Biography

In ancient Greek theatre, the chorus was a group of performers that would appear onstage to communicate with audience members and demonstrate how one might respond to the action of the play. It was a theatrical device that allowed the audience to better understand characters (often all played by one actor). The chorus offered insight and shaped expectations of scenes to come. Lou Canon’s third album, Audomatic Body, opens with “The Chorus.” Mimicking the dramatic mechanism of the same name, it features most of the voices that will later be heard on the record, and starts to sketch out motifs that will resurface throughout the nine songs that follow. It’s an introduction to a collection of songs that hear Canon reflecting on the evolving nature of relationships; the struggle to stay together, the wax and wane of passion, the ways that sensuality can change as years go by, an ode to the human experience. Sonically, Audomatic Body belongs on its very own plane. Its swampy waters filled with electric eels, where natural and synthetic vibrations coalesce beneath Canon’s delicately distorted, sometimes almost-whispered vocals. Flashes of intimacy (“Next to You”), imagination (“Invisible Desire”), loss (“Sleeper Wave”) and rejuvenation (“For Life”) punctuate the entrancing set of songs — just as “The Chorus” foretold. It’s about growth, hearing one’s own body, recognizing sensual needs and finding a place where you give into pleasure…  “I surrender in the ancient chamber.”