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Gretchen Heinel

This morning Consequence of Sound premiered a new track from Johanna Warren, the ominously beautiful piano dirge "circlenot astraight." It's the second single off the Portland artist's forthcoming Gemini I, the first in a pair of twin albums that reflect the Tarot cards "the Lovers" and "the Devil." Warren told Consequence of Sound that she owes some credit to a spooky visitor who helped her write the song. Read the full story and listen here.

“The first time I ever saw a ghost was shortly after he and I co-wrote ‘circlenot astraight.’ I was house-sitting, and the first time I went over to the house I fell into a trance state immediately upon entering. There was a beautiful old piano in the living room, and I felt helplessly magnetized to it–total Sleeping Beauty/ spindle vibe. Without pause, I got completely naked and sat down at the bench, and this song just poured out: all the chords, the melody, many of the words…it emerged more or less fully formed. That’s not usually how songwriting happens for me, and (at least in my conscious mind) I don’t know how to play piano. I made a voice memo on my phone and when I listened back a few days later I got full body chills: my voice didn’t even sound like mine–it was a deep, gutteral, resonant tone I haven’t been able to recreate. Full of anguish.

I had a Tarot card reading over the phone that day, and at three points during the session my reader stopped and said, ‘What? Who was that? I hear a male voice in the room.’ I said, ‘There’s no one here, but I just had a kinda far out experience and I think maybe this place is kinda haunted.’

‘It most certainly is,’ he said.

At around 3am that night I was woken up by loud clattering noises in the house. I thought it was the cats. I sat up to yell at them to be quiet, but they were both sitting perfectly still at the foot of my bed staring at me. That was decidedly unnerving, but I fell back asleep and in the early morning awoke in a state of mild sleep paralysis to the sound of gorgeous, sorrowful classical piano music drifting in from the living room. The open bedroom door perfectly framed a gaunt young man with sandy blond hair and a blue dress shirt hunched over the keys.

So, long story short, I guess you could say I had a ghostwriter… bahahah.”

Gemini I is out Friday 9/16, with a release show Wednesday 9/21 at Holocene.