During the Great Depression of the 30’s, American blues hero Son House wrote and recorded his signature song “Death Letter”. Somewhat 76 years later in 2006, singer/guitarist Jordi “Duende” Ariza Lora (19 yrs old) and drummer Victor Brandt (17 yrs old) from Dordrecht, Netherlands borrowed the name for their band, inspired by the song’s characteristic raw emotion and urgent rhythm. Also influenced by groups like The Thermals, Oceansize, Death Cab for Cutie, Cult of Luna and At The Drive-In, Death Letters aren’t even close to their twenties yet, but are already bursting with talent and growing experience.
Hitting it off immediately in their first rehearsal, Jordi and Victor became a tight musical pair and recorded their debut EP “Play it like you mean it” shortly afterwards. The EP was a success receiving excellent reviews.
Things really kicked off when the guys, then aged 15 and 16, entered a band competition and made their first TV appearance. They went for gold and got it; a backstage gig at Holland’s finest summerfestival ‘Pinkpop’. With the media all over them it was time to get serious; that same year they recorded their first full-length album.
Amsterdam based label Cool Buzz soon honed in on the Death Letters powerful sound and dynamic live performances, signed them in a heartbeat and released their debut self titled album in February 2009 throughout The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The album delivers thirteen solid tracks drenched with rock, blues and a steep dose of punk boiled down to true grittiness written with blood, sweat and the occasional tear.
Gaining more attention with the release of the album, Death Letters began to tour a whole range of venues and festivals including Paradiso, Zwarte Cross and Paaspop, as well as several German stages. The Germans couldn’t get enough of the pair and so Death Letters teamed up with the Stagg-O-Lee Label (partner of the infamous Glitterhouse Records) to release the album in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
The stage provides Death Letters with a free license to exalt untamed madness through their energetic live sets. Frontman Jordi literally jumps, flies, kicks and dives across the stage never compromising the integral performance of any song. His voice remains sturdy and sharp, his howls perfectly co-ordinating with his skills as a guitarist in spectacular licks. Now add Victor’s loud and incredibly taut drumming and you have a stage performance that impresses contemporaries and creates even more devoted followers.
But you will have to have just a little patience before the band will hit up the stages again. Right now Death Letters are working on writing and producing new material for their second album due out in January 2011. As the band develops, this second album will have a substantially different vibe, drawing more on a complex psychedelic punkrock sound than the bluesrock they started out with.
Watch out for Death Letters – things are only going to get more intense from here.
Band members:
Duende (guitar/vocals)
Victor Brandt (drums)
Temporary Frame
The Death Letters Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You mindfuck
A friend to blame
Shame shame shame
It's sad aren't you aware
Brain dead so you don't even care
Bending and breaking
Your knees not even shaking
Killing your honesty
Think for yourself, don't fit in
This cloth's just a temporary frame
You'll eventually throw it away
In this fight you were stuck
But you couldn't get enough
This old frame's been thrown away
The lyrics of the song Temporary Frame by The Death Letters shed light on how someone has been treating their significant other. The individual in question has left their partner in a tough situation and has seemingly played mind games with them. The singer highlights how this individual was too cowardly to take responsibility for their actions and instead laid the blame on a friend, leading to feelings of shame. Despite the sadness of the situation, this person does not seem to care, and their lack of empathy is highlighted.
The lyrics also delve into the lack of authenticity this person has. The singer emphasizes that this person is too busy fitting in with the wrong crowd instead of standing for themselves or their beliefs. The line "this cloth's just a temporary frame" highlights how this person is not being true to themselves and is instead following a false persona. Eventually, they will discard this frame, and the singer hints how it would not be long before they do so. In their fight, this person was stuck, but it was not enough to break away from the mould they had created, leading to the ultimate separation of the temporary frame.
Line by Line Meaning
You left her stuck
You abandoned her when she needed you
You mindfuck
You played with her mind and emotions
A friend to blame
You betrayed her trust as a friend
Shame shame shame
You should feel ashamed of your actions
It's sad aren't you aware
You seem clueless about how hurtful you've been
Brain dead so you don't even care
You're not even capable of feeling remorse
Bending and breaking
You're weak and fragile
Your knees not even shaking
You're not even scared of the consequences of your actions
Waste away so easy
You're letting yourself go to waste
Killing your honesty
You're losing your integrity and honesty
Think for yourself, don't fit in
You should be true to yourself and not just follow the crowd
This cloth's just a temporary frame
Our physical body is temporary and will eventually wither away
You'll eventually throw it away
You will eventually die and leave this body behind
In this fight you were stuck
You were trapped and struggling in a difficult situation
But you couldn't get enough
You kept trying even though it was futile
This old frame's been thrown away
You've moved on from your old struggles but your actions still have consequences
Writer(s): Chris Smith, Jordi Ariza Lora
Contributed by Aiden S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Frank Goeijenbier Hovenier
Hahahaa, this is really something! Great experiment and it wroked out soooo well! Congrats, Frankie.
YourSaviour
Bruut nummer! I like it!!
Thomas Janssen
Footage van het publiek is altijd leuk om te doen voor een clip. Een jaar of twee gelee deed Ash dat met Return of white Rabbit live, check het uit! En heerlijk nummertje dit.
Jake the Mdog
Cool! Klinkt beetje Brits achtig, vet. En echt een heel cool idee om het publiek te laten filmen! xD
1Sannee
Aiighht, had het al gezegd, maar hij is echt tof geworden! ;D
Chippiej
Vet! Ik ben diegene met het Death Letters shirt :P Leuk om m'n eigen beelden terug te zien =)