FPELV: Textile1 by Various artists

Francine Thirteen is a feminine entity from Venus who landed in her GrandMama's house via her Mama's womb. She sings to the cosmos, to plants, to animals, to friends, to family, and to people who buy tickets to her shows. Listen to her. She most likely loves you very much.

Francine Thirteen's artistic re-emergence begins in 2023 with "Tiamat", a song that straddles worlds. It's a statement of purpose and an introduction to Francine's new body of work, which includes the upcoming Psalms of Tiamat EP and its accompanying tactile explorations, woven textile work which channels specific entities into our shared plane.

But this song is no mere gateway; call it a ritual, or an invitation. Its opening lyric, "I am no man's daughter", declares independence, or in any case, asserts its own identity via invocation of lineage. Warm synth lines and a trip-hoppy beat enfold Francine's pristine vocal as she declares, "Very soon I'll shed my skin... Send down my flood". Arrival is imminent.

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The mysterious Chicago producer known as Azarias follows up his 2022 mixtape Of the Chasm with a slinky bit of syncopated headfuckery. The track "See It Grow" takes the form of an electronic pelog samba with lyrics about human growth and development. Liquid synth lines slither under and about Azarias's de-corporeal vocal, while textures form to immediately melt, lysergically challenging the brain to squirt juice to the hips, three minutes suspended in aroused awareness.

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Sway and bounce to this nice little bop by Uno Lady, who has explored the land of voice-as-band for the past decade. Drawn from a body of love songs that she has been developing for several years, "Light of My Life" is the first one to come out. It was written while in residency at Chateau Orquevaux in Orquevaux, France. Sweetly sung, it's a simple sentiment, given out with love and affection, a cappella delivery bestowing swing and lightness.

Musician and mixed media artist Christa Ebert performs as Uno Lady, a one-woman choir, and composes songs with her voice, nature sounds, and electronic tools. Using her four-octave singing range, she constructs sonic worlds with dream-like vocal layers and looping ethereal tones. Her most recent releases are Alaska (2023) and Le Flux (2022).

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Rays of sun's light, refracted through glass, warming your body and dappling your being with an aura of pinks, purples, greens, and reds. "Don't you understand... it's not the sun up in the sky." Synths and hardware on Drasii's "Sun Key" are exquisitely, infinitely patched, the soul of the machine spilling out of the analog gear as if to declare, 2023 has its very own "Little Fluffy Clouds" now. Melt with us.

The duo of Lisa Armstrong and Chris Kalis have been up to these exploits for a long while, used to be as part of Chicago art-electro unit Chandeliers, and lately now the just the two as Drasii. They've released a three-fer of sci-fi-steeped, headily sculpted singles since 2022, and are preparing an LP for 2024, sure to blow your mind. "Sun Key" arrives from FPE Records in summer 2023 to fill the hole.

FPE Records is an eclectic independent label based in Oak Park, IL, USA

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