Velvet Penny, Tears of a Martian, Bonnie Hook
https://velvet-penny.bandcamp.com/album/carousel-dreams
On tour to celebrate the release of their full length album 'Carousel Dreams' out on Psylk Rd. Records. Sonically ‘Carousel Dreams’ is contemplative and nuanced. At times whimsical, dreamy; and at other times volatile and raw. The new album 'Carousel Dreams' opens with the album's self-titled track, Carousel Dreams, a dreamy yet haunting folk song that touches on the impermanence of mistakes from past experiences and cyclical pursuits of the future. ‘Soon we’ll all be, spirits in passing, ain't that a relief? That nothing we own we keep?’ With psychedelic demeanor and indie sensibilities the album goes on to borrow from a wide range. Elements from retro soul, shoe gaze, jazz, musicals and doom metal are borrowed and stitched together to create a dynamic and cohesive soundscape that is emotional and honest to the many facets of human experience. Conceptually and visually the record plays in a shadowy world where varying symbols spin around a carousel woven by a spider. It digs into shadow work, the work of confronting the underbelly and aftermath of familial wounds and how such scars form into deep seated beliefs that have the gravity to alter our waking relationships and sabotage good fortune. As a whole, the album is woven together to share a tapestry of life, relationships, dreams, and the long act of un-coming and understanding of an amalgomous identity transforming from constraints and breaking into an unknown form. https://velvet-penny.bandcamp.com/album/carousel-dreams
Velvet Penny, is a musical collective, dedicated group of community organizers and artists led by singer/songwriter Marlena Martinez. For her debut body of work, Marlena spent several years creating ‘All the Flowers,’ which was released as an album, community zine, and award winning music video dedicated to preventing and healing domestic violence. ‘All the Flowers’ can most simply be described as an art rock album that explores the sounds of folk, alt-jazz, and psychedelia unified through the complexities of dissonance and the lightness of healing.
The album was released in the Spring of 2023 and started in the summer of 2021 when Martinez began recording with producer Wolf Kroeger on a collection of songs that were compiled over the course of 10 years. Together they shaped the ideas for the album and completed the single ‘All the Flowers’. While recording both at Kroeger’s home studio and at Echo Bar Studios in Los Angeles, the album received help from the accredited recording and mixing engineer Shachar ‘Shak’ Boussani who has done work with Danny Elfman, Lupe Fiasco and BTS. With his long standing experience, Shak brought the hi fi element to these otherwise abstract songs that make them palatable and akin to acts such as Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, and Fiona Apple. Together they embellished the album with various talented studio musicians who helped shaped this very special release.
As a vocalist and community organizer working at the intersection of activism, wellness, and art, Marlena was awarded an artistic residency at CASA Pitzer in Ontario, California hosted by The Arts Area where her music video for ‘All the Flowers’ was on view from November 2022- February 2023. During the opening, Velvet Penny made their debut as a full band but most critically, Velvet Penny’s residency offered free education, art, and wellness programs designed to create kinder and safer communities. Workshops ranged in topics such as somatic consent, zine making, body and trauma work/healing, and self-defense.
Since the release of the album, Velvet Penny has toured the East Coast, played in the Pacific Northwest and performed consistently in Southern California in varying solo performances, trio sets and 7 piece arrangements. She is now in the process of writing and recording her sophomore album and producing two music videos set to release in 2025.