For those unaware, and in his own words, one half of This Twisted Wreckage - Luke Skyscraper James - explains (in the first part of an exclusive interview) how the band came to be: This Twisted Wreckage came about, as do many great experiences, entirely by chance and out of the blue.

I heard a band called Ishkah online and really liked their music. I have pretty broad tastes in music, bands that are nothing like mine, bands like Dreadzone and Thievery Corporation for example. Ishkah had some similarities to that style, chill trance music.

I was really impressed by Ricky Humphreys beautifully layered and wonderfully produced compositions, and the silky vocals of April Jaroka. These days I find the snobbery of youth as to what constitutes good or cool music has thankfully disappeared, good music is good music. And Ishkah were great!

It was actually Dave Harris, one of the guys who was the front man in a later lineup of Fashion, who introduced me through social media to Ishkahs music composer, Ricky Humphrey.

I was already collaborating online in two bands, with Eric S. Anderson in The Ghost of Luke James, as well as contributing to the East Coast indie, post-rock collective The Pull of Autumn with Daniel Darrow.

So I asked Ricky if he would be interested in sending me one of his compositions for me to try vocals. I was a little surprised, and very pleasantly so, by the up-tempo track that Ricky sent me. It was just as brilliantly composed, layered, and produced as Ishkah, but this was no chill out piece of music.

After one listen I armed a microphone and lyrics and vocal melody spontaneously poured out of me. I got almost the entire song written and recorded on the first take. To be honest, I was a little stunned by the turn of events that led to TTWs first song, Forgotten Summer.

But here is the really remarkable thing, this has happened over and over again, on more than 20 songs! So it was not just some one-off fluke.

One of the most remarkable things about my collaboration with Ricky Humphrey, who I have never met in person, (he lives in the South of England and I am in Northern California) is that we have an almost instant, organic connection between the music he writes and the lyrics and melodies that his music inspires in me.

I have been in a LOT of bands over the years but this is the best and most productive musical chemistry I have experienced since my involvement with Fashion (1978-80).

From that wondrous collaboration sprang a handful of singles on Bandcamp along with their debut album, full-length recording Ei8ht, and now we are graced with their sophomore album, the quite brilliant The Way Ahead Is Clear.

1. The Way Ahead Is Clear
2. Safe For Us
3. Never Coming
4. Hiding From Myself
5. Embrace
6. Always Arriving
7. The City
8. Don’t Look Back
9. We’re All Gifted

Opening on the drum-led, synth-tastic, alt-pop affair The Way Ahead Is Clear and the, at first, pensively-ensconced, yet able to break and soar freely come the end Safe For Us, and they are followed by the jaunty, guitar punk rocker Never Coming, the soulful goth-imbibed Hiding From Myself and then we get the languishing, almost ethereal balladry yearn of Embrace.

Up next is the fervent drum and guitar, almost AOR of Always Arriving and that is itself in turn backed by the free flowing foot-tapper The City, the recording rounding out on the hazy, synth-bedded love song, Don’t Look Back, coming to a close on the pop-rock, almost Cure-esque bounce of We’re All Gifted.

Exclusive Interview with Luke Skywalker James:

Where did the name This Twisted Wreckage originate and why name the album after the amount of tracks? For the first few songs we completed we did not have a band name. At some point in a text thread I mentioned to Ricky that sometimes the world felt as if it was on the verge of collapse and I was trying to be optimistic about what might emerge from this twisted wreckage of a planet that we have all created.

Ricky pounced on This Twisted Wreckage and said that should be the band name. It is a perfect fit, because although a lot of our music deals with dystopian futures, mental illness, environmental collapse and other delightful topics, we always have a thread of hope, of optimism, a belief that things will be turned around for the betterment of all.

I even managed to work the band name into a lyric in our song Back Up Again from Ei8ht:
What do I do lying down here,
In this twisted wreckage where nothing is clear,
One thing won’t leave me alone,
Got to get back up and carry on.

If you had to describe the music of TTW in just five (5) words, what would they be? Optimistic Apocalypse Survival Dance Music!

This Twisted Wreckage - The Way Ahead Is Clear [Official Album Purchase Link]

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