushing over to Astra and opened the small lid for her. Astra paid her no attention as she sipped her coffee.

***

Wing invited himself into Astra's room. The first to notice him was Satotz, who widened his eyes at his appearance. Immediately standing up to greet the young lad and shaking his hand, the other clapping on his shoulder.

“Good morning,” Wing greeted.

“Yes, yes. Good morning,” Satotz smiled in return before beckoning Wing to take his seat, even dusting off the cushion with his bare hands.

Astra paid her brother no attention as she scanned the magazine that rested on her thighs. Wing braced his forearms on his knees, giving Astra a polite smile, “Good morning to you too, Astra.”

She didn’t even bother to look up at her brother when she replied curtly, “What’s good about the morning?”

Satotz could only bite his lip in nervousness as he shooed off Khara, making her scoot over.

Oh how interactions with Astra bothered her so much.

Fortunately, Wing was unlike his sisters. Perhaps it was because he was a man and had no interest in the drama surrounding their family, but whatever issues Astra had with her family, he stayed out of it. Women and their dramas.

If Satotz could properly put it into words, Wing was probably the only one in the family who could stand Astra. Even when she had her series of attitudes.

He only smiled, proceeding with another question, “How are you?”

Astra raised her head this time, brows creasing as she gave Wing a look that basically said ‘Why are you asking the obvious?’

“Woke up a bad bitch,” Astra said as she shrugged. “What’s new?”

Satotz issued a rather nervous laugh, hoping to snap Astra out of her misbehavior, “Astra just woke up. That’s why.”

Wing turned his attention to Satotz, seemingly unbothered by Astra, “May I ask your business with my sister, Satotz?” he asked politely.

Satotz felt a faint warmth in his chest, touched that the younger Gerber remembered his name. As he recalled, Astra’s family scorned the thought of show business. Therefore, he wasn’t well received in the family though he promised to answer their questions whatever it was.

But the calls stopped two years ago, when Astra found herself in too many dating scandals. Astra never asked, but Satotz knew she was curious if her father ever called to ask about her.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, switching to a rather serious tone as he pulled his phone from his pocket and displayed a picture of Chrollo and Astra looking a little too friendly—way too friendly. “This has been all over social media, tabloids, and insiders.”

***

Astra took a good look at the headline, reading loudly for them to hear, “Astra Gerber with another guy?” she almost yelled when she said the penultimate word.

She creased her brows as she took the device, reading the entire article, “And what is wrong with that?”

“You just had a dating scandal last month!” Satotz exclaimed.

She pinched her nose with her fingers, “It’s not my fault they love to start rumors and men love to jump on it.”

“And how come I don’t know any of this? It doesn’t benefit anything. Not even promotions,” Satotz added, ignoring her remark.

“Not all,” Wing grinned with an underlying meaning that piqued Satotz’s interest, tilting his head to the side, beckoning him to keep talking.

“Actually,” heturned his body towards Astra, “Dad sent me here to invite you to dinner tomorrow.”

“Dinner?” Satotz asked.

Wing nodded, “He didn’t say anything else, but it seems he’s interested.”

***

Astra’s heart pounded mercilessly. Her Dad wanted to see her? It felt unreal, but she didn’t say anything. She pretended to be interested in the comments instead, snorting and sneering at some of them.

[+128, -19] what’s new lol

[+154, -98] I feel bad for these people. Just a dating scandal and everyone’s at it like they killed someone

[+92, -23] right? lol if normal people can do it too why not them

[+19, -2] ew

She arched her brow on the last one before typing a comment in reply.

“Hey, don’t say anything! That’s my account!” Satotz tried to reach for his phone but Astra brought it up higher.

I’m sorry your screen is so reflective, she typed. As soon as she hit ‘reply,’ she took notice of the comment posted right underneath the one she replied to.

[+429, -19] i feel bad for all the lipstick that guy had to consume… he doesn’t deserve that ><

[18, -1] LMAOOOOOO

Astra would never admit it, but she almost laughed. Satotz thought she might reply to another comment and swiped the phone out of her grasp, reading the comment for himself.

He couldn’t help but cackle, almost choking on his coffee. Khara peered from his side, taking a peek at the device.

“Now that is funny,” Satotz laughed.

Khara grinned shyly, “Is it? I guess it is.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah,” Astra crossed her arms and gave a sly smile, “but if I find that person, they’re dead.”

Khara remained silent throughout the whole conversation.

***

It was still too early for Chrollo to inhale his second stick of cigarette as he looked over the city from the tall building where his empire stood.

He wore his three-piece suit as he held the cigarette with his right hand, the other tucked inside the pocket of his slacks.

From this distance, Chrollo could feel how far he'd come from the slums of Meteor City. He was no longer that boy who scraped off whatever could be salvaged from garbage.

Chrollo Lucilfer was now a bachelor. Rich and young. Just one snap of his ivory fingers and whatever he wants is his. Everything he did was calculated. Careful and clever. He couldn’t care less about arriving at his own judgment day, but he would never want to endanger his friends.

But last night was a mistake.

It took all of Chrollo’s self-control to pull away. The moment he felt something inexplicable was the moment he realized there was something wrong with him.

Usually, he gave the ladies gifts to keep them from complaining once he lost interest. But that night, he realized how genuinely he wanted to give Astra something.

He puffed out smoke when he recalled her words. He had pulled away and she wore that sultry smile. That sultry smile and that mouth that needed reminding of where it belongs.

“You be very careful,” she said slowly as she ran her hands down his blazer, straightening it. “I like you. And you see,” her eyes met his, challenging and batting those long lashes, “I have a habit of always getting what I want.”

Chrollo reached for the silver necklace he usually had around his neck, only to feel its absence. And he remembered that he still has yet to obtain that necklace back from Astra.

The door groaned as it opened and Paku’s voice echoed through the big office, “You should see this.”

***

Astra was already an hour late for dinner when she stood right outside the manor. Her family’s chauffeur took her red Bugatti to the parking lot when she stopped in front of the big, carved double doors embellished with golden markings that extended from one side to the other.

Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat was engraved in stone against the header, clean and written in cursive.

She licked her red lips as she smiled, remembering the meaning of what her family believed in for so long, “Fortune favors the brave.”

Even in the darkness, the manor shone brightly with the unnecessary lights as if it dared to rival the stars. She circled her fingers around the metal handle, flexing, until finally pushing it open.

Astra roamed her eyes around the interior. The first thing she noticed was how much none of it seemed to change. The house was designed with white and mahogany. A little too old for her liking, but everything about it screamed ‘old money.’

“Welcome home, miss,” Zeno, lowered his head at Astra as she entered.

Home, Astra snorted, laughing at the idea. Nah, not that.

She masked her face with merriment, the corners of her red lips twitching upwards, “Old age suits you perfectly, Zeno.”

Zeno's face was lined with wrinkles—a lot more than how she used to remember. His hair had turned silver, hunched shoulders, eyes a little watery, and the bags that rounded them looked saggy.

Even in his old age, she could still point out how he was her father’s favorite. She didn’t know exactly why, but Zeno had always been around her father. Always.

A compliment teased along Astra’s tongue regarding Zeno's loyalty to his father, but she bit back on that action. It wasn’t about Zeno's loyalty to her father, but his loyalty to her grandfather.

“Heh,” Zeno huffed, his face concealed with neutrality. Despite his old age and the difference in appearance, eloquence impacted his voice, not an ounce of fragility coming from the old man. “I see you’re still the same as ever.”

He turned to the side, extending a hand sidelong, “This way, please.”

“If you’d please,” Astra curtsied, mimicking Zeno’s formality only to tease.

Astra walked her way with the majordomo. Occasionally, she stole glances from the interior, comparing and checking how each used to be from the last time she remembered. She stalked past the elegant, absurdly expensive pianoforte in the hall. Shining jetblack in color with outlines of gold in its edges. A memory crossed her mind of playing with its keys and how her piano teacher used to yell at her for not understanding the lesson sooner.

A child from a rich family should be able to play at least one instrument.

Then she paced through bigger chandeliers as Zeno stopped along the opened double doors to the dinner hall, keeping his gnarled fingers clasped together as he stood upright.

“Thank you,” Astra mouthed as she entered, earning a terse nod from Zeno himself.

Martin sat at the head of the long, rectangular table—accented with a velvety red linen—to his right was his wife and Astra’s stepmother, Emilia, followed by Anais then Margaux, while Wing sat on the opposite side. Astra took notice of the empty seat beside her father on his left and right beside Wing.

“Oh, there she is,” Anais, her stepsister, jeered, rolling her eyes as soon as she spotted Astra.

Anais was the eldest in the family. And she had always been mean to Astra. A few pranks here and there that servants in the manor often felt bad for Astra. But one summer night after spending a whole year with Zazan, Astra pulled her big sister’s hair and Anais learned to keep her distance.

Astra simpered, her red Loubotins clattering against the marble floors.

Emilia scoffed at the scene and Astra’s swagger, crossing her hands. As if Martin could sense an insulting remark from his wife, Martin spoke, “Astra, you sit beside me.”

Astra almost stopped on her feet, surprised at the offer, but she knew all too well not to let go of the chance. Besides, she had a lot of covering up to do after being so obvious of how she shuddered in Martin’s presence. She had to scratch that truth out.

“Why thanks, Daddy,” her tone was honeyed, teasing even, as she kissed her father’s cheek before slipping into the chair.

She eyed the clean plates in front of her before her brown eyes flickered over Anais, meeting her dark gaze before she broke it with another roll of the eyes to which she only smirked at.

“So what’s the big occasion?” She whipped her head at Martin, flashing him a big smile that boasted her perfect, white teeth.

“Can’t I invite my daughter over for dinner?” Martin’s voice was dry but the usual tone he often used when trying to intimidate someone was present in it. He kept his gaze on the empty plate laid in front of him, taking the silver utensils from a housemaid

“Aww,” she teased, bracing her forearms on the table. She gazed up at her father with a snakelike smile that painted her face, stretching her sensuous red lips. “Is it that time of the year where you complete your bucket list?”

Martin glared at her while Wing stifled a laugh from his seat. Margaux only reached for her glass of wine, sipping quietly.

“You’re still as rude, as ever. I see,” Emilia said, narrowing her eyes at Astra as they sat across each other. “There are some things that never could be changed from the slums.”

Astra eyed Emilia, taking in her perfectly tied blonde locks and intimidation in those green orbs. But she merely smiled and said, “You say that like I didn’t live in a villa named after your husband before this family took me under their wing.”

Emilia set her utensils down, so harshly that the plates rattled, “You are a child born of wedlock,” she drawled.

“Actually,” Astra clasped her fingers together to rest her chin, giving her stepmother a teasing grin and flashing her perfectly white teeth, “I’d rather you call me a love child.”

“That is enough!” Martin yelled, his voice deep and threatening before he shifted his gaze over to his angered wife. “Emilia,” he said, a little softer but reprimanding.

It was a little odd that Martin came to Astra’s defense. Though it perplexed Astra, she didn’t ask.

Martin’s usual punishing brown eyes were soft when it met with Astra’s. Those same brown eyes were the definite proof that she was his daughter. But despite the softness he tried to show, there was still that seriousness exuding from out of it. Business. Formality. Transaction.

“Astra,” Martin dabbed a cloth over his lips before setting it down. “How are you?”

Astra’s hands found its way to the utensils, “Fine.What else?” She said as a matter of fact.

“Attention seeker,” Anais muttered, giving Astra a conspirator’s grin before she took a bite.

She only chuckled, unaffected and amused, “If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be a celebrity.”

“I heard from Satotz that you’ve been quite free lately,” Martin interrupted.

“Yes,” Astra pricked the steak with her fork. “I’m sort of on a vacation.”

“I see,” Martin replied. It took half a minute before he followed, “With Lucilfer?”

Astra remembered that she got two things from her father: those brown eyes and his iron will.

The iron will they both have to get whatever they want.

“Oh, is that what this is about?” The amusement and arrogance vanished in her eyes as her tone dropped.

“We’ve been trying to get Lucilfer on our side for about a year now. This is an important matter.”

“But he’s still so young,” she reasoned. If she remembered it correctly, young men don’t hold much importance until they’ve proven themselves—and that only happens when they’re as old as her father.

“But he holds some sort of importance,” Martin waved his hand. “And we need him.”

A warmth that swelled from her heart began to burn in her chest—a jealousy for a man she didn’t even know. She didn’t know exactly why her father needed him, and why he was so eager to. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But if having Chrollo Lucilfer meant having her father, then she’d do everything in her power to make him hers.

Astra said nothing as she set her eyes down on her plate. As she realized that this wasn’t about her.

#hunter x hunter #chrollo lucilfer x oc #chrollo lucilfer #chrollo hunter x hunter #chrollo lucilfer x reader #hxh #chrollo hxh #chrollo lucilfer smut #chrollo lucilfer fanfiction #chrollo lucilfer hunter x hunter #revalise #after the sun #after the sun revalise #hxh fanfiction #hxh fanfic #fanfiction #chrollo x reader #phantom troupe #phantom troupe hxh

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vickieborelli-blog · 5 years

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Widespread Music Genres Analysis Papers

JioSaavn is all of your music. Individuals want to know not every single music needs to be lyrical, that folks listen to music for various functions. Not everybody is going to listen to a tune to get over a breakup, not everyone will take heed to a track simply to bounce. The diversity is an excessive amount of, and now that modern rap is generally what people take heed to now, I don't really feel as if rock music is irrelevant. My favorite genre of music is different rock and http://www.audio-transcoder.com reggae. Such a music is nice because I can take heed to it no matter the place I'm or Top Music genres 2018 how I really feel. It can be calming and uplifting all on the identical time. My favourite reggae artist is Matisyahu and my favourite various rock band is Phoenix.

Before concluding my unit, the position girls are playing within the rap trade have to be discussed. As rap music advanced and have become widespread, girls tended to be the targets of male rap lyrics and generally were not portrayed in a good mild. Rap music producers also appeared to be hesitant to produce feminine rap artists. David Thigpin in his article, Not for Men Only; Girls Rappers are Breaking the Mould with a Message of their Own", presents two reasons for this reluctance. One being, rap producers were apprehensive about signing feminine rappers because they feared tampering with their confirmed formulation of success of producing macho male rappers. The other being, rap producers did not feel that feminine voices might supply the requisite loudness and abrasiveness that they felt was a major function of rap music.

The Swarthmore School Chinese language Music Ensemble prepares for a performance. The music was often related to nationwide culture It was culturally specific; from a selected area or culture. Within the context of an immigrant group, folks music acquires an extra dimension for social cohesion. It's significantly conspicuous in immigrant societies, where Greek Australians , Somali People , Punjabi Canadians , and others strive to emphasise their variations from the mainstream. They learn songs and dances that originate within the nations their grandparents came from. Now that hip-hop has fully bloomed and penetrated nearly each side of popular culture, it's turn into clear that there's simply no musical style on the earth that may presently examine. While the term "indie" can check with independent acts and bands current with out the need of main business investments, the indie fashion of music began in Nineteen Eighties United Kingdom, and apart from Grunge and Britpop, Indie initially existed instead escape from the commericalism of the previous genres mentioned. Soukous is dance music from the Congo Basin in Africa. It began within the Nineteen Sixties before turning into common in France in the course of the Eighties. The easiest way of describing it is as the next tempo version of rumba. The chart under plots genres over time (oldest to youngest genres), displaying the common age of loss of life of common musicians by style and gender against life expectancy (LE) for US men and women born in the same year. Discover the laborious-hitting styles of in the present day, similar to Dubstep or Brostep. This realm of genres tend to get a bit of tough comparatively. One of the extra trendy genres in world music, digital music relies, as is obvious from the name, on electronic instruments. These devices embody devices equivalent to synthesizers, the electric guitar and the theremin. Electronic music is broadly identified within the form of House or Disco music. It gained in popularity amongst youth within the 1970s and Nineteen Eighties, and has since remained a popular style of pop music. Over the ages, electronic music was inculcated in numerous different genres such as steel, onerous rock, R&B and so forth.

For instance, let's create two genres: fast music and gradual music. Any music below 120 bpms (beats per minute) is slow music, anything sooner belongs to the fast music style. Listen to X track, rely how many beats you heard in a minute, and group it the style it belongs to. Genres work precisely like this, however with many extra related traits. On the whole, taking metal and all its subgenres, watering it down, and feeding it to the plenty. Oftentimes it has clear vocals, no gutturals, but there may be screaming. Add a splash of punk, typically thrash, and sometimes crybaby lyrics.

Many musicians from younger genres - rock, electronic, punk, metal, rap, and hip hop - seem unlikely to live long enough to accumulate the diseases of center and old age. Continues ongoing mission of defending standard artwork; contains several essays on well-liked music. Once the machines have recognized sonic similarities, a human touch is required to research the sub-genres or create new ones, a process that always falls to McDonald himself. It can be vexing as sub-genres are divvied into progressively tinier fractions; indie pop, as an example, has been subdivided into shiver pop, gauze pop, etherpop, indie fuzz pop, popgaze and so forth.We start in the sociology of music, the place a pressing question considerations the extent to which traditional genre categories proceed to construction the social manufacturing of music within the face of varied pressures towards more versatile modes of categorization. We be part of this literature with ideas from the sociology of classifications. This literature helps us to maneuver past the binary question of whether categories are strengthening or weakening to more fruitful questions about how numerous boundary traits, such as their clarity or scope, interrelate.The identical thing is going on in country music. There were by no means many minority singers however a lot of girls. In the past few years bro-nation has largely pushed girls off nation radio and labels aren't offering much assist to ladies. Feminine artists are becoming frustrated and it will not be to shocking if many would be women country singers switch to other genres. Bro-country is more in style with men so nation might start to lose women as both listeners and artists if the labels and country stations do not make an effort to encourage variety.

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sargenthouse · 7 years

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Chelsea Wolfe on New Album 'Hiss Spun' & Tearing a Hole Through Perfection // Billboard

Call her goth, metal or doom pop. Just don't call her pedestrian. California-based musician and songwriter Chelsea Wolfe naturally defies categorization, siphoning influences as varied as Neurosis, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and Tricky into her brooding new album Hiss Spun. The music spans distorted dirges, electronic ephemera and folksy tranquility, with her siren soprano vocals contrasting with the grittiness of the music, creating a striking contrast that has helped define her sound for many years.

Full Article Via Billboard.

When Wolfe spoke with Billboard, she was in the midst of heavy rehearsals for her next U.S. tour, which commences on Sept. 28 at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, Calif. The touring lineup includes Wolfe, drummer Jess Gowrie, bassist Ben Chisholm and a guitarist filling in for Bryan Tulao, who has been pulled away by family commitments.

“We're having to retrain a new person, which is difficult but also keeps things interesting and keeps us on our toes as musicians,” notes Wolfe. Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, who guests on the new album, will join them for a couple of Southern California shows.

Despite creating highly personal, rather uncommercial music that embraces a dark aesthetic, Chelsea Wolfe has received some high profile recognition lately. Her music has appeared in promo teasers for Game of Thrones, How to Get Away With Murder and Fear the Walking Dead. Jaguar used “Carrion Flowers” from 2015's Abyss in a new commercial. And the title of said song was inspired by an essential oil scent she created for herself and wore and sold on tour a few years ago, which was a prelude for her two new products (Ash and Ember Eye Soot and Enchanted Lip Sheer), available now through Rituel de Filles.

Chelsea Wolfe Drops Haunting Track 'Grey Days': Exclusive Song Premiere

“It's fun to branch out a little bit sometimes, and I think it wakes up your creative brain a little bit too,” says Wolfe of her cosmetic endeavors.

First and foremost is the music itself. Wolfe calls her sixth studio release, Hiss Spun, her rock album, even though some people have immediately deemed it metal. Goth is another tag she gets labeled with even though, visual imagery aside, she does not identify with that scene. People have come up with new tags to describe her music, such as doom pop or doom folk.

“I think there are a lot of different descriptions out there for what I do,” says Wolfe. “I think that most of them are probably valid depending upon what song of mine you're listening to.”

Hiss Spun was recorded by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. The two met when she was asked last year to join the Massachusetts metal band onstage for a few European shows to perform reworked Converge songs under the group name Blood Moon, for which she sang and played some acoustic guitar. During tour rehearsals at Ballou's GodCity Studio in Salem, Mass., she became enamored with the space and ultimately recorded the new album there. The set up with an apartment above the studio appealed to Wolfe and reminded her of home.

“I work in my home studio whenever inspiration hits me,” she explains. “I like that vibe of being able to get out of bed at three in the morning and work on something if you're feeling it.”

The main Hiss Spun recording lineup includes Wolfe, Gowrie, Chisholm and Van Leeuwen. Wolfe considers Chisholm her co-producer because they worked closely while demoing and fleshing out the material before the studio sessions and she jammed with him and Gowrie, which is not her typical approach. “I like to write alone and send things back and forth to Ben or whoever I'm working with at the time, but for this one I felt really comfortable with Jess,” says Wolfe.

Some interesting sonic bits were injected into the album. For “Particle Flux,” Wolfe sampled the sound of her fingers moving over a Walt Whitman book that she was reading while writing the song. While the group was visiting her former canyon home north of L.A., Chisholm recorded the sounds of coyotes howling and motorcycles riding by. “He ended up manipulating them and making them into this weird beat that we used on the breakdown for 'The Culling,'” says Wolfe. “That was a weird one, but I really like how that turned out. It's nice to create new sounds that people haven't used before.”

The musical and lyrical fodder for Hiss Spun arose from two reunions; one with her friend and former bandmate, drummer Jess Gowrie, and the other with her hometown of Sacramento, which she lives near again.

Close friends Gowrie and Wolfe were in the band Red Host a decade ago, and the drummer taught Wolfe a lot about music and helped her gain confidence as a frontwoman. But then Wolfe departed to launch her solo project, which she says was a difficult decision to make, and the two friends did not speak for seven years. But a meeting on New Year's Eve 2014 was the catalyst to renew their friendship and rekindle their strong musical chemistry.

Another personal reconnection came about when Wolfe relocated outside of Sacramento last year. “A lot of this album ended up being about that in a way -- just being around old friends, hanging out in old haunts and being around family,” says Wolfe. “It definitely dug up a lot of memories and unfinished business.”

Part of what gives Wolfe her mystique is her intensely private nature. She keeps personal matters close to the vest, although in a recent Revolver interview she opened up about a patriarchal family figure with disturbing sexual predilections who harmed the female side of her family. Thus what she rails about in album closer “Scrape” clearly comes from an intensely personal place. “Scrape” is probably her most intense vocal performance to date as she pushes both her emotional and vocal range.

Wolfe was surprised by how personal her Hiss Spun lyrics became. She says her early, pre-studio music tackled more common concepts like breakup songs.

“I didn't just want to write about my own life,” she confesses. “But once you get older and you really start to process things that happened to you, things that you did and your memories, it feels a little more poignant to write about because I've processed things and I'm dealing with them and dealing with the aftermath of certain things. There is something about looking back at your own life rather than writing about it as it happens that makes a little more sense to me.”

Many of the album's lyrics address personal views without being overt about their origins. “I think there's a line here or there that actually reflects the state of the world, but a lot of it is really internal this time,” says the singer, who reveals that she is already working on her next album. “I won't say what it is yet, but it's definitely different from what I'm doing right now.”

Wolfe's last studio release, Abyss, hit the Top 200 at No. 130 for a single week. As she notes, she is not getting played on the radio or being asked to do late night shows, but word of mouth is helping build her fanbase, which has resulted in a slow growth that she feels comfortable with. “I think it's more of my pace,” admits Wolfe. “I'm kind of a slow person. Because I'm doing it my own way and not adhering to one specific genre, it does make it a little bit more difficult to move forward. But I think I've done some really cool things so I'm happy.”

One imagines that if Wolfe stripped away the bellowing male vocals of the new song “Vex” and tweaked it a bit that she could have a potentially commercial single. But she is not sure she could write a really good pop song. The musician needs to have that crunchiness in her tunes.

“I do,” concurs Wolfe. “I don't know what it is, but if something sounds too perfect I just want to tear a hole in it and fuck it up a little bit.”

#Sargent House #Chelsea Wolfe #Hiss Spun #Billboard

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