I’ve had a few artistic doldrums, aka writer’s block. I won’t bore you with why and wherefore; I have had trouble writing anything this year. There are only ten blogs to my credit this year; that’s less than one per month. So I got a PR request from the always-pleasant Shauna McLarnon at Shameless Promotion PR, to give a listen to the song Temple of Sleep from the Zen Ghost album by Frenchy and the Punk, which I praised on October 30. Despite my struggles to write anything, this album rose above others and prodded me to write. That’s how much I appreciated the album. Out of the dozens of press requests that I have received, Zen Ghost was able to push through and rise above the pack.

Anyhoo, I got the request today to give a little boost to the song Temple of Sleep. I don’t usually blog about singles, what with me being an album guy. I have very few 45s and lots of 12-inch slabs of vinyl. That’s just me. I don’t judge; I like the 33 1/3 better.

Well, that gets thrown out the window today, and I will wax eloquently about a single. I listened to the song Temple of Sleep and then pulled the virtual needle back to the start, back to the album’s lead track. It seems that I am not good at sticking to singles. I listened to the entire album again, there is an ebb and flow to an album, and single tracks sometimes lose their context when they try to stand alone. Temple of Sleep is only the second track on the Zen Ghost album, but I feel it is a bridge song. Track one, Mon Souvenir, is all about feelings. It is affirming that the singer can feel. That’s a good thing, being able to feel.

Track two, our focus song, is a bit darker. “Life is feeling very doubtful,” and the singer tells us, “I wanna turn off my feelings.” The song ends more optimistically, with the singer telling us they want to “Make peace with my feelings, Just so I can breathe.” When I first heard this track, I couldn’t help but think of George Floyd.

The song Temple of Sleep then flows into track three, If The World Doesn’t End First, which is full of love that goes on forever and ever.

“I’ve loved you, I’ve loved you, since the dawn of time

The vines of our love galactically entwined

Up to the sky through the cosmos so high

The world may end, but we’ll never die

Our love feels so secure

We don’t care anymore

The words spill over like waterfalls

Like Somewhere in Time

I’m yours, and you are mine…Never-ending… just beginning.”

There we go, “our love feels so secure.” and “The words spill over like waterfalls.” That’s the words of Frenchy and the Punk, vocalist, percussionist and lyricist Samantha Stephenson and guitarist-composer Scott Helland. My words are not that pretty and eloquent, but words did come together and broke through the creative doldrums. A big thank you to Shauna for sliding this song in my direction, and an equally effervescent thank you to Frenchy and the Punk for creating this music. A bonus sidebar, I was pleased to see Scott Helland playing a Godin. They are not seen that often. I have an SDxt.

FOR SHARING

‘Temple of Sleep’ https://youtu.be/LhwgjmazNUk

‘If The World Doesn’t End First’ https://youtu.be/kMaUbNboYFU

‘Zen Ghost’ CD pre-order https://batfrogs.com/product/zen-ghost-cd

Bandcamp https://frenchyandthepunk.bandcamp.com/album/zen-ghost

‘Come in and Play’ https://youtu.be/DcierLOU_WM

Mon Souvenir’ https://youtu.be/3UlLC57AHsQ

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/55vtMX4zXrBNmICSKAIzlm

If you have any questions, contact Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotion.

PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com