Hi gang...
Yes, that's right - Patrick will be releasing
Damaris as his next single on
December 14th! Please note the correct date for this release, as some blogs and newsfeeds
have reporting the 15th and this isn't the case. Now! Onto those juicy details we know you love (we do too, goss-fiends that we are). Read on for info on the single itself, including how the song
came to be written and in what formats you can grab it, bits and pieces about the b-sides and upcoming video, and some stuff on what Patrick's up to now and next...
God damned Damaris, killed with last kiss...
Patrick will be releasing this powerful and beautiful ballad that has been an international stand-out live anthem, performed over countless music festivals this summer. The song is semi-
autobiographical and centred on the loss of love, but was also inspired by a tale discovered by Patrick when he went to seek out his English roots after a period of heartbreak and the ending of a
relationship that was documented in the song
The Magic Position.
Tracing the roots of his father under the family name Apps back to a family of ferret-catchers and blacksmiths in Brede, East Sussex, Patrick stumbled across a small wooden cross engraved with the
name '
Damaris' among the gravestones of his ancestors...
From that moment, Patrick began to research who Damaris might be, and it came about that the wooden cross told a larger tale than anyone could have imagined. It is still unsure whether
Damaris was a gypsy or a heathen, but she belonged outside of the Catholic church, who in 1880, held a very strict reign over romance and passion in such a small village. Damaris was most
certainly not from the Catholic church, so when she fell in love with Lewis, the son of the Parish priest, she was denied of ever being united in marriage with him.
Patrick writes the song from the perspective of Lewis after discovering that Damaris has 'died of a broken heart', which, in the 19th Century was a polite term for either suicide, or a romantic
notion that someone can be so heartbroken that they give up on life. The song is a musical iconisation of a true life Romeo and Juliet from Sussex. Two star-crossed lovers who were destined to be
together, but were denied, due to the repression and sign of the times.
The church organ on the song, played by Patrick and the drums by Marcello Vig were both recorded in 2008 on location in St. George's Church, the very church ground where the romance took
place a hundred years before between Damaris and Lewis.
B-sides
Peacock Skies - programmed by Patrick during the Magic Position tour of 2007 in the Californian Desert somewhere between Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Damaris (St. George's Church Acoustic Mix) - a special acoustic mix of Damaris, which highlights the amazing St. George's Church Organ and Patrick Wolf/Fiona Brice string
arrangements in their full glory.
Queen Isabella (The She-Wolf of France) - a truly gothic baroque harpsichord-driven fury of a song, written from the perspective of the legendary 'She-Wolf of France'. Isabella of
France who was sworn into a marriage in her youth with King Edward the Second of England, who was reputed to be bisexual... The English people in the 16th Century branded her 'She Wolf'.
Legend has it that her ghost still haunts the gardens of St. Paul's Cathedral, nearby to where Patrick lives.
The video
The video was directed by Patrick in collaboration with Director of Photography
Rory Broadfoot. Patrick co-stars alongside the actress
Gwendoline Christie, who can currently be
seen playing Holly Go Lightly's glamorous neighbour in the hit West End production of
Breakfast at Tiffany's, and also in the Terry Gilliam film
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
The video is Patrick's visual interpretation of the passionate romance between Damaris and Lewis, shot on location at Blackdown, West Sussex. You'll be able to clap your peepers on it sometime in
November, watch this space...
Formats, release date and preorder
DIGITAL
Damaris
Peacock Skies
Queen Isabella (The She-Wolf of France)
Damaris (St. George's Church Acoustic Mix)
7" VINYL
Release date: Monday 14th December, 2009
Preorder for 7" coming soon
Upcoming bits and bobs
As you know, Patrick will be playing his big bonkers theatre production special one off (phew!) show on the 15th of November, with a string sextet and choir at the London Palladium -
home of the Royal Variety Show and many a true star. Special guests on the night include Marc Almond and Alec Empire as Patrick recreates the full luscious orchestral epic (phew
again!) sound of The Bachelor and selected reinvented anthems from all four of his albums for one night only. It is set to be the most wonderful Patrick Wolf performance to date.
Micachu & The Shapes have been confirmed as the support act. Are you going to be there? Check out these links to buy or win some tickets:
In addition, as described in our last mailout, Patrick has contributed to the
Rankin Youth Music 'Destroy' Project and will perform at the launch event on
Monday 9th
November at
Phillips de Pury Gallery, London. To be in with a chance to win tickets to this exclusive event,
simply visit this
link.
Following this, Patrick will take the stage at
Oxford University to give a prestigious lecture and question and answer session for the
Oxford Union. Previous guests include Michael
Jackson and Stephen Hawking.
As if this wasn't enough (phew phew phew!), Patrick will then be jetting off to Japan, Australia and Brazil before the end of the year for some more fantastic live shows.
Bye for now...
Team Wolf x
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