Trance To The Sun

Santa Barbara, California's Trance to the Sun carved out their distinctive space alongside darkwave acts such as Faith & the Muse, Lush, and Slowdive by blending brooding dream pop with layers of goth rock that pulsed beneath a hypnotic current of contemporary electronica. Multi-instrumentalist Ashkelon Sain launched the project in 1989 and self-released the early recordings Volcano (1990) and Dusk (1991), yet the endeavor gained full momentum only after Zoe Alexandra Wakefield came aboard in 1993. After years of limited recognition, the group secured a contract with Tess Records in 1994 and delivered their next studio album, Ghost Forest. Reviewers praised the record's delicate, airy atmosphere, while press and listeners alike singled out Wakefield's spectral voice as a defining element. The 1995 release Bloom, Flowers Bloom! proved to be their final outing on Tess, as Sain and Wakefield launched their own imprint, Ambulancia, which put out Venomous Eve that same year. Mid-decade lineup adjustments also surfaced when Sain collaborated with vocalist Dawn Wagner on the short-form release Delirious. The next summer brought the introduction of Ingrid Blue, whose luminous presence shaped the sound of 1998's Azalean Sea. Blue continued working with Sain on the 1999 album Urchin Tear Soda. Atrocious Virgin arrived in 2001, coinciding with the announcement from Blue and Sain that the band would disband. Following roughly ten years of intermittent projects, including scattered reunion shows and various compilation appearances, Trance to the Sun resurfaced in 2016 with Via Subterranea—their first new full-length studio effort since Atrocious Virgin a decade and a half earlier.