Sylvia Black – Long Gone Gardens
Today, multi-faceted, post-punk and psychedelic blues femme fatale Sylvia Black unleashed her new single, “Long Gone Gardens” from her upcoming new album Shadowtime, out January 16.
The moody track opens with a commanding bassline, ushering in Black’s signature, new wave sound, harking back to her childhood bond with the natural world amidst the fruits and flora grown by her grandmother, while also evoking the Biblical garden of Eden.
Sylvia Black expands, “The track is a reflection about a choice that seemingly lets you lose everything but puts you on a new path to find salvation again in another form.”
Multi-faceted vocalist, bassist, songwriter, musician, performer, producer, and restless creative Sylvia Black is hard to pin down. Since her very first job singing and entertaining at a resort hotel in Northern Japan as a teen, music has been Black’s lifeline. Throughout her journey, she steadily gained momentum as a writer and producer, consistently creating music on her own terms and solidifying her place as a high priestess of the post-punk and goth-romantic renaissance, even while remaining in the shadows.
Sylvia Black’s credits reflect, if not her eclectic tastes, certainly her wide-ranging abilities. Never shying away from an opportunity to leave her mark in any territory, from her sultry rendition of the classic “I Put A Spell On You” for the Netflix hit series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018), to fronting East Village combo Kudu with drummer/producer Deantoni Parks (Mars Volta, John Cale, André 3000) and keyboardist/producer Nicci Kasper in the early aughts, to writing and recording with Black Eyed Peas (“Meet Me Halfway”), heiress Daphne Guinness, and beyond, Black enjoys challenging herself. As a result, her arms-length resume includes collaborations with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), no wave provocateur Lydia Lunch, Moby, the Knocks, Armand Van Helden, and French electronic duo Télépopmusik.
A seasoned bassist who’s played with Maya Rudolph’s Prince cover band (Princess), N’Dea Davenport (Brand New Heavies), Muzz Skillings (Living Color) and beyond, Black approaches songwriting from the bottom up. “I find a beat that I’m in love with and go forward. The bass provides the floor, but as a singer, I’m also coming in with the roof. If you can write a beautiful song with just those two elements, bass notes and the voice, that’s a job well done.”
Her upcoming new album Shadowtime is a haunting exploration of nostalgia and futurism, weaving hypnotic rhythms, cinematic layers, and raw, visceral emotion. Written, produced, and played primarily by Black, the album was crafted with support from longtime mix engineer and creative foil Ruddy Lee Cullers (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yoko Ono, Depeche Mode). Shadowtime moves effortlessly from driving dance-floor anthems to atmospheric meditations on love, loss, and transcendence. “This album is about finding beauty in ruins,” Black says. “About letting the shadows speak through me. Returning to California brought out the memory and soul of my goth-psychedelia days gone by.”
Known for crafting immersive soundscapes where gothic textures meet post-punk urgency and new-wave allure, Sylvia Black has built a reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in today’s dark music revival. Across the album’s 11 tracks, Black ventures deeper into uncharted sonic territory. Set against a lush backdrop of new romantic and goth-tinged textures, the project weaves between ethereal and dance-driven soundscapes, as Black explores a longing for a return to beauty, love, and freedom.
A Southern-born American nomad, Sylvia Black has called many places home – from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest. Now based in Los Angeles, she continues to evolve as a singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, crafting productions that bridge the cinematic and the intimate. Black delivers music that resonates with fans of the darker side of indie music, from underground club scenes to headphone rituals late at night. In Shadowtime, secrets are revealed in whispers and sighs, bodies writhe and swirl through the gloom, and Sylvia Black cements her bonafides for all to savor.
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