As a live sound engineer Adam Wiltzie has worked with Labradford, The Flami… Read Full Bio ↴As a live sound engineer Adam Wiltzie has worked with Labradford, The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. He currently lives in Brussels, recording and working at live shows across Europe. It seemed inevitable that, given the extended process of recording Stars of the Lid's albums, Wiltzie would turn to solo recording. Adam Wiltzie did collaborate with Bobby Donne of Labradford on the self-titled Aix Em Klemm album, however The Dead Texan album presents a collaboration of a different kind.

The Dead Texan is a continuation of Mr. Wiltzie's nocturnal musical fumblings. Many of these songs could have been beginnings to new SOTL tracks, but he felt they were too aggressive for the new Lid record, which is still being recorded as we go to press.

Christina Vantzou is a filmmaker and video artist whose work has been shown in film, music and art festivals in Baltimore, Kansas City, Chicago and Brussels. She has accompanied musicians as a VJ and is working on a video documentary on teenage life in Scotland. Although Wiltzie began composing and recording the music on his own, he dabbled with combining his music with Vantzou's videos; this eventually became a mutually collaborative project with the composition of the music and the creation of the videos becoming simultaneous. Both mediums played off the other until audio and visual came to support each other seamlessly. The DVD is divided into seven sections which add up to a half hour's viewing time.

The eleven tracks on The Dead Texan are sonatas to Stars of the Lid's noctambulant fugues. Or as Adam Wiltzie describes them, mini symphonies. The presence of piano and strings are reminiscent of Zbigniew Preisner's soundtrack work and the feel is suggestive of George Delerue's early 60's soundtracks, but the surreal smear of guitars is Wiltzie's unmistakable contribution. Wiltzie has been living in Brussels, Belgium for the past few years. A decidedly European, filmic sensibility wafts through The Dead Texan as a song title like `La Ballade de Alain Georges' (with its reference to the 1940's French actor). Tracks vary from the flowing, transparent melody on `A Chronicle of Early Failures - Part 2' to delicate and fleeting vignettes. Combined with the creation of the seven video segments that accompany The Dead Texan, the tracks appear and depart as brief chamber pieces yet still fit into a greater whole.

The Struggle
The Dead Texan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every time we are slow
Where are we going so fast?

We could bear to stay awake because the sun
Cannot last

′Cause the sun cannot last
'Cause the sun cannot last

′Cause the sun cannot last

Overall Meaning

These lyrics carry a sense of introspection and self-awareness. The words "Every time we are slow" suggest taking a break and slowing down to reflect upon one's own life. The next line "Where are we going so fast?" implies questioning the fast-paced and hectic lifestyle that many people lead without stopping to think about their purpose and priorities in life.

The following two lines reveal a subtle metaphorical message about the transience of life. "We could bear to stay awake because the sun cannot last" is a reminder that nothing lasts forever, just like the sun sets and the day ends. It's an introspective thought that encourages the listener to make the most of the time they have and focus on what truly matters.

Line by Line Meaning

Every time we are slow
Each moment we take our time

Where are we going so fast?
Why do we rush towards our destination?

We could bear to stay awake because the sun
We could endure staying awake all night because

Cannot last
The sun won't be present forever

'Cause the sun cannot last
Because the sun isn't eternal

'Cause the sun cannot last
The sun's lifespan is finite

'Cause the sun cannot last
Inevitably, the sun will fade away

Contributed by Kennedy V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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TRACKS