Ramesh Shares Second Single From Upcoming Album, Eternal Spring

Today Ramesh (of Voxtrot) is excited to share "Valentino," the second pre-release single from his album Eternal Spring out March 11 via Cult Hero Records (pre-order). "Valentino" debuted at Kaput Magazine along with an exclusive interview with Ramesh. The song can be ordered now at Bandcamp, with all proceeds from today's sales going to the Ukraine Crisis Fund.

Ramesh discussed the song, stating, "The song is a stream-of-consciousness meditation on my many experiences in gay clubs -- and in clubs in general -- balancing the impulses of hedonism and the longing for deeper connection. When I first started going to legendary Glasgow club Optimo (Espacio) at age 19, I was blown away by the dark alien-sounding records they played...one prime example being Throbbing Gristle's Hot on the Heels of Love; the mood felt sinister yet simultaneously filled with joy."

He continued, saying "I have experienced this same dualistic essence in most of my favorite clubs, such as Berlin's Berghain | Panorama Bar and Paris's now-defunct How to Kill the DJ. Sonically, this song is an homage to those places -- it weaves through darkness and uncertainty, builds to an explosive climax, and finally resolves to a kind of peace, a letting go."

"Valentino" follows the album's lead single, "Eternal Spring" and it's accompanying video. The video debuted at Brooklyn Vegan and can also be shared at YouTube or Spotify for any playlist shares.

Ramesh discusses his career as a songwriter, saying, "I started writing this song when I was 31 and seeing a guy who was 24. He quickly ghosted me and I was devastated, which set me on a course of examining my dating history...illuminating my many codependent entanglements and behavior at his age. The song is a poetic exploration of the desire to break free of such entanglements into something more mature and meaningful."

"When we made the video I was considering how my experience as a gay person has informed my approach to dating - that most areas of my life have been affected by an underlying lack of self-worth and that the journey toward true love begins with a battle for self-love. Thus, I wanted it to be a visual love letter to the particular power(s) that I perceive in LGBTQ+ people, inspired by directors like Pedro Almodóvar and Isaac Julien's 1989 film Looking for Langston. The video follows a loose narrative of starting in isolation, finding one's people, experiencing the intentionality of nature/divinity within, and ultimately celebrating that beauty."

Voxtrot called it quits in 2010 and so began Ramesh's life as a solo artist. His first album The King was released in 2014 and was the culmination of five very mobile years...drifting between Austin, New York and Berlin. Partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the album was accompanied by a limited edition book featuring 100 pages of poems, prose and photographs, and though he and his new bandmates (Ryan Hall, Marc Henry and Danny Borja) did complete two small U.S. tours, for the most part this was another recording project. The album is tinged with a sweet melancholia, and in some ways is the sound of a lost soul searching for a purpose.

In 2014 Ramesh moved back to Austin, and it was here that he slowly began rebuilding himself, inside and out. The next eight years would be defined not only by a rediscovering of his musical self but also his Self with a capital "s," aided by various forms of therapy and inner work. There were a few short stints living in Los Angeles, dabbling in collaboration and professional songwriting (with artists such as Haim and Rostam), but life kept leading him back home to Austin. At a certain point he accepted that the only way for a second solo album to come into being was to become one hundred percent responsible for it, and so followed several years of restaurant work to fund the studio time, orchestral arrangements, and session players.

"My therapist talks about external wanderlust vs. internal wanderlust,"says Ramesh. "I've exercised a lot of external wanderlust in my life but in recent years have had to go inside, exploring my spirituality and psychology." This inner exploration is manifested on his new album Eternal Spring not only in some of the subject matter but also in the sonic variety of the songs, embracing a wide range of the music he loves, including soul, electronic and country music.

The album deals somewhat more directly than previous releases with his experience as a gay person as well as his relationship to fame and artistic freedom, and revisits his lifelong search for true love, approaching it from a place of self-empowerment and the desire to mature. Imbued in the album is a hopefulness, a full embrace of the human experience, and a celebration of personal essence.

Stream: "Valentino" at Kaput Magazine or YouTube

Watch: "Eternal Spring" official video at Brooklyn Vegan or YouTube

Watch: Eternal Spring album trailer at YouTube

Photo Credits: Eric Morales

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