On 16th October Scottish-born, Chicago-based singer-songwriter Chris Connelly releases his new album Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed via Shipwrecked Industries, and we’re delighted to bring you the first opportunity to hear the record in full here on Joyzine today.
Comprised of a combination of covers spanning Reed’s life and Connelly’s own compositions, the record follows Reed from his teenage years through to his death in 2013, as well as reflecting on the impact of his work on Connelly’s own life and music – as Reed biographer Aidan Levy states: “To put it simply, no Lou Reed, no Chris Connelly… this is the best kind of tribute album, in which we see how Lou Reed made Chris Connelly possible.”
Connelly has form with this style of documentary record making, with this album a companion piece of sorts to his 2022 LP Eulogy to Christa, which took a similar approach to the life and works of Reed’s Velvet Underground collaborator Nico.
Speaking of Reed’s influence, Connelly explains, “The kid was out shopping with his mother: a mandated, boring, endless Saturday afternoon. Spring, maybe summer, 1974. Downtown Edinburgh, some department store. On Princes Street, she shopped; he wandered aimlessly from the toys to the records. He was too old for toys, and didn’t really care about records – not yet – but something caught his nine year-old eye: a nightmarish yet beautiful photo of a strange yellow ghost. Not man not woman, all ghost, as yellow as the sodium street light that illuminated the streets there at night. The ghost seemed to be dancing, arms aloft, blurry jewelry, black lips, dead eyes. It was the Rock N Roll animal.
Fast forward to 2026, and 52 years later the same kid is still obsessed with the same photo. The same kid ended up buying the record in the late 70s or early 80s when he was informed by everything that this untamable spirit was every bit the drug dervish, serpent king of NYC, and the encapsulation and custodian of all the real rock myths, along with Iggy, Bowie, and The Dolls.”
It’s an absorbing listen, both deeply personal and universally recognisable to all who’ve been touched by Reed’s music and Connelly, whose previous bands include Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Pig Face and Fini Tribe, captures the spirit of “The Rock N Roll animal” perfectly.
Listen to Doo Wop In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed below:
In The Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed is out on 16th October. Pre-order on vinyl, CD and digital download now via Bandcamp
Chris Connelly: Website / Instagram / Facebook
Article by Paul Maps
Photograph by Derick Smith
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