Full Upon Her Burning Lips

Full Upon Her Burning Lips
Studio album by Earth
Released	May 24 2019
Recorded	at Studio Soli in Seattle, WA
Genre	Drone, Ambient, Post-Rock
Length	62:56
Label	Sargent House
Producer	Mell Dettmer, Earth
Earth chronology
Earth Live at Third Man Records (2017)	Full Upon Her Burning Lips (2019)	Even Hell Has Its Heroes (2023)

Full Upon Her Burning Lips is the ninth studio album by the Washington drone band Earth. Released in May 2019 and the first Earth album to appear on Sargent House records, Full Upon Her Burning Lips sees the band returning to a stripped down drone-rock sound. Notably it's the first release by Earth to feature only Carlson and Davies, since the 2005 live album Living in the Gleam of an Unsheathed Sword (Recorded 2002).

Full Upon Her Burning Lips notably attained critical praise upon release. Along with critical acclaim the album reached some of the highest charts in the band's career, notably reaching #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts in June 2019.

Background

Work began on a new Earth album in 2018 after Carlson had toured solo in support of Conquistador. Rather than utilizing a more lush lineup of musicians in line of previous albums, Carlson opted instead to focus entirely on the core duo of himself and drummer Adrienne Davies. Along with finding a title that "evokes a sensual and sensuous experience" and drawing from folklore, Carlson explains the stripped-down approach in an interview with guitar.com:

“	"Well, I’ve been playing with Adrienne for almost 20 years now, and on previous albums, I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a lot of amazing players, but I really wanted this album to focus on the two main members at this point. Just because we really haven’t done that since, probably, Hex; Or Printing In The Infernal Method. I also felt like live drums have always been a big part of what Earth does, but that has never come across as fully on record. You know, because when you’re recording a bunch of different instruments, you need to leave room for stuff, and I always felt like the drums didn’t show the full potential that Adrienne’s capable of. And then also, I’ve always sort of been the guy that holds everything down with my guitar and let a lot of other instruments carry the melodic work – whether it’s cello or keys or stuff like that. So I sort of wanted it to just be the two of us showing off the best of our abilities. The previous records, they’ve all been very lush sounding and I wanted this one to be very present and dry, and upfront. Using the 70s style, you know, where I was running two amps for the basics and hard panning guitars left and right – the kind of stuff that you just don’t really hear any more on record."	”
	— Dylan Carlson, guitar.com

Notably "Cats on The Briar" had been written during the band's soundcheck and performed at the 2016 edition of Hellfest. "Descending Belladonna" and "The Mandrake's Hymn" were also written in 2016 as part of the live soundtrack for the film "Belladonna of Sadness". On the opposite end songs like "Exaltation of Larks" and "Maiden's Catafalque" were recorded during off-the-cuff improvisations live in the studio. In regards to the album cover artwork was intended but Carlson opted for the band photo instead as he felt it was a "statement photo" and had never worked in a band photo on the cover before. Notably the band had also signed to Sargent House in 2018, working on the record after Carlson had finished a solo record and collaborative efforts with THE BUG.

On 6 March 2019 Sargent House would post "Cats on The Briar" on their YouTube page, followed by "The Colour of Poison" on 16 April. On 10 May 2019 a press release for "Full Upon Her Burning Lips" would be unveiled on Sargent House's official page along with the song "Cats on The Briar". In a statement for Sargent House, Carlson describes the record as he "wanted this album to be the core, and I felt it was the first album where the drums really get to shine.” as well as desiring the record to be "this one to be quite dry and everything upfront and raw.” Full Upon Her Burning Lips would be released on 24 May 2019 via Sargent House in the following formats: CD, Digital, Black Vinyl, "Crimson/Black Galaxy" Vinyl (Indie Retail Exclusive), "Gold/Black Galaxy Swirl" Vinyl and "Green/Black Galaxy Swirl" Vinyl.

Full Upon Her Burning Lips would be widely praised by a wide range of critics. Pitchfork Media (giving a 7.8/10) states that "hits that upper echelon not just through signature repetition, but also the quality of the riffs themselves" and "enough surprises here that what could’ve been just a comfortable glance backward" while also praising Davies' drum performance. New Noise Magazine, awarding five stars, describes the album as "a complete and full expression of an aesthetic, mood, and narrative in sound". Music and Riots would award a 9/10 and Ghost Cult Magazine would award an 8/10 while The Quietus (describing it as "Earth's busiest work to date but also one of their loveliest"), Pop Matters, Echoes and Dust, Louder Than War and Pure Grain Audio would elicit high praise among others.

"Full Upon Her Burning Lips" would also be Earth's highest charting album to date, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Charts on 8 June 2019 and staying there for two weeks. Other charts in Billboard that the album managed to hit would be "Top Independent Albums" (#17) "Tastemakers" (#10), "Top Album Sales" (#69) and "Vinyl Album Sales" (#11). Full Upon Her Burning Lips would be among the top picks for CVLT Nation's "Best of 2019".

Tracklist

Earth "The Colour of Poison" (Official Audio)

Earth "Cats on the Briar" (Official Audio)

All songs written by Dylan Carlson; All arrangements by Carlson and Adrienne Davies.

• 1. Datura's Crimson Veils (12:16)
• 2. Exaltation Of Larks (3:20)
• 3. Cats On The Briar (5:57)
• 4. The Colour Of Poison (5:31)
• 5. Descending Belladonna (5:12)
• 6. She Rides An Air Of Malevolence (11:28)
• 7. Maiden's Catafalque (2:49)
• 8. An Unnatural Carousel (6:51)
• 9. The Mandrake's Hymn (5:03)
• 10. A Wretched Country Of Dusk (4:29)

Personnel

• Dylan Carlson - Guitar, Bass
• Adrienne Davies - Drums, Percussion
• Mell Dettmer - Engineer, Mixing, Mastering, Producer
• Don Milgate - Photography

External Links

• Full Upon Her Burning Lips on Discogs