LAM has gained a large and loyal following all over the world, from the USA to Europe to Latin America (where the live band has toured extensively), and beyond. LAM has headlined and co-headlined concerts and major festivals with bands like The Cure, Green Day, HIM (HIM has cited LAM a favorite artist), Rammstein, Soft Cell and many more. LAM has performed to crowds of over 30,000 people as headliner and co-headliner on major music festivals around the world. However, London After Midnight maintains a strong underground and independent "personality" despite being a top seller (charting in the top 10 and top 20 German DAC, and other European independent charts, with each of 4 CDs released) and a major draw at music festivals year after year.
Songwriter, instrumentalist, producer and founder Sean Brennan is known for his strong stances in favor of animal rights, pro-environmental and human rights issues, anti-corporate control of media, and support for progressive and liberal political and social causes. Whatever the approach or subject matter, the music of London After Midnight is deeply touching, powerful, socially aware, romantic, emotional, disturbing, haunting, moving, and often exhibits a morbid wit with its sardonic humor (listen to the tongue-in-cheek "Your Best Nightmare" and try not to think of an Edward Gorey story).
LAM is all this, while at the same time appealing to a wide variety of people. There really is no classification that fits London After Midnight (despite LAM's "dark" image) because the music is so varied and the lyrical content (and even LAM's personality and causes) are unique and uncommon in today's music scene (often breaking boundaries- much to the outrage of people who live and die by genre labels). Sean Brennan shuns all labels (as any artist worth their salt will do) and the music he creates can really only be classified as "London After Midnight".
From 2015-2019 LAM headlined major festivals around the world, including Wave Gotik Treffen multiple times, and many other events. In 2019 Sean Brennan started his own record label, Darkride Records, and released "Selected Scenes from the End of the World: 9119", the original 1991 album remixed from the original master tapes (it is NOT A REMASTER- it's completely remixed from the multi-track master tapes). This new mix restored missing audio tracks and includes a never before released song from the 1991 sessions. Darkride Records released the "Oddities Too", similar in theme to the 1998 album "Oddities" with unreleased music, new music and much more. The all new un-named LAM album and a complete remix of "Psycho Magnet", remixed from the original master tapes, is also underway.
Main discography:
-Selected Scenes from the End of the World, 1995 CD (originally released as a cassette in 1991)
-Psycho Magnet, 1995 cassette, 1996 CD
-Oddities, 1998 cassette, 1998 CD
-Violent Acts of Beauty, 2007 CD
-Selected Scenes from the End of the World: 9119, 2019 CD (remixed from original multi-track master tapes)
- Live From Isolation, 2021 CD.
- Oddities Too, 2022 CD
Permanent line-up:
Sean Brennan: music, lyrics, vocals, most of the instruments.
Current live line-up:
Jeremy Kohnmann: guitar
Michael Areklett: bass
Pete Pace: drums.
Claire
London After Midnight Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drifting through dead branches in the night
While in the moonlight we
Go down upon our knees
Entwined together only we can see their beauty
Beneath the stars a bell begins to toll
For reasons which we really shouldn't know
Wrap me in darkness, Claire make love to me
I am thunder
I am rain
I am pleasure
I am pain
Only in darkness can there be light
Tell me angel have you prayed tonight?
In the dark I know you all so well
Beauty from Heaven wrapped 'round souls from Hell
So take a drink from me
My sacrifice to thee
Damned fallen angels
Always blessed with me
The opening lines of "Claire" set a haunting tone as the spirits conveyed appear to be undefined, drifting up through the darkened sky in a surreal and eerie setting. As the spirits are seen drifting through dead branches, the imagery sets a morbid scene that perfectly aligns with the hypnotic melody of the song. As the singer goes down on his knees in the moonlight, we are left to imagine the beauty that he and his partner alone can see. The use of entwined partners hints at a deeply intimate and spiritual connection.
The chorus of "Claire" reveals a hint of forbidden love between the singer and his lover, as the bell tolls beneath the stars. The reasons behind the bell tolling are unclear, which adds to the mystique of the song. The singer invites his lover to take a walk with him down to the cemetery, where he urges her to wrap him in darkness and make love to him. He states that in the darkness, he knows the beauty of fallen angels from Heaven wrapped around souls from Hell. The singer is depicted as thunder, rain, pain, and pleasure - a mysterious, powerful, and seemingly ominous figure who is only truly accessible in the darkness.
In conclusion, "Claire" is a haunting and mystical song that combines eerie imagery with a hypnotic melody to create a surreal listening experience. The lyrics are shrouded in secrecy, leaving the listener to imagine their own potential interpretations. The use of imagery and symbolism throughout the lyrics creates a vivid and haunting image of the singer and his forbidden love affair as they delve deeper into the darkness.
Line by Line Meaning
Spirits seem to drift up through a darkened sky
Phantoms wandering through the branches of lifeless trees in the night sky
Drifting through dead branches in the night
The spirits move aimlessly through the lifeless trees under the dark sky
While in the moonlight we
Amid the radiance of the moonlight
Go down upon our knees
We kneel down in homage to the spirits that we can't see
Entwined together only we can see their beauty
Only we can discern the magnificence that the spirits behold
Beneath the stars a bell begins to toll
Amid the starry sky, the chime of the bell reverberates
For reasons which we really shouldn't know
For causes which we're not supposed to fathom
So take a walk with me down to the cemetery
So come with me to the graveyard for a stroll
Wrap me in darkness, Claire make love to me
Envelop me in the shadows, Claire, and indulge in lovemaking with me
I am thunder
I'm like the roar of thunder
I am rain
I'm akin to precipitation
I am pleasure
I'm akin to pleasure
I am pain
I'm synonymous with agony
Only in darkness can there be light
Only in obscurity, the luminescence can become apparent
Tell me angel have you prayed tonight?
Inform me, dear angel, if you've beseeched for intercession tonight?
In the dark I know you all so well
In the darkness, all of you are well known to me
Beauty from Heaven wrapped 'round souls from Hell
Heavenly beauty wrapped around souls from the abyss
So take a drink from me
Therefore, have a sip from my chalice
My sacrifice to thee
It's my offering to you
Damned fallen angels
Cursed angels who have descended
Always blessed with me
Yet always blessed in my vicinity
Lyrics © THINGMAKER MUSIC
Written by: SEAN BRENNAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind