ON THE RISE
Imagine listening to a song that sounds like it should be in a movie. Now imagine listening to a whole album of songs like that. This is the shared experience of many who listen to Voltaire’s Ghost.
Their latest single, “‘Till The Break Of Day” is a hauntingly beautiful track that gives listeners another taste of the sounds they can find on the band’s album Black Petals Fallen. The album is available now exclusively on Bandcamp digitally and on vinyl.
Like other songs in the band’s discography,“‘Till The Break Of Day” was first conceived as a demo by guitarist/producer Magnus and transformed into something new through drumming from Josh Eggstaff and vocals from Ruby Juhl. The lyrics of the song Magnus wrote were not changed and he credits Ruby’s delivery of them for taking the song to the next level.
“It’s amazing how much phrasing makes a difference in a song. The way she approached it vocally and slid between the riff gave the song a totally different feel.” said Magnus.
The track echoes feelings of romanticism amongst chaos and captures these feelings through a cinematically immersive soundscape. Ruby’s angelic vocals take center stage and pave the way for a guitar led instrumental break that envelops listeners in the picture the band is painting.
“The song is about a fleeting connection. And people are connecting to it emotionally, more than they have with some of our other songs so that’s been a pleasant surprise.” said Magnus.
Voltaire’s Ghost’s music has been described as Dark Pop and Cosmic Goth as they blend elements of Rock, Gothic, and Classical. They know people are attracted to these elements as they see them as a form of escape from the real darkness that comes from living life. Fans of this will be happy to know they have another single coming on October 16th. Releasing in celebration of Halloween, Magnus described it as a “rock and roll ghost story.”
“Stuff like that is awesome. It’s cool and more dramatic.” said Ruby.
“You can’t just have darkness though. There has to be hope in it, and longing. We try to paint a more complex emotional palette than just darkness.” said Magnus.
This calls back to the subject matter of “‘Till The Break Of Day” and the bittersweet romanticism it captures. The song details how even with life circumstances and fate trying to intervene, love will still try to prevail.
“Love is human nature. It’s something we’re always going to be talking about and thinking about.” said Ruby.
Voltaire’s Ghost has more music, videos and surprises for their listeners on the way as the fall season sets the ideal backdrop for the lifting melodies and haunting imagery of love and loss flowing across their album.
“‘Till The Break Of Day” from the album Black Petals Fallen is available on streaming services now and the album is available for purchase digitally and on vinyl on Bandcamp.
Website | Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok
The Starlight PR Team thanks Voltaire's Ghost for taking the time to speak with us.
ON THE RISE
.jpg)
LOS ANGELES — Damion Seraglio Bond and Hannah Leyla are turning up the heat with “Pina in Your Colada,” a playful tropical duet built around flirtation, humor and the kind of chorus that practically demands a room full of people sing along.
Featured as the opening track on Tropical Vacay, “Pina in Your Colada” drops listeners directly into vacation mode. Tiki lights are glowing, steel drums are playing, drinks are flowing and Hannah and Damion are trading lines back and forth like two people who have decided subtlety can wait until after the trip.
That exaggerated approach was intentional.
“I worried that if I hewed too closely to a serious sexual expression, today’s rather Me-Too sensitive folks might misinterpret the point of the song,” songwriter and creator Lloyd Eric Cotsen said. “By keeping it light-hearted and even cheesy over the top, it’s clearly aiming for fun.”
Cotsen envisioned the track as the kind of local favorite heard at a packed tropical bar, where vacationers already know every word and become part of the performance. That idea shaped the song’s crowd vocals and call-and-response structure, including Hannah’s equally confident answers to Damion’s advances.
Creating that chemistry, however, became one of the biggest challenges behind the track.
Cotsen used AI music platform Suno to develop the recording, but directing the male and female vocals proved considerably harder than expected. He ultimately worked through more than 160 versions while trying to get the exchanges right, eventually bringing elements from separate versions to a sound engineer to create the final result.
That persistence helped produce one of the song's defining elements: a performance that feels less like a conventional studio recording and more like stumbling into a beach bar where the entire crowd already knows the chorus.
“Recreating the vibe of a live performance in a bar with a crowd finishing the lines of a song they know and love was something I would have bet Suno couldn’t do,” Cotsen said. “It did it masterfully.”
That atmosphere also made “Pina in Your Colada” a natural opener for Tropical Vacay. Cotsen wanted the album to function almost like a vacation soundtrack, maintaining a tropical atmosphere while moving between comedy, romance and more reflective moments.
“It seemed like the most fun, captured the tropical spirit of the album best,” he said of choosing the song as its first track.
The project continues Cotsen’s genre-hopping approach to songwriting. His work has moved through folk-country, blues, soul, gospel and dance, while Tropical Vacay gives him room to explore Trop Rock and the stories that emerge when people temporarily leave their everyday lives behind.
For Hannah and Damion, that means a relationship that is flirtatious, competitive and occasionally more complicated than the beach-bar antics suggest. Cotsen describes the pair as having a “playfully combative romantic relationship,” with Hannah written as a confident character who can give Damion every bit as much as she gets.
And the fictional duo may eventually move beyond the digital world. Cotsen plans to host a concert with live singers performing selections from his catalog within the next year while continuing work on several additional albums.
For now, “Pina in Your Colada” offers a simpler invitation: turn it up, embrace the ridiculousness and pretend the nearest drink comes with a tiny umbrella.
“Pina in Your Colada” is available now on Spotify as part of Tropical Vacay.
