Charming Disaster is a goth folk duo from NYC that has been weaving tales of human relationships with each other, with the world around them and with the mythologies and beliefs that inform our behaviors since 2012. Inspired in part by the work of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the project regularly employs unconventional instrumentation in composing poetic and thought-provoking songs in a classic pop vein with an Americana flavor. At times their songs are reminiscent of what the Cramps might have sounded like had they directed their songwriting for a softer dark cabaret vibe or Tav Falco dialing back the rockabilly and emphasizing the folkloric aspect of his work. Whatever the exact way one might use to describe the band’s beguiling body of work, Ella Bisker and Jeff Morris clearly spend some time considering the types of stories they want to convey and the sounds that might best suit it given tools on hand to make every release unique and imbued with its own identity. For the latest Charming Disaster record, 2022’s Our Lady of Radium, Bisker and Morris took inspiration from the life and scientific discoveries of Marie Curie and the era in which she lived including her involvement with séances, the folklore of the mountains from which radioactive ores were mined and the tragic lives of the “Radium Girls” who painted the dials of watches with radium-based paint and were subsequently poisoned by radiation for their efforts. The album was written and recorded during the peak period of pandemic isolation and the musicians made great use of instruments and objects on hand to give the nine songs an intimacy and poignancy that made its inspired and deep storytelling immediately accessible. The record as well as a companion lyric and art book were released on March 4, 2022 with the album available digitally, on CD and translucent green vinyl with black splatter through their Bandcamp page.
Listen to our interview with Bisker and Morris on Bandcamp and connect with Charming Disaster at the links below the interview link.
Charming Disaster on Instagram
Queen City Sounds and Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.