I am very proud to announce that Salon de la Guerre’s latest album has hit the virtual shelves. It’s called Betrayed, and it’s now available on Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, Bandcamp and Pandora, among other services.
Betrayed is a collection of dark pop songs on political and personal anxiety, obsession, jealousy, guilt and redemption. Yet it’s all pretty poppy and peppy, lest you get the wrong idea from all those scary nouns.
This time out I turned to some singing help from my friend Christina E., who contributes the wonderful lead vocal on my song “Latin Quarter Restaurant,” and whose harmony vocals and vocal counterpoints can be found throughout the rest of the album as well. When I wrote some of these parts, I realized that my voice just wouldn’t do, and I turned to Christina, who offered not just great interpretation but allowed me to visit more spaces in the sonic landscape and give the songs a different color and personality. Also, working with her was a joy. When you work alone so much, it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone else come in and show such enthusiasm for what you’re doing and lend so much positive energy.
I’m fairly proud of my production on these cuts … or at least as proud as I can be with a layperson’s understanding of sound engineering. Of all my strengths, I rank my arranging talents pretty high and my audio tech acumen pretty low.
I composed the music almost entirely on Logic Pro X this time around, though I also tucked in a solo here and there that I performed on an iPhone keyboard. (I haven’t picked up an actual guitar yet this year … but watch out for it. Sometimes I get itchy to play.)
As always, Betrayed is only available online in a digital format (which will be the case every time out until I’ve signed a record deal). The album was written, produced and performed by yours truly at my home studio from May to July 2025. Again, the background vocals on a smattering of songs and the lead vocal on “Latin Quarter Restaurant” are by Christina E. The color photo illustration on the cover is by CSA-Printstock.
Here’s one of the new tracks. Enjoy!
Beauty is Imperfection 