Trance To The Sun features the dreamy and compelling sounds of musical land… Read Full Bio ↴Trance To The Sun features the dreamy and compelling sounds of musical landscaper extraordinaire Ashkelon Sain, with a guided tour by sublime vocalist Zoe Alexandra Wakefield. Their extensive, at times bizarre songs cover tremendous ground while retaining a unique darkness and a mysterious ambiance.

Trance To The Sun began in 1989 as Ashkelon's instrumental recording project, yielding in 1990 the self-produced "Volcano", an album far ahead of its time. 1994 saw the signing of the band to TESS RECORDS. With the worldwide release of "Ghost Forest" came the recognition of Zoe Wakefield as a profoundly inspiring new voice in the ambient music realm, being hailed even as the "New Queen of the Twilight" by the Italian music press.

Fresh from the recording studio with a wealth of new material, Trance To The Sun toured the U.S. in support of their second CD entitled "Bloom Flowers, Bloom!" The ten new album tracks and a handful of compilation outtakes that year demonstrated a major leap in the group's ability to chillingly and understatedly convey their haunting aesthetic.

"Bloom" was followed quickly by the landmark "Venomous Eve" album the same year on A.Sain's new homespun label Ambulancia. "Venomous" featured the contributions of two then-new members, Lucian S. Donato on synthesizers and Anna Schott on violin, and drew critical acclaim across the board for it's "Knight-like stealth and elegance"(alternative press). All in all, it was a remarkable output of music and performance for just two short years.

The rapid fire pace began to exact it's toll however, and after a grueling U.S. tour in 1996 as openers for Scotland's legendary punk band Cindytalk, Zoe Wakefield departed suddenly from Trance to the Sun and from music making altogether. Ashkelon carried on in spite of this (perhaps he'd begun to lose it himself) by recording the mini-album "Delirious" which features the frenetic vocals of Dawn Wagner (scarlet slipping). With "Delirious" the music took a sharp left turn, exploring heavier territories and faster paced songs. A short tour and a new live lineup featuring Ashe Ruppe on bass and Mark Blewett on drums showed promise, but just seven months later A.Sain was forced to find yet another new vocalist.

Fortuitously, this time he chose Ingrid Blue.

Ingrid was introduced to a somewhat skeptical fanbase with the stunning compilation CD "Azalean Sea" which featured five new tracks, and eight other unreleased gems recorded over the previous three years. "Azalean Sea" was also released on the Ambulancia label, and it was at this point that longtime promoter and band advocate Patrick Ogl (Thanatos) invited Trance to the Sun to join the roster of his newly founded Precipice Recordings.

But prior to finishing an album for their new label, the band undertook their most ambitious tour of U.S. to date, covering 28 cities and performing to packed halls with co-headliners Faith & Disease.

Then, in 1999, Precipice released for Trance To The Sun what has been seen by some as being their masterpiece album, "Urchin Tear Soda". Sonically and musically, the album reached beyond anything A.Sain had done prior to that point, with immensely sophisticated textures and arrangements laying the foundation for Ingrid's sublime vocals and highly detailed, crystal clear lyrics.

Another short tour of the U.S. followed in the summer of 2000, this time seeing the band headline the Convergence VI festival in Seattle. But the year was spent primarily in the studio with A.Sain and I.Blue writing and recording what was ultimately to become the band's swan song: "Atrocious Virgin". The beautifully packaged "Virgin" was released on Precipice Recordings in 2001. The chilling melodies, exquisite lyrics and tremendous orchestration found therein form an epic conclusion to the archives and annals of this storied American music group.

Ashkelon is now back with his old Blade Fetish bandmate mlinder(Mark Linder), in the band Submarine Fleet in Portland, OR.

fin
Trance to the Sun Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Laugh a lot
It'll be so sad so soon
Laugh a lot
You're getting older
Humorless years
Laugh a lot your getting so old
Your years are humorless and years are merciless
Snd don't even get mad

And don't even get mad
You hate to make a place for yourself
Oh love light switches don't come with it
It's so funny
So lie there
And die there
And laugh a lot…
We die
We die

Laugh when your parents expire
I laughed when my parents expired

Overall Meaning

The song "Fin" by Trance to the Sun contains lyrics that are quite evocative and emotive. On the surface, the lyrics seem to be about the inevitability of aging, and the fleeting nature of life. The lines "Laugh a lot, it'll be so sad so soon. Laugh a lot, You're getting older. Humorless years, Laugh a lot your getting so old" seem to suggest that life is short, and that we should enjoy it while we can, because time is running out. The following lines "Your years are humorless and years are merciless. And don't even get mad, You hate to make a place for yourself" seem to suggest that life can be cruel and unforgiving, and that it's all too easy to become embittered and resentful.

The chorus of the song, "And don't even get mad, Oh love light switches don't come with it. It's so funny, So lie there, And die there, And laugh a lot…" seems to be addressing the inevitability of death, and the need to accept it with humor and grace. The lines "We die, We die, Laugh when your parents expire, I laughed when my parents expired" are particularly powerful, as they suggest that death is both inevitable and a natural part of life.

Overall, it seems that "Fin" is a song about accepting the transience of life, and the need to approach it with humor and acceptance.

Line by Line Meaning

Laugh a lot
Find joy in life

It'll be so sad so soon
Life can be full of sorrow and pain

You're getting older
As time passes, we age

Humorless years
The years can be devoid of laughter or joy

Laugh a lot your getting so old
Find joy in life even as you age

Your years are humorless and years are merciless
As time passes, life can become less enjoyable and more difficult

And don't even get mad
Don't let anger consume you

You hate to make a place for yourself
You may struggle to find your place in the world

Oh love light switches don't come with it
Love may not necessarily bring happiness or joy

It's so funny
Life can be ironic or comical at times