Dead Leaf Echo digs into The Mercy of Women

New York’s Dead Leaf Echo was ready to release a new record just before the pandemic threw a wrench at their plan. After years of delays, the shoegaze band, made up of LG Galleon, Kevin Kahawai, and Steve Schwadron, was finally able to release The Mercy of Women.

The album emphasizes Dead Leaf Echo’s willingness to explore the bounds of their sound. After playing music together for over a decade, the trio continues experimenting with song structure and genre, further developing their artistry. The opening track “Boo,” featuring the vocals of Shaye Troha, is a nod to the legendary Manchester venue The Haçienda. On “Mercyland” the sound fluctuates between alt-rock and post-punk, with Galleon providing spoken word in the opening bits of the song. On “Call” the trio leans into goth-rock. Thematically, The Mercy of Women is a tribute to the compassion shown by the women in their lives.

We connected with frontman LG Galleon to discuss the album’s evolution, concept, and more. Read our Q&A below!

First off, congrats on The Mercy of Women! Given that you’ve had the album in the pipe since 2019, how does it feel to have these songs out finally?

LG Galleon: Thank you so much. It feels great to finally release. It was starting to get to that point where once there becomes a lag in movement we all start looking around at each other like ‘Is this ever gonna come out?’ Then once it finally does, it's almost a surreal feeling. But on the other hand, it also feels like a relic–songs from so long ago (two of these were written as far back as 2016). Now it’s more of a time capsule into our past selves–thoughts and feelings of long ago. We’ve been playing them live forever too, so it’s nice to hear people say, “Woah, it’s wild to hear it on record finally.”

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Working on the tracks for such a long period, you may start to question whether things are perfect enough. How much did the songs/tracklist evolve?

LG Galleon: There were two different gestation periods. Half the songs have been kicking around for more than five years. There was some back and forth on those as they didn't fit into the second LP (Beyond Desire), so the arrangements did change a bit. "Rings" was just an instrumental jam we had done back at the Mexican Summer studio in Greenpoint. "Shadowlight" and "Death in Wait" were done up in Toronto. Later [they] ended all being tracked at Studio G for this record and being put on the "Boo EP" as they didn't flow with The Mercy of Women. Then we needed some more songs and quickly wrote "Mercyland," "Succumb," "Forgivination," and the title track to round things out.

Once the record was finished in 2019, nothing really changed in the evolution of the songwriting or arrangements. We had the songs already mastered about a month before COVID hit. Once they were tracked they stayed that way for the most part. COVID hit and you couldn't get back into a studio during that time! That also forced us to get into more tracking on our own and develop home recordings. Some perfected overdubs were done and we had to change the backup singers on tracks–all done from my home studio–but the waiting (gestation period 2) mostly came from COVID and the release process was slowed because of it. The label that was set to release folded and our EU tour was canceled via the pandemic. We had to wait 3 years to get things back in order. In the meantime, we wrote, tracked, and released Milk.Blue.Kisses.And.Whalebone.Wishes EP (Moon Sounds Records) during lockdown all on our own, while still waiting to sort out the details for The Mercy of Women.

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When I listen to your catalog there’s a shift in sound and song structure, especially on the new album. How do you see The Mercy of Women fitting into your discography?

LG Galleon: Ideally an evolution forward for us as artists. The front half of the record is pushing into a bit heavier material than usual for us. The second half goes into more familiar ethereal tracks. “BOO” was kinda of a silly Manchester beat song that everyone seemed to really respond to. We kept it on from way back, as a throwaway b-side in the beginning, and it ended up being the first single on the record, go figure. I am getting more and more bored with buried vocals in the mix. There are a few artists that I can dig on who have just made it their calling card, but I'm more and more gravitating towards pushing them up in a mix.

The ethos of the album is described as “the gift that the female of the species has given.” Can you elaborate on the concept of the album?

LG Galleon: Every album we do is conceptual. Beginning with Thought and Language (the origins of thought and birth of a child) to Beyond.Desire (the teenage lust of hormones) and now a focus on the child's love of the mother in The Mercy of Women. That being said, everyone in this band has a really great relationship with their mother. :) I know all three of them, and they are all shining stars. The inspiration came from a 4th of July party on the beach I was at five or six years ago. I was with two of my female cousins. We all had plans to take a boat out to the water to watch the fireworks from there. There was a drunken confusion as things became dark and we were separated from each other. I couldn't find them in the dark. Instead of abandoning me and getting on the boat with the rest of the crew to have fun and see the show, they waited patiently in the dark to find me. Once the fireworks started lighting up the sky, I could see them waving their hands. From there we slowly found each other and rejoined the party. They waved their hands alone on a deserted beach in the dark trying to find their lost cuz.....(I saw them showing me mercy).

One of the tracks that stands out on the album is “Mercyland.” It’s written from an outsider's perspective and analyzes a challenging relationship. Can you talk about how the track came together?

LG Galleon: It was two separate studio jams we liked, and we wanted to have the two time signatures melded together into one song. Lots of time has been spent jamming in the past. We have hours and hours of long jams that we go through (and still have many more to go through). I remember one of these being on there and then we worked into what it is now. So much of it is done subconsciously. We have two new songs that we've started on that we are just finding out about that we created over 6 years ago. You have to completely relearn it from scratch, but the building blocks you are relearning from are you, so you have the advantage.

You assembled quite a team to work on The Mercy of Women: Jeff Berner (Psychic TV), James Aparacio (Spiritualized, Depeche Mode) & Joe Lambert (Blondie, Deerhunter). Can you talk about how that came together?

LG Galleon: We have been super lucky to work with all of them in the past in other bands (Clone, etc.) and projects and know all of them. All are highly talented in their own right. We met James at our last show in London at the Lexington and we know Jeff from Psychic TV and numerous other projects here in NYC that he has tracked and produced. It's exciting having him involved in Studio G 2.0.

In the past, you’ve touched on your songwriting being formed by the “poetry in your personal life.” As songwriters, how much of your work is autobiographical?

LG Galleon: All of it. Well, almost all of it. 90% of it is. The other 10% is just made up. Having worked with songwriters, and knowing many of them for years, I don’t know a single one that doesn’t have some small piece of themselves buried in there.

You just wrapped up a tour with Acid Mothers Temple, after being out on a headlining tour of your own. What was the response to the new album on the road? Is there a particular highlight that comes to mind from your live shows?

LG Galleon: It was incredible! What an opportunity to get thrown right back out on the road at the right time. It was a life experience on many levels. Following this legendary band into the wilderness of the deep Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Montana, going into places we never heard of before like Kelowna, Revelstoke, and Banff. Experiencing playing a church in Butte, and then crossing the border at night. I think one of the highlights was driving on the Trans-Canadian Highway while listening to Boards of Canada's "Trans Canada Highway.'' The beauty was extreme and raw. Haven't seen mountains that big since we were in Switzerland. Then going all the way through them to Vancouver (only to have our tour van window smashed there) was a beautiful journey. We journeyed south from there through very familiar territory of Seattle and Portland, only to branch off again once we got down in southern Oregon, to Eugene, and then way over into Humboldt County. I've never seen a Redwood tree before, or any part of that country. Finally, Bigfoot country. Having been to California so many times but always hitting the major cities over and over again, it was really special to go to a place like Arcata and see where they filmed Halloween III. Reno got a little out of hand. ;) San Francisco was incredible. That's gotta be the center of where the Acid Mothers Temple fans are. Doesn't that name Acid Mothers Temple sound like something right out of the Haight instead of Osaka? It was a great experience being with them. They have no ego, just support, and that's what we did out there. We supported each other and saw a lot of our old friends again and met a lot of their American fans. It's a diverse group. It was a wild time and I'd love to do it again someday. XO

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Go see Dead Leaf Echo live:

Jan 12 - New York, NY - Baker Falls @ Knitting Factory
Jan 13 - Boston, MA - Obrien’s Pub
Jan 14- Worcester, MA - Ralph’s Rock Diner

The Mercy of Women is out now via PaperCup Music. The album can be purchased on vinyl at Bandcamp. Follow Dead Leaf Echo on Facebook & Instagram.

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