Pat and Deborah Mastelotto have unveiled a new project that offers a different take on a selection of tunes from the KC repertoire. A Romantics Guide To King Crimson will be released on Valentine's Day and features the softer side of Crimson hailing from in The Court Of The Crismon King, In The Wake Of Poseidon, Larks Tongues In Aspic, Discipline, Beat, Three Of A Perfect Pair and Thrak
The blurb for the album explains, "The recording features lead vocals by Deborah and drumming and production by Pat. They chose the material and co-arranged it together. We compiled King Crimson songs and searched for the romanticism in them, then re-arranged them,” said Deborah. “The addition of a girl singer automatically changed the feel of those songs and placed them in a different genre. Our idea was to create a way for people, especially women, to appreciate the beauty of King Crimson’s music without the fear and sometimes resistance attached to the word ‘prog’ getting in the way. We slowed the songs way down and stripped them back to their essential lyrics and melodies.”
“In the Crimson tradition, we approached every song as if it was brand new,” said Pat. “At first, it involved tinkering with 20-plus songs in hotel rooms using iPhone apps to choose what worked best for us. We first focused on the lyrics. The words had to resonate and the arrangements had to develop a prog-meets-pop twist to meet my hopes. We had no desire to duplicate the original arrangements. In fact, just the opposite. I was trying to discover where else they could go to expose sweetness, sort of like the old days of cassettes and giving a loved one a mixtape. It’s a gift to fans and a family of former Crims.“
