In this bundle you get my most recent release “The Darkness in Me” plus all the Black Swift CDs in one go- and at a discounted price!

You will get:

SALLY GRAYSON “The Darkness in Me”
Black Swift “Desert Rain”
Black Swift “SEE ME HUMAN” and the Art magazine
Black Swift “The World Howls

SALLY GRAYSON “The Darkness in Me”

Sally Grayson has emerged from behind the Black Swift disguise with a new record of mystical desert rock.  Jangling guitars, pedal steel, and heat-shimmering reverb all conjure the epic distances of the American southwest and the kind of loss and longing that only the desert highways can fix. “The Darkness In Me” presents a passionate appeal to all those who have gone through the heartbreak, have shared their darkness within and are yet still on that highway looking for love and connection in the further hills of the near future. A western gothic romance filled with haunted highways, long sunsets, mysterious strangers and the impossible longing and grief that propels the ride across the starry night, the album asks the question many of us have been asking: how can so much suffering and so much love exist side by side? How can we move forwards into the hope of a new dawn in the midst of so much systemic prejudice and pain? What’s around the next bend and over the next hill? 

An American living in Germany, Sally felt the calling of the vast open spaces of the American southwest and traveled to Tucson AZ to record the songs at Dust and Stone Recording Studios where Gabriel Sullivan (XIXA, Giant Sand) produced and performed. The record was made with the help of a variety of session musicians: Winston Watson (Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, Alice Cooper), Thøger Tetens Lund (Mark Lanegan, Howe Gelb), Ryan Alfred (Nick Lowe, Calexico) Nick Dehmlow (Lucille Furs), Conner Gallaher (Calexico), Brian Lopez (XIXA, Calexico), Kat Jones, Anna Illenberger (Kitz), Ralv Milberg (producer of Die Nerven, Human Abfall), and Ben Nisbet (Tucson Symphony Orchestra)

While the record is evocative of mythical visions of the west in the land of her youth, Sally has found that it is a German word that helps to explain her songs best: Sehnsucht: Sehnen- to pine, to long for, to ache for something; Sucht- to be addicted. The need for longing, and the longing to be needed, it’s a desire suggesting that the journey across the mystical desert plain is far more profound than any destination.   

Black Swift “Desert Rain”

About the Music
Musically, Black Swift traveled to the desert. Many of the bands Black Swift and the leading front, Sally Grayson has been inspired by over the last years are from desert regions: Calexico, XIXA, Queens of the Stone Age, Bombino, Tinariwen…. All these bands carry with them a certain “desert” sound and quality.

Grayson, hailing from Michigan and Minnesota, and now in southern Germany with her German band is far from the desert, but she somehow felt a connection with these hot, dry, lonely and beautiful sounds, and has felt a need to cling on to them.

Part of the connection for her, personally, has to do with the spaghetti western part of the desert sounds. These sounds drum up that nostalgic homesickness in me. Grayson tells, “On Sundays, I’d sit with my Dad on the sofa and watch Westerns. I can still hear “Rawhide” and Morricone’s lonely harmonicas sing in the soundtracks.”

Black Swift “SEE ME HUMAN”

Black Swift's SEE ME HUMAN CD comes with a beautifully designed art magazine with artwork by Sally Grayson. Each song has a collage that is uniquely made to visualize the content of the song. The pages include the song lyrics, a short description of the background of each song, and in the centrefold of the magazine is a protest poster! Grab yours today while they are still available!

Black Swift continues to integrate diverse musical styles into their sound, with songs on “SEE ME HUMAN” ranging from post-punk to desert rock to psychedelic ballads. They travelled to Dresden to record at Castle Rohrsdorf, with Arno Jordan engineering. Gabriel Sullivan (XIXA, Giant Sand) from Dust & Stones Recording Studio in Tucson, AZ mixed the record.

Grayson explains the backdrop: “I believe what this world needs so desperately right now is for us to stop and really look at each other. To see the other person first as a fellow human being worthy of love and value, the same as us, and to listen to them: what is their story, their history, what motivates them to make the decisions they make?”

“These actions help break the cycles of racism, discrimination and violence. This process is the heart of many of the songs. I realize these are high ideals, and that music can’t immediately change the world, but I believe it can inspire people and be a catalyst for change.”

Black Swift’s lineup has changed over time, with Grayson as the steady songwriting core. “SEE ME HUMAN” features longtime member David Arzt (Jumbo Jet) on guitar, Bertram Oeler (Carver) on bass, and Zar Monta Cola (Warm Graves, The Hug, Jumbo Jet) back on drums.

Black Swift “The World Howls”

Black Swift’s Album “The World Howls,” ranges in style from Tarantino road trip Rock to Morricone, to Fugazi to Tom Waits. Together with her collaborators Black Swift worked steadily on this album for over a year. The bones of the song were written by Grayson, but the rest has come from a variety of musicians who helped arrange and record in numerous places in America and Germany. “The World Howls” features Jerome Fontamillas (Switchfoot), Beverly Fre$h, Nate Lehner (The Guilty Wanted), Burkhard Mayer-Anderson, Mike Gunther (Mike Gunther & his Restless Souls), Jayathi Kyle (Black Audience), Stefanie Haecker and more. Of all her collaborators, her most consistent on this album are co-producer David Arzt (Jumbo Jet) who played and arranged on most of the songs on the album, Steffen Eifert (Same Same Here) on drums, and Tobias Unrath on bass. From energetic post-punk indie rock to epic dark ballads, to soul infused & blues influenced story telling, “The World Howls” stretches the gamet of songwriting and soundscapes.