Black Pope - Werewolf, Man - 30.10.2020

Black Pope unleashes new single Werewolf, Man for the Halloween full moon

 

Berlin-based recording artist Black Pope has just dropped new single “Werewolf, Man” just in time for the October full moon. The song is accompanied by a self-directed 80’s slasher-inspired music video starring Lucie Aron (Replace, Berlin Syndrome). The song also features a line of dialogue recorded by Sherilyn Fenn of Twin Peaks, which the artist cites as an influence on his upcoming album.

 

'Werewolf, Man’ clocks in at less than two minutes, but packs in a wall of guitars, big bad drums and all the slap-back vocal noises one could ever dream of. The lyrics describe a small community scrambling around trying to handle a werewolf problem.

The songwriter explains:

“I love the mythology of werewolves because the transformation is so sudden and so dangerous. The imagery is so universal that I feel like you can interpret it as a rich and personal metaphor, or just a cool song about werewolves. I’m not sure exactly what was going through my head at the time, but in general I had a strong desire to burst out of my skin.”

 

The song was recorded with producer Cian Riordan (St. Vincent, Mini Mansions) and follows September release Goth Girl as the second single from Black Pope’s debut album, set for release next year. The album was recorded over seven days in Monique Studios in Cork, Ireland and has been described by the artist as “a love letter to loserville”.

 

Black Pope’s ‘Werewolf, Man’ is out now.

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About Black Pope

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Black Pope’s music has been described by Mojo Magazine as a neo-rock’n’roll soundtrack of surf guitar rumble. Rewriting adolescent love stories as horror movies, Black Pope borrows from classic and contemporary rock’n’roll to take you back to an era that never existed. Currently establishing his cult in Berlin, people are drawn to his high energy performances, hip-shaking charisma and an insatiable appetite for all things dark and mysterious. For many, this is the end of civilisation as we know it. For Black Pope, it’s just another full moon.

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Notes on the Recording Process

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My producer Cian Riordan had flown over to us from LA to record the album, so we literally had 7 days to get everything done. I had recently been touring with my close friends Peter Piggott and Colm O’Halloran, and figured the three of us would be the perfect lineup to get everything we needed. I had sent Cian some really rough demos, so I think he was surprised at how well-rehearsed we were. This just allowed us to focus on nailing the energy and mood of the songs.

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    We laid down drums, bass and rhythm guitar tracks over two days, which worked really well for keeping things raw and unfiltered. We spent a lot of time in the following days messing with guitar sounds - lots of twang, tape-delays and weird little amps. I sang the lead and backing vocals for all ten tracks in one day, just with Cian and some strobe lights to keep it sexy. We also spent some time putting down keys and synth tracks, which we probably would have come back to if we’d had more time.

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    On the last day, we were putting down some cheering and screams to lay over a drum solo. As it was just three of us, I asked Cian to hit record and join us for the last take to get the energy up. So he hit record, ran into the room and proceeded to punch the three of us in the balls and laugh manically with the strobe lights beaming on his terrible, handsome face. It definitely gave us the energy we were looking for, but I don’t think any of us have been the same since.